Run So Far

by Elizabeth Monvey

  Del opened the cab door and gave Kyle a shove. “First, you’re going to get in the back.”

  “What?”

  “Go on, let me finish with the gas.”

  “But—”

  “Kyle! We don’t have much time if they’re tracking us. Trust me, okay? Let me finish gassing up.”

  Kyle nodded and turned to enter the cab. He went into the back and flopped on down on a table seat and ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t even move or flinch when Del got behind the wheel and started the rig up, pulling out of the truck stop and heading back down the road.

  “I have a tablet back there,” Del called out. “Somewhere in the cabinet by the television. It probably needs charging but it has Wi-Fi. Before we get lost again on the interstate, try looking up information on the dead girl.”

  Kyle rummaged through drawers until he found the tablet and cord. It took a few minutes before he was able to find a random internet signal that didn’t require a password, but once he did he immediately looked up Baltimore news. Bigger stories trumped the murder of a dead girl but Kyle finally came across a small article in the online newspaper, giving the dead girl a name. Trina Micarelli. Kyle’s heart rate thumped heavily in his chest as he stared at her face, her name rolling through his mind. She’d been twenty-two, a runaway who had been working on the streets since she was sixteen. Her rap sheet painted a very bleak picture of how she lived her life, and tears formed in his eyes at the thought that she was only two years younger than himself.

  As he scrolled down through the article, his own name caught his attention. A picture of his uncle, dressed in his formal blue uniform, with his head bowed as he stood behind a podium was attached. In disbelief, he read that he was named as a person of interest.

  “Oh shit,” he whispered. Taking the tablet, he moved into the cab and sat in the passenger seat. “I’m a suspect.”

  “What?”

  Kyle held up the tablet, the news article still on the screen. “My uncle has named me a suspect, that I’m being sought for questioning.”

  Del didn’t say anything.

  “I didn’t do it,” Kyle said, panic rising. Did Del believe him? How would anyone believe him?

  “I know you didn’t do it,” Del said quietly. “But that doesn’t mean anyone else will.”

  “You read my mind,” Kyle mumbled as he slumped down in the seat. “It had to be Brian. He must have fed lies to my uncle.”

  “Or your uncle is covering up for him. Didn’t you say he’d do anything to protect the family name?”

  It hurt to know his uncle would do anything to protect his lying asshole son, even place the blame on an innocent man.

  “Yeah,” Kyle muttered. “What the fuck am I going to do?”

  “I think you don’t have much choice now. You gotta give those pictures over to internal affairs. At least raise enough suspicion against your cousin to protect yourself.”

  “God, I’m selfish.” Kyle ran a hand over his face. “I was hesitant to turn over the pictures because I didn’t want to hurt my family, not because it was the right thing to do for Trina.”

  “Trina?”

  “That’s her name. Trina Micarelli. She was only twenty-two.”

  “Jesus. Makes me wonder what else your cousin has done.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I know we don’t know for sure he killed her, but if he did, this might not have been his first victim.”

  The observation stunned Kyle. Along with that question came another one. “If he had been planning on killing her, then why did he ask me to tag along that night? I mean, I became a witness. Surely he’d think I would tell someone.”

  “Maybe he wasn’t planning it. Maybe it was an accident. I can only guess, but … if it was planned, what if he always intended to frame you?”

  A fist slammed into Kyle’s heart. He and Brian hadn’t ever gotten along that well, but they were still family.

  “I feel sick,” Kyle whispered.

  “Why don’t you go lay down? Get some rest.”

  “Yeah. Okay.”

  He stumbled into the back, tossed the tablet onto the kitchen table, then collapsed on the bed. The tears that he’d managed to keep at bay broke free and rolled down each side of his face at his temples. If it was true, why would Brian want to hurt him in such a despicable way? And how could he think he’d possibly get away with it? He began to mindlessly remember his childhood, every incidence between him and Brian. That, along with the gentle swaying of the rig, lulled him into a half-conscious state.

  ****

  “You are gonna shit yourself!” Brian laughed as he parked his brand new Mustang in some type of abandoned district, which was easy to do. Baltimore was littered with them.

  Kyle looked around the dark parking lot, noticing only one other car there. He saw the moonlight reflecting off the water and realized Brian had driven them to the train station near the harbor, where warehouses interspersed with the slowly rusting cargo trains.

  “What are we doing here?” Kyle asked warily. “Listen, dude, I don’t want to be around your shit—”

  “Oh, lay off, cry boy,” Brian sneered. “For once just try to have fun. I swear to God you are gonna love this”

  “Love what?”

