Page 33 of Run Away With Me

‘I don’t know if I can go far today,’ Brooke said as we finally exited the city. ‘Maybe a couple more hours.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We can do a longer stretch tomorrow, if you like.’

‘Yeah, maybe.’

To the south of us, Utah’s mountains loomed in the distance, still snow-capped at this time of year, even though it felt warm down at our level. Well, the air was warm. The mood in the Mustang was positively chilly.

7

Middle of Nowhere– Hanson

I noticed the black van within thirty minutes of leaving Salt Lake City and silently panicked for the next few miles. How the hell had they found us again? And so quickly? I really thought we’d managed to escape without anyone noticing.

The car stereo was playing nineties pop music, and I couldn’t tell whether Brooke’s continuing sour mood was because of me, or because of what had happened. I didn’t know if telling her about the van would make things worse, and, in the end, I did the only thing I could, and watched it weaving in and out of traffic. It never got too close to us, just hovered in the rearview mirror a few cars back.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the blonde lady smiling at me. Except it didn’t feel right to call it ‘smiling’, there had been no emotion behind her expression other than pure malice. She knew me, she knew why I was in Salt Lake City, and she knew I was watching her. Just the thought of her sent ice crawling down my spine.

‘Are you hungry?’

I jumped when Brooke spoke to me. We’d barely said anything since leaving the city.

‘I could eat.’ We’d skipped lunch after our leftover pizza breakfast, and my stomach was starting to notice.

‘I want a burrito bowl or something,’ she said in that decisive way I envied.

‘Sure. Sounds good,’ I said, going along with her preferences like I always did. I didn’t mind. It was more important to me that she was happy than that I got what I wanted, and, anyway, I didn’t have a better suggestion than burrito bowls.

We drove for another fifteen minutes before spotting a sign for a Tex-Mex place, and I waited in the car, looking out for the black van while Brooke went inside and ordered.

I couldn’t see it, and for a moment, I let myself believe we’d finally lost them.

When she came back outside, I followed her to a seating area set back far enough from the road that the sound of cars mellowed into a low hum, and the day had softened into a beautiful afternoon with fluffy white clouds floating across the endless blue sky.

I waited until she had finished eating to tell her about the van.

‘Oh my God, Mouse,’ Brooke said, putting both her hands over her face. ‘I don’t know what to do with you anymore.’

‘What?’

She scraped her chair back to stand up and pace. ‘First it was Chris supposedly stealing my room key, which I didn’t see happen. Then it’s Chris and some woman trying to break into our room in the middle of the night when I was asleep. Then this random woman issomehowin the exact same Starbucks as us.’

I opened my mouth to protest, then shut it again. She was on a roll.

‘Now,’ Brooke said, throwing her hands in the air, ‘there’s a black van that’s been following us since Salt Lake goddamn City. A van that I’ve never seen before, but you’reconvincedwas in the parking lot at the motel last night.’

‘What are you trying to say? That I’m making it all up?’

Hot anxiety tightened in my throat. I hated this. Hated arguing, hated conflict. But I especially hated being the one who was making Brooke angry.

‘I don’t know!’ she exclaimed. ‘I don’t know, Mouse. Are you?’

‘No!’

I swallowed hard, begging myself not to cry. I didn’t know how to make Brooke trust me, and it stung that she clearly didn’t.

‘But you don’t tell me anything until it’s happening, or after it’s happened,’ Brooke said, more gently now. ‘Do you see where I’m coming from? All of a sudden there’s this new thing that we have to worry about.’

‘That’s because you don’t pay attention,’ I snapped, feeling hurt. I immediately regretted it.

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