The sun was a blistering orb of lava in a cloudless sky. All around her was tumbleweed after tumbleweed. She glanced at the man near the sliding glass door of the gas station.

Have I lost my mind? He can’t be talking to me?

It would be just her luck if the guy with sun-kissed skin and dark curly hair was addressing her. But, he was just too handsome to be crazy. Again, she turned around to see a lonely highway. Then her eyes stopped, glued onto the luxury trailer parked in the last gas port.

She gawked at the side of the trailer. A sleek, caramel-coated woman with dark brown hair dominated the scene in a hot-pink matching bra and panty set. The smoky paint of the woman’s captivating, glittery eyes complemented the airbrushed words, “The Petting Zoo.”

“MJ, c’mon.” The man stepped off the curb and took her arm. “It’s too damn hot out here, and it ain’t even nine in the morning.”

As if the heat didn’t already singe her skin enough, warmth crept up her cheeks. She quickly turned away from the trailer and looked forward. The hot guy placed a hand on her shoulder. His arms bulged, and the jeans that ripped across his athletic legs left nothing to the imagination.

“Excuse me, uh—”

“I’m Jake; you’re Mary Jane,” he replied. The left side of his lips turned upward. “C’mon, MJ, now is not the time. I need you to remember. You had to take that damn medication, which is fucking with your mind even more. I know it set our plan back, but, baby, you’ve gotta remember something.”

I’m Mary Jane? I know you?

“Let’s get you a drink of water and aspirin, hopefully, it counteracts the shit Beasley gives you. So come with me, darling. Don’t look back.”

He was easy on the eyes, except for the scar traveling down his chiseled cheekbone toward a strong chin. They walked through the door of the gas station convenience store, and Jake’s hand engulfed hers. In her mind, she could hear him saying, “I haven’t felt anything in years, but I fucking hurt every time I see you here, in this shitty-ass Petting Zoo. I wanna save you. Once. And. For. All.”

Jake’s warm and callused hand engulfed hers, his large fingers wove through her tinier ones, and she relaxed. They walked down the aisle lined with junk food on each side and stopped at a refrigerated display of drinks. When Jake opened the glass door, Mary Jane saw her reflection. She had the same plush lips as the sexy woman dominating the center billboard on the trailer. And the same sultry eyes—sans the makeup. A faint handprint at her neck made her gasp.

“The Petting Zoo.” She mumbled the words scribbled on the side of the trailer outside, aware that hell had a physical location.

“Forget about that place, MJ.” Jake tossed a few one-liter bottles of water into her hands.

She jumped and fumbled with the last one.

With quick hands, he helped her cradle them in her arms. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Jake, am I drunk?”

“No, sweetheart. You don’t drink, smoke, nothing. You’re too good for that shit.” He winked at her.

Mary Jane rubbed her head. “There’s something wrong with me.”

He bit his lip and nodded. “We can’t talk here.”

She followed him to the row with the medication and first-aid kits. He grabbed generic aspirin, then they made it toward the cash register. He tossed the bottle on the counter and tapped his hand rather impatiently.

“Anything else?” the clerk stuttered, keeping his eyes averted to the countertop, while scanning the barcodes of her items.

“Gimme a pack of cigarettes and a fifth of Jack.” Jake pulled a wallet out of his back pocket.

The clerk scanned the extra items and slid everything over with a plastic bag as if he didn’t want their business but was too afraid to say so. After a moment of awkward silence, the clerk asked, “Anything else, Jake?”

“Do you want anything else, MJ?”

She shook her head no. What else could she want? Why did it seem like Jake was stalling? It frustrated her to no end that she didn’t know what to want. There were words at the tip of her tongue. Questions to debate and ask, but Jake had just said they couldn’t chat here. She was now beginning to feel uncomfortable with herself.

My mind is a crutch.

“Mary-fuckin’-Jane, we don’t see you ’round town much!”

They all turned toward the door as two men walked inside, wearing tattered jeans and wife beaters. The one who’d called her name had a cigarette carelessly held between thin, blistered lips. He pulled out his wallet. “MJ, how about a private dance?”

Mary Jane’s eyes widened. She shook her head so hard her ponytail hit her neck with a hard sting. She didn’t want to go anywhere with the two men. Instinctively, she inched closer toward Jake, but the next step would have to be in his arms.

“Y’all know Beasley doesn’t let MJ do any private dances without me or Lyle,” Jake interjected. “Gus is in the trailer. He’ll run snitching to Beasley. And y’all know the new girls don’t dance outside of The Petting Zoo.”

“I won’t ever dance.” Mary Jane heard herself speaking.

“We heard about how Beasley did you last night,” the man said, “let’s make you feel better.”

She gasped as the man tossed a few dollars at her feet.

“Jake, there’s money in it for you too.” He pulled a few more twenties out of his pocket. “Gus won’t know. Beasley won’t know. It seems to me that Lyle ain’t around either.”

“Well, all right then. Let’s take this party to the back,” Jake replied. He glared at the clerk. “Do you mind?”

The clerk, looking more afraid than Mary Jane, shook his head no then turned around to rearrange a liquor case.

“Jake, please don’t,” Mary Jane whispered. She gripped the plastic bag, taking quick uneven breaths.

“Don’t worry, MJ,” Jake whispered low so the men couldn’t hear. The warmth of his minty, liquored mouth began to settle her nerves. “I’d never hurt you. Beasley doesn’t let me leave a place with you unless another one of the men are around. Gus is on the bus. Remember the plan. These idiots are your diversion.”

“I don’t remember,” she quickly murmured.

