Haunted by the Past (Original)

Chapter 54

As it turned out, the closest town ended up being a cluster of homes with a two-pump 7-11 gas station. As far as I could tell, it also served as the town's grocery store. The next actual town wasn't for another 10 miles and I was already well beyond my limit walking on my sprained ankle. As luck would have it though, there was an old Toyota Tacoma for sale parked on the grass beside the gas station.

"No," Eli said firmly.

"You don't have the money?" I pressured.

"It's not the question of money," he defended.

"So instead of doing things the legal way, you would rather steal someone's car. Do you understand how change needs to start with you?" I frowned, crossing my arms.

"That thing will get like 5 miles to the gallon!" he argued. "And besides, I was wanting something this century."

I looked around at the few houses in view, "I'm not sure you're going to find anything younger than me here."

"I am not driving a pickup," he insisted.

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the number listed on the sign, "You don't have a choice, Elijah Quentin. Transfer adequate payment for that truck to the owner of that phone number."

"I bet it can't even get to sixty," he grumbled as he sat down on the ground and pulled his laptop from his backpack.

As it was now the wee hours of the morning, I didn't have the heart to wake the owner just to buy his truck, but I also didn't want to wait around for a more decent hour of the day to make the purchase either. Given Eli didn't complain about making the transfer, I knew that meant he had no trouble locating the owner's details with just a phone number, license plate and town of residence. I wasn't sure if I should've been happy or creeped out by how easily he met the challenge. While he worked, I hobbled into the 7-11 and bought a bag of ice for my ankle, then hobbled back to Eli and sat down on the ground next to him with my ankle propped up on the bag of ice.

"Done," Eli closed his laptop less than twenty minutes later.

"Really?" I arched my eyebrow questioningly.

"Yeah, he had his Paypal account on another listing so I sent the money there," he explained as he stood up.

"And you gave him a fair amount?" I narrowed my eyes, still refusing to believe he had completed the transfer.

"Well, our friend Leroy Markus Paxton gave him a fair amount," he smirked, referring to the sex offender back at the previous rest stop.

My shoulder angel and devil didn't even argue before agreeing in unison that this was still not sufficient enough punishment for Leroy. Stiffly I stood back up while Eli picked the lock on the truck's door. Before limping around to the passenger side of the truck with my bag of ice, I wrote a little note for the owner on the back of the for sale sign.

Sorry, had to buy urgently. Check your Paypal for payment.

While Eli drove the rest of the way to Raven Hill, I removed my sneaker to inspect the swelling of my sprained ankle. It had become a lovely tinge of reddish purple beneath the bandage wrap. With the bag of ice lying across the truck's dashboard, I lifted my foot to rest my ankle on the ice. It was probably the most uncomfortable position to be in, but it meant having my foot finally raised.

With a heavy sigh, I checked my phone and broke the silence in the truck, "Well that was a crazy eight hours."

"Where did you get that ice?" Eli frowned.

"You only just noticed? I bought it back at the 7-11," I pointed out.

"You didn't let the cashier see your face, did you?" he panicked.