Chapter Two
Misty stood in front of the Walmart bulletin board, scanning the flyers of missing persons. A picture of a smiling teenage girl with long dark hair and eyes stared at her. It was an achingly ordinary school portrait with the branches of green leaves background. The girl’s smile was self-conscious, her hair too perfect. Above the picture, the word “Missing” was in bold, red lettering. The flyer listed the girl’s age to be fifteen at the time she went missing and indicated that she had pierced ears.
Bile burned its way up her throat, and it felt like she was in a box where the walls kept closing in on her. Black spots floated before her eyes and she looked over her shoulder. I know Bobby’s found parking by now. I can’t let him see this. Grabbing the flyer from the board, she ripped it in half and then again. Dashing over to a trash can, she saw him coming into the store. She threw away the pieces of paper and took several deep breaths.
“Whatcha doin’?” he asked, a look of suspicion in his eyes.
“Just throwing away a tissue. Did you have to park far?”
He looked down into the trash can, then back at her. “Not too far. Let’s go check out the lingerie.” Bobby gripped her hand and they went into the store.
Ever since she’d turned over the money Paco had given her, Bobby had been in a good mood. He’d even let her stay in and sleep the night before, making Crystal and Amber Jade hustle even harder. The two women hated her anyway, and she was sure they were going to plan something to get back at her. They blamed her for Bobby making her his special woman. She was allowed to stay with him in the RV while the other two women had to share a small camper. He never spent the night with them, though he occasionally had sex with them to spite her when she made him mad.
“You like this?” He picked up a purple lace mesh top with a G-string.
“It’s pretty,” she said, but her mind was on the picture of the girl on the bulletin board.
Chelsea Sullivan. I was her a lifetime ago.
“You seem distracted. What’s going on?” Bobby stared at her intently.
Her stomach twisted in several knots. Under no circumstances did she want to break the good mood he’d been in. When he was in a foul mood, he could be very cruel. Forcing a smile she didn’t feel, she stroked his cheek. “I’m just happy you’re buying me something so pretty, that’s all.”
A tense pause filled the space between them, and then he tugged her to him and hugged her. “You’re my good girl. You want some cold medicine?”
“That’d be great. I know if I had some, I’d feel so much better faster.”
“Yeah. Tonight I need you out there. I can’t keep giving you time off.” Her heart sank but she kept her smile and nodded. “You can wear this under your coat. No way any of those whores can compete with you.” He dropped the lingerie set into the cart and steered it toward the pharmacy.
As they maneuvered the aisles, she saw a man ahead of them wearing a leather jacket with writing on the back. The bottom read “Colorado.” Is Paco back in town? Butterflies erupted inside her as they passed the tall man. She looked quickly at him and her heart felt like it was shrinking. It wasn’t him.
Since he’d left the day before, all she could think about was him. He was different from any man she’d ever met. When she’d entered the diner that stormy night, she noticed him immediately. How could she not? With his dark brown hair, chocolate-brown eyes, and square jaw covered in just the right amount of scruff, at first she thought he was a figment of her fevered state. But then he looked at her, and the way Holly—that bitch—kept flirting with him told her that he looked as she saw him: rugged and gorgeous.
“You want cough drops too?” Bobby asked.
“Uh… yeah. Yeah. That’s good.” She turned away, pretending to be looking at the bottles on the shelf. The fact that Paco ignored Holly’s advances told Misty he was different from any of the guys who pulled into the truck stop. And when she saw him with a towel around his waist, his chest perfectly sculpted and sprinkled with wicked tats, and the trail of dark hair suggesting something wonderful, she wanted to fuck him. But he said no. She couldn’t fathom it. He’d paid her to sleep and feel better. It’d blown her mind, and she still couldn’t believe it.
“I think this one will do. What the fuck’s up with you?” Irritation laced Bobby’s question.
Focus. Don’t make him mad. “I guess I just need the medicine. I’m feeling a little out of it.”
His face softened. “We’ll go back and you can take it and sleep before you get out there tonight.” He steered the cart toward the checkout counters and she followed. Maybe Paco will be in the diner tonight. She knew it was a long shot; he’d told her he lived near the four corners in Colorado, and that was over a hundred miles away. She wondered if she’d ever see him again.
Just stop it. Even if you saw him again, so what? It’s not like you can go away with him. It’s not like you’re free.
Images of her jumping up in the air shaking her pom-poms during a game at Roosevelt High flitted through her mind. Back then she’d been free. She shook her head in a vain attempt to scramble the memory. Allowing herself to remember wasn’t good; it made her sad and resigned. She’d done a good job of erasing her past, but sometimes it shoved its way front and center. Meeting Paco had stirred the walk down memory lane, and seeing herself at fifteen on the flyer had opened the floodgates. But remembering was dangerous, and as shitty as her life was, she still wanted to keep living.
Bobby’s lips on her skin were cool and soothing. The past scurried away to the shadowy corners of her mind.
“You’re burning up.” He took out the cold medicine and opened it as they walked to his car. Stopping in the middle of the parking lot, he poured out a thick red liquid into the plastic cup. “Here, drink up.”
She threw it back and crinkled her nose as the sweet medicinal liquid coated the back of her mouth. “Thanks.”
“I always look out for my special girl. You know that.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek again.
On the drive back to the RV park, she watched the wind blow the sand and tumbleweeds across the desolate landscape. It was so different from the fertile rolling plains of Ohio.
Stop remembering! I wonder what Paco’s doing right now. He said he owned a store. What did he call it?
“You’re pretty quiet. Is the medicine doing its thing?”
She nodded.
He said he sold biker stuff and military things. I’ll have to google it tonight. I’m just curious. It’s nothing more than that. Gives me something different to think about.
“Here we are.” Bobby turned into the RV park, about twenty RVs scattered around the dirt lot. All of them were there to work the truck stop for a while before moving on to another one. Misty had been there for the past three months, and she knew Bobby would be pulling up stakes soon. Working the truck stop route was a very transitory life.
She went into their quarters and walked directly to the bedroom. Stripping down to her underwear, she slid under the covers and pulled them over her head. The medicine had begun to take effect, and her heavy eyelids drooped until she succumbed to sleep.