Chapter 14
Oliver
“We’ll just grab a couple of bales before we head out,” a man outside the barn said.
Amelia’s eyes were wide in fear as she looked up at me, but her lips were still swollen and glistening from our kiss.
“How many do we need? Should I go back and get the trailer?” another man asked.
“No, I think we can just toss a few into the bed of the truck,” man number one replied as he fiddled with the latch on the barn. A second later, I heard the doors creak open as the men came inside.
Amelia was still looking up at me. Our chests were pressed together as we wedged ourselves into the small space between the stacked hay and the back exterior wall of the barn.
Her lips were parted with her heavy breathing, and it made me wonder what had her panting more: the excitement of having me on top of her, kissing her, touching her, or the fear of being caught.
I heard the rustle of hay being moved. Every once in a while, there was a grunt made by the men lifting the heavy bales, and then we’d hear the thudding sound of something heavy landing in the metal truck bed.
The two men worked quickly to load the truck with bales, and only a few minutes after they arrived, they were closing up the barn and pulling away.
We didn’t move. We stayed in our hiding spot as we gave the men plenty of time to get away from the barn. After a minute or two, I finally spoke.
“I think we’re good. We should hit the road, get as far as we can while we have the light.” I pulled away from her and led the way to the side door that we came through the night before.
Deep down, I wanted to pick up where we left off, but I knew the moment had been broken, and we really did need to gain some miles. I had no idea how far we’d have to walk before we found civilization again.
I cracked open the door on the side of the barn and listened for several long seconds.
When I didn’t hear anything but the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, I opened it fully and stepped out into the bright day.
The inside of the barn was much darker than being out in the open field, and I squinted against the light as I let my eyes adjust.
Amelia stepped out behind me, and she shielded her eyes with her hand as she asked, “Which way are we heading?”
“It’s a toss-up,” I replied as I made the short walk to the road that ran in front of the barn. I looked right, then left. Directly on the opposite side of the road was just another massive field used for farming. “Right or left?”
She looked both ways, then shrugged. “Right?”
I nodded, and we both turned to our right and started down the road.
The road was paved, and that usually meant that it saw its fair share of traffic, yet we hadn’t seen a single car in the hours of walking.
Luckily, Crash had the foresight to pack some water and snacks in her bag. We didn’t talk much as we walked, but we did share the last bottle of water and a couple of protein bars—it gave us just enough to keep going.
I hated how she was limping, though. I wanted to carry her from here to wherever, but I knew I couldn’t manage that far of a walk with her in my arms.
The later it got in the day, the hotter it became.
We’d gone from freezing and shivering the night before to sweating our asses off as we walked across the black pavement.
She’d taken her jacket off and tied it around her waist, leaving her in a tank top that hugged every curve, curves I had just started to explore.
“I need a shower and some clean clothes,” she said, breaking me from my thoughts of rolling around in the hay. “I smell like a barn.” Her nose wrinkled as she looked over at me.
I smirked, but didn’t reply. I was too lost in my own thoughts to think of a clever response.
“You feeling okay?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told her. “Just hungry, tired, and trying to forget how bad this sucks. I mean, how fucking far from town are we?”
“Surely, it won’t be too much longer.”
That’s when the loud roar of a motor filled our ears.
I stopped walking and turned to look behind me.
I couldn’t see anything in either direction, but we could hear it.
I prayed that it came our way so we could hitch a ride.
Instead of standing there and wasting time, we kept walking for another couple of minutes until we could finally see the old, rusty truck traveling in our direction.
It was loud and moving slowly, but it was still quicker than walking.
“Put your thumb out,” I told her, pulling her over to the edge of the road.
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Because men are more likely to stop if they see a woman in need.”
She rolled her eyes but held out her arm with only her thumb up.
When the truck driver saw us, he slowed and approached. He stopped directly in front of us. “Ya’ll lost or something?”
“A little bit,” I answered. “We’ve been walking for a while. We’re not from around here, and we’re just trying to get to the nearest town. Any way we could hitch a ride?”
He frowned as his brown eyes moved back and forth between us. “Alright, hop on in.” He waved us forward.
I opened the door, and Amelia climbed inside, sliding to the middle of the old bench seat. I took my seat beside her, and we were off.
“It’s a good thing I stopped for ya. It’s another twenty miles or so before we get to town,” the old man said. “Where ya’ll coming from anyway?”
Amelia looked at me to answer.
“We were with some friends last night, and they took us to a party out in the middle of nowhere. When we woke up this morning, they had taken off without us. I guess we didn’t realize how far out we really were,” I lied.
“You must have been over at the Beckett’s place.
They throw parties every weekend.” The old man kept talking about anything and everything as we drove to town.
He seemed happy just to have the company.
When we finally made it into town, we climbed out of the truck in a Walmart parking lot.
Crash thanked him, and I shook his hand before he drove off.
“Finally, let’s go inside and get some things. Refill our water and snacks. Then we can get a room for an hour to shower. This smell is making me sick,” she complained, leading the way into the store.
We both grabbed a pair of jeans, shirts, and some underwear before checking out.
There was a motel not far from the store, so we walked there and rented a room.
Even though I wanted to make it further down the road, we decided to just chill and recoup.
Neither of us slept well, and we were tired as fuck from all the walking we’d done.
We needed showers. We needed to get our clothes washed.
And we needed to eat and get a good night’s rest before continuing on our way.
While she showered, I took some cash and walked across the street to a fried-chicken restaurant, where I ordered us both lunch.
Since it was lunchtime, it was busy and filled with locals.
