Page 84 of Everything We Left Behind

Air howled through our helmets. Sunlight glared overhead and heat steamed our backs. Sweat dripped off my chin. We’d started early, and though it was still morning, the day was already hot, dry, and dusty. Good thing we only had another couple of kilometers, all downhill. We’d ridden hard. This father-son time with Julian was great, and I wouldn’t change it, but damn. For the life of me, I couldn’t pedal out of last night’s nightmare. It was as though I’d been there. The throbbing, mind-numbing pain in my skull left me reeling with nausea, and that gun in my face scared the shit out of me.

I motioned for a water break and we slowed to a stop on the side of the road.

Julian gulped down his water and let out a long, well-earned sigh. “Can we take the trail?” he asked, referring to the dirt path that paralleled the road in some spots. It was narrow and littered with divots and overgrown vegetation.

“Think you can handle it?” We’d already ridden more than five kilometers, some of that uphill on dirt and cobblestone roads.

He pointed at himself with both hands. “Hello ... I’m the fastest halfback on my team.”

“That you are.” His athleticism and competitive drive always amazed me. I washed back a couple of aspirin and a sudden wave of dizziness overcame me. I stumbled to the side, almost dropping the bike.

“Ten out of ten.” Julian rated my lack of finesse.

“Ha-ha.” I shook my head to clear the fog and checked my watch. We’d make it back to the car in less than twenty minutes.

He bounced his bike’s front tire. “Ready?”

“Yep. Take it slow, though.” The fog wouldn’t lift in my head and the last thing I wanted to do was crash and burn in the bushes. Julian wouldn’t let me hear the end of it should that happen.

After glancing both ways, Julian crossed the road and about twenty or so meters downhill, he disappeared over the embankment onto the trailhead.

I returned the water bottle to the holder, got on my bike, and crossed the road. Then I was sitting on a boulder with my head between my knees.

What. The. Fuck?

Pain sliced through me when I lifted my head. I moaned. My skull felt like a watermelon split open on hot pavement.

I looked around. The bike lay in the road beside me and Julian was nowhere in sight.

“Julian?” I hollered, standing.“Julian!”

Where was he?

I turned a 360 in the middle of the road while drowning in mounting panic. “Julian!” I yelled again. Then I remembered the car. Julian and I had an agreement that we’d meet at the car should we get separated.

I jumped on the bike and raced down the hill, eating up the kilometers. The Jeep was parked in a dirt lot at the base of the road and Julian was crouched against the rear passenger tire.Thank God.I hopped off the bike before stopping and ran toward him. The bike crashed into the car’s bumper and I skidded the last few yards.

“Julian!” I knelt before him. “Are you hurt?”

He lifted his head. Tears streaked his dirty face like tire tracks in mud. “You know my name?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I know your name.”

“But you didn’t back there. You took off right after you yelled at me.”

Every nerve ending inside me went ice-cold. I stopped breathing and stared hard at him for what seemed like an eternity. Then I sucked in a big gulp of air and gripped his shoulders as terror gripped me. “What did I say?” He hiccuped a sob. “What did I say?” I yelled.

“You asked who I was and when I said I’m Julian and that I was your son, you said ... you said ...” He was full-on bawling, unable to get out the words.

My fingers dug into his triceps. “I saidwhat?”

“You said you didn’t have a son.”

CHAPTER 25

JAMES

Present Day

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