Running to You Read online

  AT A rest area, while Tyler napped in his seat, Billy Joe stood outside the car. He found the Jackson police tip line number, breathed deeply to calm his racing heart, and made a call. The man who answered sounded impatient. Billy Joe tried to explain what he’d seen, but his words were jumbled and tripped over one another, and his nerves returned in force. He felt like a fool. He didn’t sound coherent, even to himself. And when the officer asked if he’d been drinking, Billy Joe disconnected and leaned against the car, hanging his head. At least he’d tried.

  It took a few minutes before he felt able to drive again, and then he got back in the car.

  Billy Joe kept his phone off. He was sure his mother and father would try to call, and his phone was on their account, so they could track him if he turned it on. He smashed it to bits outside of Nashville and tossed the pieces in the trash, then bought a pay-as-you-go phone at Walmart.

  Billy Joe figured the best direction to head was north and east, so he crossed the rest of Tennessee to Knoxville and then went north.

  “Daddy, I’n hungry,” Tyler said from the back seat.

  “Okay, buddy. We’ll get some dinner and then find a hotel where we can sleep.” Billy Joe had been up for many more hours than he should have been and was bone-weary. A good night’s sleep would do wonders. So after stopping at McDonalds for nuggets for Tyler, he found a budget hotel and an ATM for more cash.

  He spotted a branch of his bank, so the next morning he went inside and emptied his checking account, in cash. The bank teller probably thought he was crazy, but Billy Joe didn’t care. He brought the cash to the car and took off again.

  Tyler was getting restless and fussy, which wasn’t surprising since he’d been mostly in the car for two days. Billy Joe made sure to stop at roadside parks so Tyler could run and wear himself out. When he got another hotel, they had dinner and he played with Tyler, finally starting to relax. He was many hundreds of miles from home. While Tyler relaxed, Billy Joe collected all the cash he’d gotten together, placed it in one of the plastic grocery bags, and then slid it in one of the pockets of the suitcase and zipped it closed.

  He fed Tyler a snack and then got him ready for bed. Lying there with Tyler in his arms, Billy Joe fell to sleep.

  THE FARTHER they went, the looser Billy Joe’s grip on the steering wheel got. For now he had plenty of money, and he hoped he’d be able to get a job somewhere and start a new life for Tyler. They continued north, the landscape growing bleaker and much less green. They passed through northern Virginia and then parts of West Virginia and Maryland, and then encountered snow. The temperature had dropped, but the car was warm. Billy Joe knew he was going to have to find a place to get some warmer clothes.

  As they passed into Pennsylvania, the snow began coming down faster. The day was growing to an end, the light fading fast. He checked the map at a rest area and intended to make it to Harrisburg before stopping. It was maybe an hour away, and he knew he’d be able to find a place to stay. Tyler was hungry, so Billy Joe passed him a few crackers and a bottle with a little juice inside, and kept going.

  The snow grew thicker, reminding Billy Joe of how unfamiliar he was with driving on roads like this. At home, the few times it had snowed, everyone just stayed inside until the sun melted it away again and then went on with their business. This snow didn’t seem like it was going to behave that way.

  He saw the sign for Shippensburg and got off the highway, traveling very slowly. He drove into a business area and pulled into the Walmart parking lot. Billy Joe wrapped Tyler in a blanket and carried him into the store, where he found the section for winter wear and bought them each a warm coat. Then he got them something to eat, and they returned to the car. He made it back to the freeway, intending to continue the last little bit for the night, but the car lurched and then cut out.

  Billy Joe coasted to the side of the road and pulled to a stop as all the lights inside the car went dark. The wipers stopped and snow built up on the windshield and back window, the cold creeping in as the heater ceased blowing.

  “I’n cold,” Tyler said after a few minutes.

  “I know, honey.” He got the blanket and put it over him, trying to figure out what to do. He needed to get help and had his phone, but who did he call? Billy Joe was well away from anyone he might know, which was good and bad. He didn’t want to call the auto club in case his parents could trace him. He was just about to give up and call anyway when headlights appeared behind him, coming to a stop.

