Truth Comes Second

The Walk Over

Author's Note: Thanks to the readers that have had patience with my updates. You guys are the true MVPs! :D

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We drove in silence for an unbearable amount of time. I kept looking out the window at the few cars we passed. I hoped one of them would notice the truck. A description of it had even been on the news, but their eyes were all focused ahead on the road. I wanted to mouth "help" to the few cars that did look over, but Tommy kept glancing over at me and I didn't want him to see me.

The radio was on low, but nothing was mentioned about me. The cops outside of Jimmy's door must have assumed I took a cab home. It was the middle of the night, and they probably thought I didn't want to sleep in a wheelchair beside his bed.

"Where are we going?" I asked Tommy. I hoped he would change his mind and head for the house, but he knew it was swarming with cops.

"Don't know yet, Jules," he said.

I needed to get him to stop. I had to find a phone somewhere so that I could call Cameron, but I knew Tommy wouldn't let me out of his sight.

"I'm just really tired," I said.

"Take a nap in the truck then."

"You must be tired too, though." I tried to make my voice sound sweet. I had to stay on his good side. "When was the last time you got to sleep?"

Tommy's lips quirked into a smile. He placed his hand on my knee and ran his hand up my thigh. I felt like I could throw up at any moment. I held Hunter closer to my body and away from Tommy's hand. He squeezed my thigh and it took everything inside of me not to peel his hand off.

"Jules," he said chuckling. "I want to stop just as bad as you do, but we have to drive a few more hours before we can look for a place to stay for a bit."

"Tommy, cops everywhere are looking for the truck," I told him. "We'll get caught."

"No one is paying attention, Jules."

"But in the morning they will. We have to ditch the truck and then walk to a hotel."

"What if they recognize me? Jules, we have to keep driving."

"Drive to where? I'll get us a room. Even if they do recognize me it's not a big deal."

Tommy let out a deep breath and ran his hand up my thigh again.

"Fine, we'll pull over."

I sat in silence as Tommy pulled off of the highway and started driving down streets lined with restaurants, and car dealerships. I spotted two or three little motels. Tommy spotted them, but he kept driving past them.

"I'm ditching the car far away," he said. "We're going to walk for a bit."

Tommy drove for another thirty minutes until he found a shopping mall. He parked the truck at the back of the parking lot, and I jumped out of the truck as soon as Tommy turned the engine off. I wanted to run, but there was no way I could outrun him, especially while carrying Hunter. Tommy pulled a bag out of the back of the truck and threw it over his shoulder. I watched him grabbed a gun from the truck and shove it into his pocket.

A cold breeze caused a shiver to run up my spine. I unzipped my sweater and wrapped it around Hunter to keep him warm. Tommy walked around and slid the keys under the truck. He was limping, and with both of our wounded legs, we wouldn't get to one of the hotels until the morning.

--

We walked in silence for the rest of the night. Hunter cried a few times, and I knew he was cold and hungry. When he was crying, Tommy would look at me and shake his head. I tried to quiet him down as quick as possible. I didn't want Tommy to snap, and at the same time snap Hunter's neck.

My fingers and toes had gone numb from the bitter wind. My leg was screaming out in agony with every step I took. A strip of fire laced my muscles. I had to convince myself to keep walking. When I went in I would get a phone and I would call the police.

Seeing the signs for all of those restaurants and car dealerships was like paradise. The motels were tucked away behind them. Tommy grabbed my arm and I followed him as he walked to the second one he saw. We stopped outside of the front of the building. Tommy let go of my hand and dug into his pocket to hand me some money. He pulled his hood up as far as it would go. He was able to cover most of his eyes.

"Give me, Hunter," he said.

"Why?" I asked. I turned my body so that Hunter was away from him.

"You're going to do all the talking," he said. "Give me Hunter so that it doesn't look odd."

I felt my throat tighten. He was going with me into the lobby. I wouldn't be able to call the police.

"You said they'll recognize you," I told him. "Let me go in alone and I'll bring the room key out."

"Not happening, Jules," he said. "I'm not letting you go anywhere alone."

"Tom-"

"Jules, don't disrespect me or I'll have to teach you a lesson."

I swallowed past the lump forming in my throat. Tommy ripped the sweater off of Hunter and handed it over to me.

"Put it on," he said. "And you better not have gotten sick."

I pulled my arms through the sleeves and zipped it up. Tommy grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the front door. He slipped his hand down around my waist as he opened up the door.

There was a girl sitting behind the desk, and she was only about my age. She was loudly chewing gum and blowing bubbles while flipping through a magazine. A couple of bells clanged together on top of the door and she looked up at us.

"Hi," I said, hoping that she would recognize Tommy and I. "We need a room."

"How many nights?" she asked.

"Just one for now."

I tried to look the girl in the eyes, hoping I could make some kind of communication with her that Tommy wouldn't notice. She kept her eyes down as she typed a few things into a computer. Tommy stood with his back to her, and was lightly bouncing Hunter.

"Your room is 22," she said. "It's on the top floor."

My hands were shaking as I took the key from her. Partly from fear and partly from the cold that was still causing me to shiver. I tried to look the girl in the eyes again, but she went back to reading her magazine.

Tommy took my hand and pulled me out of the lobby. We climbed up the stairs, both of us needing to grab the rails because of our sore legs.

I needed to wait until Tommy fell asleep, and then I'd bring Hunter down to the lobby and we'd wait there after I called the cops.

Tommy took the room key out of my hand and I grabbed Hunter from him. He unlocked the door and we entered the hotel room.