As they started toward the back, a heaviness clutched around her heart with each step. They walked down an aisle of canned goods as he whispered something about a car and luggage in the trunk.

Jake opened a door with a sign reading, “Staff Only.” She gulped as he flicked the lights on. The tiny storage room held cardboard boxes. A moldy mop hanging on the wall dripped into a yellow bucket. Stepping inside, Mary Jane sneezed and looked at the men as they shut the door. Their leering glances crawled over her skin.

“Y’all are in for a treat.” Jake grinned. He winked at her when she gulped.

“Don’t I know it.” The other guy clapped his hands to his knees. “That little taste we got at The Petting Zoo ain’t do nothing but piss me off—”

Before Mary Jane could blink, she saw perfect holes between the eyes of each man. The sound of gunfire made her ears ring. She turned wide-eyed toward Jake as he lowered a nine-millimeter to his side. The bag with the aspirin and water bottles fell from her hands onto the floor.

“Now, you have to go, MJ. Fuck these dead rednecks.”

Jake pushed her toward the back door. She tripped over an empty crate. He hoisted Mary Jane under her arms, helping her reclaim an even stance.

“Take these keys. There’s an ’86 Corolla right outside with a stack of cash under the dash. Get into it and get the hell out of town. Don’t look back. Not even for me, sweetheart. Go. Now!”

She took the keys thrust into her hand. At the sound of gunfire coming from the front of the store, she ran out the back door.

As the door was closing, she heard Jake say, “MJ shot them and escaped.”

Mary Jane ducked, gunshots popping off behind her. Keeping a hurried pace, she sprinted toward a gray, box-shaped four-door. It wasn’t locked. She slid onto a matted seat. Hands shaking, it took a few attempts, but she finally got the key in the ignition.

A bullet blazed through the back window. The glass shattered, spraying the passenger headrest. Specks of fluff clouded her vision after a few slugs went out the other side and into the dash. Glancing in the rearview window, she saw Jake with three other men. He was arguing with one, while the rest of them had guns pointed in her direction.

With the engine sputtering and steering wheel shaking, Mary Jane ramped her foot onto the gas. The car bounced as it went over the sidewalk and off the curb. She jerked the wheel and turned down a one-lane highway. Joshua trees and cacti zipped by. The left tires hit a pothole. Two hands on the steering wheel, she worked hard to make sure it didn’t veer off the road. From the corner of her eye, she saw a piece of paper in the passenger seat. She grabbed it.

“MJ, DO NOT go to the police station! Head NORTH. There’ll be more directions in the trunk, clothes, food.—Jake”

Forcing out a deep breath, Mary Jane silently thanked Jake for saving her life.

A glance through the rearview showed a red Ford-250 hot on her tail. With the long stretch of one-lane highway ahead, it was only a matter of time before they caught up to her. Her foot slammed down harder. The engine groaned in response and the car picked up speed.

Her eyes connected to a sign ahead that indicated “North.” Mary Jane gave a psychotic chuckle. Her luck had changed—it was minuscule at best, but something. She was headed in the direction Jake had advised and away from the cops…

Two girls walked down a residential street, out of place in the neighborhood with white picket fences and manicured lawns. With thick hair in ponytails, their clothes were so worn that the cotton felt like sandpaper against their skin.

“The police are in front of uncle’s, again,” the younger one with two buck teeth said as they neared a three-level Victorian-style home. Her pace faltered. “I don’t want to go home.”

The older sister took her hand. “Don’t worry. The police will help…”

“. . . The police will help.” Pulled out of the image, Mary Jane’s body jolted forward. Before she could dissect that vivid memory, Jake’s sidekick rammed the back of the Corolla.

Jarring her brain, the memory solidified the fact that she just had a premonition contradicting everything a man she hardly knew had told her. Jake had risked his life to free her. Mary Jane’s hands tightened around the steering wheel, knuckles tensing at the thought of having faith in herself and trusting a split-second memory. This feeling of not knowing a single thing about herself was like being buried with red-hot ants. C’mon, Mary Jane, you have to analyze everything. Don’t trust anyone.

Her hands shook as she raked one through her hair, realizing that even trusting herself wasn’t wise. She’d need to second guess everything until her memories returned.

Hopefully, they’d return.

The truck was already catching up. Jake sat in the passenger seat, shaking his head in what appeared to be disappointment. The guy in the driver’s seat had a crazed look on his red-blistered face.

Her heart stopped. Were they playing a game of chicken? Well, you’ve messed with the wrong girl. Mary Jane pressed harder on the gas, ready for a head-on collision. She was getting to the police station in this life or . . .

Her chest slammed against the belt again as the truck rammed the back of the car. In an instant, she removed her foot from the gas and gave the brake a hard push. Mary Jane yanked the wheel. “C’mon,” she growled, praying the car would stay on the road as she made a U-turn.

As the truck sailed past her, still going North, Mary Jane’s eyes connected with Jake’s. Regret flooded over his gaze. She winced, heading South.

The steering wheel shook as the Corolla’s engine caught back up to a steady ninety miles per hour. Mary Jane passed the gas station again, when the truck finally made a U-turn a few yards back.

Up ahead was a sign displaying the direction to the police station. A half mile ahead, a sign at the Y in the road pointed to the police station. The car bounced over the dicey gravel as Mary Jane took the turn. A cinderblock building came into view with three police cars parked in front. Two officers stood just outside of the middle cruiser.

She pressed harder on the gas and gave another glance in the mirror. The Ford missed the turn. The officers scattered when she didn’t appear to slow down. The car jumped the curb of the parking lot. In ample time, she pressed her foot on the brake but there was no traction because the Corolla continued at top speed.