  Chapter 2

  CARLOS MIRAS pulled to a stop behind the black Escape by the side of the highway. His father would probably tell him he was a fool, and his mother would probably say he had a good heart—too good a heart. But neither of their opinions mattered anymore. He was no longer part of their family. Carlos looked out his front window, wipers swishing back and forth to ward off the snow. He saw hints of light coming from inside the car, most likely from a cell phone.

  He got out, pulling his coat closed around him. Carlos’s hazard lights blinked red against the snow. He tapped on the window of the back door because he thought he saw movement. “Are you all right?” he shouted.

  The back door opened to a man leaning over the back seat to a small child still in his car seat, covered in a blanket. “The car died, and I was trying to get him warm.” The man turned and pulled back, eyes widening. Carlos had trouble placing the expression. “We’ll be fine as soon as I call for help.”

  “Pop the hood. Let me take a look at it.” Carlos had spent numerous hours working on cars with his father and brothers. Not that he’d been particularly into cars at the time, but he picked things up by osmosis. He went around to the front, and when the hood popped, he pushed it open and used his phone to illuminate the engine.

  “It just went dark all of a sudden and everything stopped working,” the man said, pulling himself into a coat after closing the car door.

  Carlos bent over the engine and quickly found the problem. “It’s the electrical system.” He reconnected the main circuit to the alternator and stood back up. The hood light came on as though he’d flipped a switch, and Carlos closed the hood. “That ought to do it. I suggest you take it in to have it looked at, but you were pretty lucky.”

  The man turned the key, and the engine came to life. “Thanks,” he said softly. “I was trying to make Harrisburg to get a hotel and….”

  Carlos shook his head. “I don’t think so. The snow isn’t going to stop, and the roads are only going to get worse. I’d say to get a hotel, but with this weather, they have been reporting that almost everything is full.” He sighed. “Let me make a call.” He pulled out his phone and called his landlady, Mrs. Carmichael, and explained the situation. “I know it’s unusual, but he has a little boy with him, and in this weather….”

  She hummed a second. “The front place in your building is free. It’s furnished, and they can stay there for the night,” she offered.

  “Thanks. I’ll stop by and pick up the key from you and then make sure everything is okay in the morning.” He hung up and turned to the other man. “I’m Carlos, by the way.”

  “Billy Joe,” he said, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets. The plates on the car read Mississippi, so Carlos assumed he was as cold as Carlos had been when he’d first come this far north.

  “My landlady has an apartment that’s empty. You can use it for the night. It’s furnished and will be warm. It’s only one bedroom, but I bet you can make do.” He came around the side as a few cars passed very slowly on the now-snow-covered freeway.

  “Is it always like this?”

  “No. This is a real early snow, but we can get them occasionally. I’ll pass you, and you just follow me. I’ll go slowly, as you’ll need to be careful. It isn’t far.”

  Carlos walked back to his car and waited so Billy Joe could get settled. Then Carlos pulled in front of him, and they drove slowly on the ever more treacherous road to the next exit and then down surface streets to his building. Carlos turned in and motioned Billy Joe to the parking spot next to his. Carlos got out and waited for Billy Joe, who got the little boy out of the back and followed him. Carlos knocked on Mrs. Carmichael’s door.

  She peered out and then opened her door. “Carlos,” she said with a smile. “I have the key for you right here. It’s the door just across the hall.” She gazed around him, getting a look at Billy Joe.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get them settled.” Carlos took the key and said good night, then led them up the stairs and unlocked the door. “Like I said, it’s only one bedroom, but it should do for you for tonight, and at least you’ll be warm. This snow should be over by the morning.”

  “Thank you,” Billy Joe said softly as he went inside. “Is this okay, Tyler?” he asked, setting the boy down.

  Tyler stood stock-still for a while. “I’m tired.” He yawned, hurried to the sofa, and climbed onto it. Billy Joe turned on the television and found a program Tyler seemed to like.

  “Do you want help bringing anything up?” Carlos asked.

