Winter's Edge

Chapter 3 - Lost

Ian

"DAMMIT, stop shooting my truck!" Sam yelled out his window.

Just before I lost sight of the school, the principal came out the doors and the agent quickly hid his gun in his coat.

Sam tried to look back for them. "Are they following us?"

"I doubt it with that flat tire."

"I hope they do." He gritted his teeth. "It'll give me a good excuse to run 'em off the road." He grimaced. "Why are they after you, anyway? Did you set off a bomb in the hall back there?"

My chest tightened. I couldn't tell him—they'd come for him, too.

"Never mind." He shook his head. "I don't wanna know."

I nodded and relaxed a bit. Sam did some crazy things, but he was smart.

He took another corner, tires screaming. "Where are we headed?"

I remembered my date with Mandy and glanced at my watch. "The diner."

Storm clouds rushed toward the town.

"Are you serious?" Sam looked dumbfounded. "You're still going on your date after what just happened?"

"No, but I need to kill some time before I head back to my house. That's probably where those agents are headed." I looked back once more to make sure we weren't followed. "My car's at Tony's shop and the diner's just a few blocks away. If Mandy's still waiting for me, at least I can tell her I gotta leave town."

"You're leaving town?"

"You got a better idea?"

Sam sighed with resignation.

After a few more turns, the truck came to a screeching halt in front of High Plains Diner. I sprang from the passenger seat and jogged toward the little restaurant. Trying to compose myself, I smoothed my shirt and ran a nervous hand through my hair.

As I stepped inside and scanned the restaurant, my heart sank. Mandy wasn't there.

"Hey, Ian." Sally had her order pad in hand. "Want your usual?"

My shoulders slumped. "Thanks, Sally, but I can't stay."

"You okay?" She holstered her pad and pen. "You look a little down."

I shrugged. "Have you seen a girl my age with curly blonde hair and blue eyes?"

"Yeah, she's been here a while." She glanced at the half-drunk soda sitting at the empty booth near the window. "I think she's in the restroom."

Hope sprung back into me, but it quickly vanished. It wasn't like it would ever work with me being on the run from those suits.

If there were a God, He had it out for me. Everything I'd touched here lately had turned to garbage. Maybe I'd be doing Mandy a favor if I just left.

Sally frowned at me as I turned to the exit.

I hesitated. Was I making a mistake?

As I reached for the door, I froze at the sound of Mandy's voice.

"Ian. You made it."

I turned to see Mandy's excited smile beaming across the room. My stomach unknotted as the edges of my lips curled up nervously. "Oh, you're still here."

"Where else would I be?" Mandy closed the distance between us, cheerful as could be in her tight, low-cut, magenta shirt and short, black skirt—a complete change from what she wore earlier.