I had to wait longer than I would’ve liked, but I was finally handed my order, and I took it back to the motel across the street.
When I entered the room, I set the bag on the table and started pulling everything out.
I ordered myself a two-piece meal with mashed potatoes and gravy, mac and cheese, and a roll.
I wasn’t sure if Crash ate anything other than chicken strips, so I ordered her a four-piece strip meal and some potato wedges.
I had sorted the food and was just about to sit down to eat when the bathroom door opened.
She walked out, wearing her new jeans that rode low on her hips and a thin, fitted long-sleeve t-shirt. My eyes raked over her perky tits and flat stomach, lingering a little longer on the sliver of skin that showed between her top and her jeans.
“I got you some chicken strips,” I muttered. The words fell from my lips without any thought behind them.
She smiled and moved to sit down across from me.
“Thank you, Ollie.”
I raised my brows at her calling me that. “Ollie?”
She gave me a bashful smile, her cheeks pink. “Do you not want me to call you that?”
“No… I… I like it.” My heart fluttered.
“I feel so much better now that I don’t smell like a pig that’s been rolling in the hay.” Her long blonde hair was wet and hanging around her. She tucked it behind her ear as she took a big bite of her chicken strip. Her eyes rolled back as she chewed.
“Mmmmm,” she moaned, licking the grease from her lips.
I cleared my throat to push the thoughts from my head. “Yeah, you definitely smell better,” I teased.
She rolled her eyes, a tiny smile on her lips. “You don’t smell so great yourself, buddy.”
“Buddy?” I laughed.
She shrugged. “I’m just saying, check yourself before you start hurling insults.”
I chuckled. “OK. I’ll do that.” I rolled my eyes and took a big bite of my drumstick.
“So, are we taking off today, or are we pushing it back to tomorrow?”
I shrugged. “I thought we could push it off to tomorrow. That’ll give us some time to get cleaned up, wash our clothes, eat, and catch up on some sleep. Plus, we need to keep our eyes out for a car we can jack.”
Her eyes doubled in size. “If good old Dad could see me now.” She chuckled. “Sad thing is, he probably would’ve been proud.” She was smiling, but I could tell it was only to cover up the pain his absence created.
“How’d he die?”
She looked at me for a moment, almost like she was trying to decide if she could trust me or not. She dusted off her hands and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest as if she were hugging herself.
“He died the same way he lived his life: breaking the law.” She shook her head as her eyes moved to the ceiling.
“He had some kind of deal with this all-powerful crime lord.” She looked at me, completely unamused.
“He and his friend, Alex’s dad, had been selling for this guy.
Whatever it was… guns, drugs, hell, probably people for all I know.
” She shrugged. “The last deal went bad. They were supposed to meet at this warehouse for the exchange, but someone drove a car straight through the wall right in the middle of it. All hell broke loose after that.”
I felt my heart drop to my stomach.
“The dealer and his men thought my dad was trying to get away with something—like take the drugs and run—my dad thought the place was being raided and he just wanted to get the hell out of there, or so I’ve been told.
Either way, both sides started shooting, fighting for their lives in the middle of all this chaos.
In the commotion, my dad was shot. He was dead before they could even get him to the hospital.
” She wiped the tear that formed in her eye rather than letting it fall.
“And that’s why I wanted to be far away from this life.
I knew if I stayed with Alex, I’d be lost to it forever. ”
I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. I pushed my food away. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “Not your fault.”
There was a long, drawn-out silence before I finally said. “Yeah, I think the barn smell is starting to get to me, too. I’m going to go shower before my lunch comes back up.” I grabbed my fresh clothes and moved into the bathroom.
I locked the door behind me and put my hands on the sink as I hung my head. My eyes closed, and the memory washed over me.
My knuckles turned white as I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
I narrowed my eyes on the warehouse in front of me, knowing what I had to do.
If I wanted out, I had to put an end to it all.
He wasn’t ever going to let me go. Why would he?
I was too fucking good at my job. Keeping me in his clutches meant him making hundreds of thousands of dollars on a weekly basis that couldn’t be tracked by the feds.
But it also meant that my life wasn’t my own.
I knew how dangerous it was. I knew I could end up dead, but I didn’t care.
If I were dead, at least I wouldn’t be under his control anymore.
I put my foot on the gas, and I revved the engine.
The motor of the fire engine red sports car purred like a kitten.
I shifted into first gear, and I let out of the clutch.
The car raced forward as I worked it through the gears.
I closed my eyes for the impact, but I felt the car being thrown about as I drove it through the wall of that warehouse.
Twisting metal, shattering glass, and then gunshots filled my ears.
My eyes opened, and I shook that memory from my head. My eyes were watering, and I rubbed the heel of my hands against them, wiping the tears away.
How was it even fucking possible? How had our lives been so intertwined without us even realizing it?
Karma really is a bitch. The first woman I’ve ever had feelings for, and it turns out that I’m the reason her dad was killed. Poetic justice, some might say.
My old boss was a monster. I’d wanted out for a long time. I’d begged to be let free. After I was free and he was dead, I’d found a new boss.
Same shit, different day.
If she knew what I’d done, would she still be with me, or would she walk away and go in search of the life she’s always wanted? I didn’t even have to ask the question; I knew the truth.
She’d walk away. There was no fucking way she’d want to spend the rest of her life with the man who caused her to lose her father. Even if she didn’t like the way he lived his life, he was still her dad. She loved him. And I took him away from her.
Self-loathing filled my gut, and before I knew it, I was losing my lunch.
This was a whole new kind of sickness.