  Billy Joe shook his head, paling a little. “No. I can get it. But would you stay here with Tyler? I won’t be long.” Billy Joe hurried out and down the stairs. In no time, he raced back inside, weighted down by suitcases, a duffel, and a backpack, with a diaper bag around his neck. He looked like something out of an old Hollywood comedy sketch.

  “Thank you for everything.” Billy Joe seemed nervous, shifting his weight after setting everything down and looking around. Carlos’s timing sucked, but Billy Joe’s confusion and the way he bit his lower lip were adorable.

  “You’re welcome. I’m right across the hall if you need anything. Just knock in the morning so I can get the key back from you.” Carlos went to leave the apartment, but stopped for a secon
d, turning to where Billy Joe held his son tightly to him, fear in his eyes. It sent a chill up Carlos’s back as he wondered about the source of it. He knew that fear, and the loneliness and mistrust that accompanied it. He’d lived that himself. It was as familiar as his brown eyes. Being rejected for who he was—a part of him he couldn’t change—stayed with him and had become ingrained in the man he was now. “Is there anything more you need?”

  Billy Joe shook his head, fear and pain rising in his eyes for some reason, so Carlos took his leave.

  As soon as he closed the door behind him, Carlos realized Billy Joe was a little wary of him, from the tension in his stance, the way he took a step back when Carlos spoke, and the fact that he held his son more tightly and didn’t turn away, his pupils wide. That didn’t make any sense to Carlos. Yeah, Billy Joe didn’t know him, but Carlos had helped him on the highway and gotten him a place to stay for the night. He could have driven by and just left them to their own devices. Besides, Carlos was the last person anyone should be afraid of. He was small and had never hurt anyone in his life. He’d been the one who was bullied growing up, not the bully.

  Slightly confused but unable to do anything about the situation, he returned to his apartment. He had one of the two-bedroom units, which meant there was a small living room with a kitchen off to one side, as well as a hallway that led to a medium-sized bedroom and a tiny second bedroom that he used as an office of sorts.

  When his phone buzzed in his pocket, Carlos answered it.

  “Did you make it home okay?” Angie asked. They worked together, and with this weather, he should have known she’d check up on him. Angie was most definitely the mothering type, and Carlos loved her for it. Sometimes she carried it a little far, though.

  “Yes. Have you left?” Angie was working the late shift at the library to handle a class that had come in.

  “Not yet. I’m about to after this class finishes. How are the roads really?”

  “Bad. Take it really careful and go slow. Hopefully the university is already plowing. But get out as soon as you can. It’s really wet and sloppy. I passed cars on the side of the road, and helped one guy and his kid when their car broke down.” He chuckled. “They’re from Mississippi, judging by the plates, and he didn’t know how to drive in this mess. He’s lucky he didn’t end up in the ditch or something.”

  Angie paused on the other side of the line. “What did you do?”

  “I got the car going again, which was easy, and all the hotels are full, so—”

  She inhaled sharply. It was an Angie trait. She was a drama queen of the highest order. “You didn’t take him to your apartment, did you? You don’t know anything about this guy and—”

  “Angie,” Carlos interrupted. “No, I didn’t bring him to my apartment. He’s in the one across the hall for the night. The guy has a toddler, and I wasn’t going to let them freeze on a night like this if I was able to help.” He spoke faster as he went on. “The kid, his name is Tyler. He was so cute, holding on to his dad in that little winter coat. What was I supposed to do?”

  Angie clicked her tongue. “You’re such a pushover. Maybe that’s why we all love you.”

  Carlos chuckled. “Because I’m a pushover. Gee, thanks. That’s good to know,” he said, only partly joking.

  “No. Because after all the crap you’ve been through, you still have a big heart. Just be careful with this guy. You don’t know anything about him.”

  “It’s only for one night. I don’t know where he’s heading, but that car was full to the brim. So, he isn’t planning on returning to Mississippi any time soon.” Carlos shrugged. “Be really careful going home and don’t stay too late. The roads are only going to get worse.”

