Chapter Eight: Jay

Jay had no doubt in his mind at this point that if Addy could make him dead with her mind, he’d already be cold and buried six feet under.
As he instructed her to pull the SUV off a no-service exit, he subconsciously leaned into the passenger’s side door, as far away from her seething anger as he could get while confined in that tiny space. He kept an eye on her clenched fists as she drove down a random gravel road, one surrounded by trees and cut off from the freeway and any busy roads. Inevitably, law enforcement would find the vehicle; not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they would find it, and Jay had no intention of being in it when they did.
He was lying to Addy about his reasoning to keep her with him, but he couldn’t tell her what it was; not yet. She wouldn’t care, and he knew it would make no difference to her if he lived or died. There were only so many bizarre and creepy ways to tell a total stranger he needed her but couldn’t tell her why, so he kept his mouth shut instead. And while Jay feared that she’d narc on him, the many hours of driving had allowed him to form a better plan in his mind, and moment by moment it was coming together like he hoped it would. Addy, unfortunately, now had to be a bigger part of this than either of them ever wanted.
“What are we going to do now?” She pulled the SUV into a ditch on the side of the road just as the vehicle jerked and sputtered. It died before Addy could even turn it off.
“We’re going to walk,” Jay said. “We’re going to walk until we find somewhere to stay for the night.”
“Are you serious? You don’t even know where we are.”
“Somewhere in Idaho, I think,” he said.
“That’s exactly my point. We could die out here.” She was agitated now, both hands flinging in the air like he was some jerk asking her to do something incredibly stupid.
Okay, yeah, that was what he was asking. The truth was, he didn’t want to walk, either. It was cold as all fuck outside, and he hadn’t the slightest idea where they were or where they must go from here.
He stared at Addy for a moment, watched her chew her lip nervously. The circles beneath her eyes were even more prominent than before, and her knuckles were white where she’d been clutching the steering wheel with a death grip.
“You’re right,” Jay said. He looked away from her, out the windshield. It was dark, cold. The sky was black, and when he looked at his watch, he found it was almost ten.
He grabbed his pack from the floor of the SUV and opened the passenger’s side door. His feet were still killing him, but he had no choice anymore. As he stepped out of the vehicle, he turned back around to look at Addy staring at him with her mouth wide open.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking,” he said. “Come on.”
“You’re serious?” She sounded horrified.
Jay sighed and rolled his shoulders back, hoping to ease the ache in his bones. “I guess we can sleep in the car,” he said. “But there’s a chance we’ll freeze to death sometime during the night.”
“I think I’ll take my chances,” Addy said.
Jay stepped back and looked around. It was dark, so dark he could barely separate the road from the ditches on either side. There was no sound around them except for the occasional hoot of an owl somewhere deep in the trees. There were no drivers, no houses, no headlights.
“Suit yourself.” He shut the door of the SUV and slung the pack over one shoulder. As he walked through the dark toward what he assumed was a safe direction (any direction was better than just standing there, he supposed), the sound of a slamming door came from behind him.
“So, what, that’s it?” Addy called to him.
He didn’t slow down; he didn’t have time to stand there arguing with her.
“That’s it,” he said over his shoulder.
“Those are my options, stay here and freeze overnight or go with you as your hostage?”
“Yes,” Jay said, and when she called out to him again, he finally stopped and turned around. She was coming toward him, her arms around herself for warmth, the hood from her skimpy jacket drawn up over her head.
“You’re a piece of shit,” she said as she approached. She stopped in front of him. As Jay’s eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw the fear etched in her features with something he figured was anxiety-induced apprehension. As they stood there, her eyes darted from tree to tree as though she were preparing for something to jump out from the woods and grab her.
“If I’m such a piece of shit, why don’t you stay here?” He was offering her an out, even if it was a shitty one, and she was too dumb and scared to take it.
“I can’t stay here alone,” she said.
“I didn’t tell you to.”
“I don’t know where we are.”
“That makes two of us.”
It was snowing again. While it had been lovely to look at from safely behind the windshield of a warm vehicle, Jay had to hold back an animated groan of disgust. He looked up at the sky, wishing he could see more than just an endless bed of black as the frozen flakes settled on his skin. It was beautiful, as it always was.
Until they froze to death, anyway.
Jay looked back at Addy. She was wringing her hands now, looking around in silence. He wasn’t sure she understood anything coming out of his mouth. He wanted to settle her, soothe her somehow, but he could do nothing. She’d probably punch him in the face for trying, anyway.
“If you come with me back to the freeway, Addy, you’re not going home,” Jay said as they walked. “Leaving you here where you couldn’t run to the police was the only way I knew I could get a head start. Since you didn’t take it, I have to take you.”
“Leaving me out in the middle of nowhere with no help is no better than forcing me to go somewhere with you,” Addy said finally.
“I know. But I figured you’d prefer the latter.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“The answer hasn’t changed, Addy. Does it look like I want to kill you?”
She looked down at the ground. Her arms were folded, shielding herself. The snow was coming down thick, leaving dustings of white along her shoulders and on top of her hood. Strands of brown hair were escaping from the sides, framing her face. Her cheeks were red from the cold, as was the tip of her nose, and as Jay scanned his eyes over her face, he noticed a single snowflake land on her eyelash. She held his gaze for a long moment before she finally looked away.
“What choice will you have?” she asked. “Eventually you’ll either have to let me go, or you’ll have to kill me.”
