I nodded as we started walking along the edge of the woods, staying clear of the road.
A couple of hours later, Beck pulled me behind a line of scrub trees that bordered a drainage ditch. He crouched there with me, one arm around my shoulders, keeping me close, his eyes locked on the highway.
“Listen,” he said quietly.
I did.
Engines.
Shouting.
A scream that seemed to cut off too fast.
Beck eased his arm away but stayed close, scanning. His jaw was tight, the muscles in his neck standing out.
“Try the phone again.” I urged nervously.
“Okay,” he pulled his phone from his pocket.
He stared at it a moment, then his thumb began moving fast across the screen. His expression didn’t change, but I saw the tension in his shoulders.
“One bar,” he muttered. “Shit. It’s gone—wait.”
He turned the screen so I could see it. A notification tried to load. Failed. Tried again.
“That’s smart. A text is more likely to go through if the signal is sketchy.” I was impressed.
He typed with his head partially lifted, scanning the road.
Bike stolen. I need a pick-up.
The message sat there.
Then—sent.
We both stared at the screen.
“That’s… something, I guess,” I sighed.
“Yeah,” Beck replied. “At least we had enough service to send that. Do you want to try texting your dad?”
Now that I had the chance, I was nervous. What if something had happened to him? He was an asshole, but he was the only person I had left in this world.
“Let’s wait and see if anyone responds to you.”
He narrowed his eyes but didn’t push me on it.
I sank down onto the embankment, legs shaking now that the adrenaline was bleeding off. My hands were aching from being clenched so long.
“Okay,” I said, forcing myself to slow my breathing. “We need water. Shade. Somewhere we can sit for ten minutes and not get jumped.”
Beck nodded immediately. “There’s an overpass about half a mile up, with maintenance access underneath. Concrete, open sightlines.”
I blinked at him. “You just… know that?”
“I notice things,” he winked like the cocky bastard he was.
I huffed a breath that might’ve been a laugh under better circumstances. “That’ll come in handy.”
