WANTED (The Runaways Series Book #2)

Chapter 9 (Part 2) *NEW*

Caleb

         “Which one do you want? Jack or Fireball?”

Evie popped out from behind a brown paper bag and eyed me for a second or two longer than she should’ve. I went back to staring at my phone so wouldn’t I have to keep staring at her.

            “Jack.”

She cracked open the top, stuck the bottle between her lips, and swallowed down a forth before handing it to me.

            “Buyer gets first taste,” she said.

            “Fine by me. Don’t you have to drive?”

         “We’re only going a half a mile up the road from here. Don’t worry I won’t get you into too much trouble.”

There was that smile again, that tongue-between-teeth-tease she threw around whenever she wanted a reaction.

The half of me stuck in Charlottesville wanted to hold back, wanted to keep my attention glued to the girl on the silent end of my phone line. But the half of me aching to feel anything other than pain, reacted.

My lips curled up at the corners just enough for her to know I’d noticed her, for her to think that I’d play her game until it got dangerous. Danger made for a good distraction.

            “I’ll take your word for it, Ms. Evie. Lead the way.”

                                                                                   ***

Evie drove into an open wheat field a little ways up from the liquor store. The yellow gold stalks stretched out for miles ‘til they tapered off at the edge of a lonely dirt road down the way. A row of black walnut trees hovered on the horizon, separating the dry crop from the dark green pastures in the distance.

It was almost peaceful, sitting with the windows down, listening to the cicadas screeching the afternoon away from the shadows, while the gnats swam in lazy circles inches away from my skin. But peace only came from pretending, and I’d never been much of a liar.

So I inched that bottle of Jack up to my lips and forgot myself for a while. Drinking meant I could hold on to my sanity a little longer. Drinking meant I didn’t have to be me.

               “C’mon out back! You gotta see the view.”

Evie slid open the window between us and the trunk and eased herself through without too much trouble. Her legs went on for miles but she managed to keep from nicking herself on the way out. I clicked off my seatbelt, grabbed the bottle of Fireball, and followed her outside.

The wheat was high enough to drown in if you weren’t careful. God knows what kind critters were slithering around in the dirt but I hopped into the back before I could think about it too much.

Evie was sprawled out on top of a ratty old blanket, just staring up at the sky like she wanted to lose herself in it. I tried to sit down next to her as quietly as possible, but ended up crashing into the back when I tripped over the side of the truck. I hit the metal with my bad hand and sucked in the air through my teeth to offset the pain.

               “Son-of-a-bitch.”

               “You alright? Lemme see.”

She reached across my chest and wrapped her fingers around my arm soft as she could.

                “The cast’s still alright. Shake it off with one of these, it’ll dull the sting.”