“I guess you’ll have to play your cards right,” Jay said. “So don’t fuck up.”
They trudged down the gravel road in silence for a few minutes, ragged breathing cutting through the air. It wasn’t a hard walk; it was just too fucking cold. Jay’s lungs felt like they’d been dipped into a vat of liquid nitrogen, and his skin was past the point of being numb; it physically hurt. He wasn’t sure he even had feet anymore, let alone a nose or the tip of his ears.
By the time they reached the freeway, Jay had found a more private path headed in the direction he knew they’d been traveling in the SUV. It was far enough from the flow of traffic that Addy couldn’t wave somebody down (especially in the dark) without having to make a run for it first. And if she was feeling anything like Jay was at that moment, much more than a stiff, numb limp was out of the question.
“We have to stop soon,” she said after a few more minutes. “I’m cold.”
Jay stopped walking and turned around to look at Addy. Covered in a soft layer of snow and still holding her arms around her, she was shivering, her entire body trembling in the cold. Her skin was no longer red, but as pale as the flakes dropping around them.
“Jesus, woman.” He shrugged off his jacket and held it out to her. “Switch me. This one is warmer.”
“I’m fine,” Addy said, but her teeth were chattering.
“Take it or stand there and argue with me, it’s your choice, but first think about which route will get us to a motel quicker.”
Addy took a second to give up, just as Jay assumed it would. A woman like Addy wanted to be strong and independent. God forbid she caved and accepted help from the man who had taken her hostage.
As she stiffly pulled off her flimsy jacket, hands shaking, she took his thicker one and pulled it on as he forced his arms into her jacket. It was a size or two too small, but he’d been expecting that. It was still slightly warm from whatever body heat she’d had left.
When Jay looked back at Addy, her chin was down as she fumbled numbly for the zipper on the coat. Her fingers kept slipping, hands shaking.
“Here.” He stepped up to her and reached for the zipper himself, pulling it up so her chin was snug inside the fabric. Then he pulled the hood over her head, hands hovering on either side of her face. Addy watched him as she burrowed her fingers into the deep pockets of his coat, biting her lip. He had the intense urge to grab her cheeks between his fingers and kiss her, to pull her into him and hold her, warm her up. But he didn’t. He dropped his hands from her face.
“Thanks,” she said.
He nodded once and turned away, forcing himself to keep walking. He could only hope that sooner rather than later they’d find an exit with something remotely helpful in the distance.
“We need to find a different car,” Jay said over his shoulder.
“Well, as soon as I see someone on the street corner willing to trade, I’ll let you know,” Addy said. Her teeth were chattering.
About the length of a football field ahead, he spotted a sketchy-looking pub right off the exit. It could be seen from the freeway, a flashing neon sign that read, “Margarita Night, Women’s Drinks Half Off!”
“There,” Jay said. “Just up ahead.”
“While a drink doesn’t sound too bad, I’m not sure how it’s going to help our situation,” Addy mumbled. She stumbled in the snow, almost falling. Jay knew if she were physically feeling anything near the exhaustion and pain he was, she wouldn’t be able to make it through the cold and snow for much farther.
“Just trust me, okay?” Jay said. Without thinking twice about it, he took Addy’s arm in his hand to steady her. She didn’t fight him, didn’t spew hateful words, or try to hit him. She only followed him silently across the field and toward the pub. Twice she tripped and nearly fell, but he kept her on her feet.
Somewhere in the distance, Jay could hear drunk, babbling idiots singing to each other. He saw no small-town police on the prowl yet, but it was still early in the night. Any time now they would be out trying to catch drunk drivers in the act, and he’d be out in the open, just asking for it.
“Are we going in?” Addy said as they approached the pub from the back entrance. Jay dropped her arm and looked around. There was no one in visible sight, as this small-town bar didn’t have the same action as the big city joints. Maybe he could do this and get away with it.
“What are you going to do?” demanded Addy as Jay flipped up his hood.
He kneeled next to someone’s car, ignoring the stiffness in his joints and the freezing cold snow seeping through his Levi’s. Addy’s tone had taken on a terrifying hiss, and Jay could only hope she’d keep it together long enough for him to figure this out.
“Just stand there, don’t move,” he said. “Say my name if someone comes near.”
“Jay, you’re not going to steal the—”
He reached for the handle of the red Jeep Cherokee and pulled. Locked. Damn. He took Addy’s hand again—surprised when she followed him without a fight—and tried the next door to a white suburban. Locked.
“I don’t think this is a good idea. At all.” Addy said under her breath.
“I know,” he said. “I heard you the first time.”
The dark November air was chilling her skin. He could feel it against him. He wished he had gloves to give her.
“Jay—”
“Settle down.” He stopped in front of a blue Cavalier and yanked the handle, prepared to move on, when the door popped open, squealing a little.
“Jesus,” said Addy. “We can’t steal someone’s car!”
Jay leaned into the driver’s seat, holding his breath, and checked the ignition for the keys. Nothing. He didn’t have time to hotwire it, not that he was confident he would even be able to. Now, he was running on pure luck. He leaned in farther, ignoring the offensive smell of perfume and mint gum that reached his nose. He allowed his hand to rummage through the jockey box, and then the middle console. As he was about to try another one, his fingers brushed against a ring of cold metal under the seat. He smiled and wrapped his fingers around the key ring. As he straightened up, someone behind him said Addy’s name.
Jay caught his breath and froze.
This is it, he thought. I’m done for.