  “I promise I’ll leave as soon as my class is done. I already closed up as much of the building as I can, so as soon as the students leave, I’ll be out the door.” She was her perky, almost chirpy self again. “Andy said he was going to cook something special for me.” She practically hummed. Andy and Angie, they were an adorable couple.

  “Awesome. Just text when you get home, and I’ll see you tomorrow. This is supposed to stop sometime tonight.” Carlos was about to hang up when Angie continued.

  “I wanted to ask. Is the dad you helped cute?”

  And here Carlos had thought he’d managed to escape Angie’s matchmaking fanaticism… just once. She was the happiest person Carlos had ever known, and she wanted everyone to be as deliriously content as she was… whether they wanted it or not.

  He groaned, trying to figure out how he could not answer without just hanging up.

  Angie wasn’t going to let it go. “Just tell me!”

  “Dang it. Yeah, he was cute, in a sort of clueless, scared rabbit kind of way. The guy is running from something. That’s pretty obvious, and there was fear written all over his face. I’m not sure what it was, but I think he looks the same way I did when I left Amarillo in the middle of the night. My cousin had threatened to kill me rather than have a maricón in his family.” Carlos swallowed hard as he remembered packing and getting out of town ahead of the lynch mob.

  “That bad?” She whistled softly. “Just be careful and don’t get taken in.”

  He rolled his eyes. She was a total mother hen. “I’ll be fine. It’s only for a night, and tomorrow he’ll probably be on his way.” He ended the call, making her promise again to let him know when she made it home okay.

  His stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn’t stopped to pick up something for dinner the way he originally had intended. He stared at the contents of his refrigerator and decided to reheat some pasta he’d made earlier in the week.

  Carlos sat at his small table, eating his dinner. He was in no hurry, and a relaxing evening seemed in order. Once he was done, Carlos rinsed his dishes, headed to the sofa, and settled in to read.

  Books were his passion, so he spent his spare time with them rather than the television. The wind rattled the windows, and even though the apartment was warm, the sound chilled him. He grabbed the blanket from off the back of the sofa and pulled it over him, making a nest before getting lost in the story of pirates and adventure on the high seas. Angie texted him that she was home just as he got back into the story.

  CARLOS WOKE with the book on his chest and a slight crick in his back. He slowly got up, stretched, and checked the clock. It was well after midnight, so after marking his place, he set the book aside and trudged to the bathroom, where he got ready for bed.

  He tried to remember the last time he’d had company. A couple of boyfriends in school and grad school, but none of them had really seemed to understand him. Their lives were all about cars, partying, and having fun. Jamie, his last boyfriend, had actually complained that Carlos was as serious as a heart attack and was too young to get that wound up about everything. Sure, Carlos liked to have fun, but his entire time in college and then grad school, he’d been about ten dollars away from going without food, with no parents or family helping him with his education or sending him a care package when things had gotten tight and he’d needed something extra to eat.

  He pushed all that aside. It wasn’t fruitful for him to go over it again. He had a job and was making his own way now. He needed to look forward, rather than into the past.

  Still, it would be nice to have someone who thought the world revolved around him. He chuckled under his breath.

  Carlos had just begun to doze off when he heard a knock on the front door and bolted upright in the bed. He got up, pulled on his robe, and trudged into the other room to peer out the peephole. He opened the door to find Billy Joe holding a blanket-wrapped Tyler.

  “There’s no heat….” Billy Joe shivered as he stepped inside. “I think it went out or something.”

  Carlos yawned. “Okay, let me take a look at it.” He followed Billy Joe across the hall and stepped into the cold apartment. He found the thermostat, and it was set correctly, but nothing was happening. It was an older building, and thankfully Carlos knew where the electrical boxes were.

  “I found the breakers in the hallway and couldn’t find one that had been flipped,” Billy Joe offered. He stayed at the other end of the room, well away from Carlos, clutching Tyler close. It seemed so strange. Carlos knew the fear that came with not being able to trust anyone, and this felt exactly like that to him. But what he didn’t understand was why.