  “We’re filming a movie,” Brian said. “And you get some front row action of a porn film being made.”

  “Jesus Christ! I don’t want to see you fucking someone!”

  “Someones,” Brian stressed. “There are a few of ‘em in there waiting for us.”

  “Someones is not a word.”

  Brian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re being weird. Weirder than usual.”

  “It’s weird not to want to watch you—my cousin—fuck someone?”

  “Yes! What’s normal is a guy wanting to see some chick get her brains banged out. In fact, I was actually thinking we could tag team her.”

  “I am not doing a porn film.”

  “Why the hell not?” Brian leaned over, staring at him with cold, hate filled eyes. “You think you’re better than me?”

  “No, Brian. I don’t. Porn is not my thing.”

  “Porn is every man’s thing, Kyle. Except if you're queer. So … are you?”

  Kyle sat perfectly still and stared his cousin in the eye. “I. Am. Not. Doing. A. Porn. Film. I happen to respect women. I don’t like the subjugation of them in those films.”

  “Subjugation?” Brian sat back and laughed. “Holy fuck, cuz, these women are whores. They get paid for fucking men! They subjugate themselves.”

  “You will never convince me that those women wish to be in those types of films. That their lifelong dream was to grow up and get their private parts splattered across the Internet.”

  Brian rolled his eyes. “Whatever. If you don’t want to fuck the girl then take pictures. I can sell them to an online porn site. Get pictures of my dick in her, especially when I come. Just don’t get my face.”

  Kyle didn’t respond. He was really regretting accepting this night out with his cousin.

  “Kyle! Did you hear me? No pictures of my face.”

  “Yeah, yeah. No worries.”

  He awoke when Del shook him awake. Kyle blinked and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he looked groggily around, slightly disoriented.

  “Jesus. I didn’t expect to fall asleep.”

  “I pulled over for the day to get some rest before getting back on track tomorrow.”

  “Back on track? Where are we?”

  “I jumped on the 35 and took that down to Dallas-Fort Worth before heading west on the 20.”

  “We’re in Texas?”

  “Yeah, just outside of Abilene. Tomorrow we’ll follow this to Interstate 10, then up the twenty- five to Albuquerque to get back on the forty.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “If your uncle really wants to track my cell phone, then he can probably calculate how far this rig can go and where we’ll probably be. I figured
a detour would throw him off. If he’s following us, which I highly doubt.”

  Kyle stared at him, speechless. He sorted out his own calculation on how far Del had gone out of his way to help him, how much time he lost. He shook his head in wonderment.

  “Del, I never meant for you to lose a whole day driving … wait, if he’s following us?”

  “I think, more than likely, he’s going to wait until we either reach California, or you return home before pursuing this person of interest lead. Could be a rouse for all we know.”

  “Then why take a whole day out of your way driving around Robin Hood’s barn?”

  Del shrugged. “For you.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. I may believe one thing but what if I’m wrong? What if your uncle really is tracking us? I don’t want to do anything that gets you hurt.”

  Kyle’s heart thumped in his chest at the unexpected emotion rising. He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

  “No worries,” Del said, shrugging. “The cargo is just pipes, it’ll hold. Soon we’ll be back on the forty and we’ll continue on. Good thing this part of the US is mostly flat—”

  Kyle silenced him by placing a finger to his lips. “I meant thank you for believing in me. Thank you for being awesome. But most of all, thank you for trusting me enough to let me come along with you. I remembered some of that night.”

  “Just now?”

  Kyle nodded. “Dream or meditation, not sure which. Brian wanted me to join him in the film but I declined.”

  “See? In no time at all you’ll remember everything.”

  Del laid his hand on top of Kyle’s and the moment instantly changed as electricity zinged between them. They moved together, leaning into each other, and their lips met in a mash up of desperation and excitement. Kyle encircled Del’s neck with his arms and buried his hands in the thick dark hair. Everything between them always fell into the fast category, including their desire for one another. If he were to break it down, he had only known Del for a few days, but the instantaneous attraction grew with every second and every mile they traveled together. Would it last a lifetime? Who knew? But Kyle was willing to take the plunge and truly discover if the intangible threads drawing them together were enough to build a future upon. He hoped Del felt the same because something so tangible and vibrant couldn’t be so strong with one person but weak with the other.

  His thoughts scattered, however, as Del deepened the kiss. Slow, sensual, seductive. Del’s hands roamed over Kyle’s body in languid caresses, pushing the shirt up and over his head. Featherlike touches fanned the flames, leaving him aching for more just as Del trailed kisses over his cheek, down his jaw and to his neck. This new angle pushed Kyle back until his shoulders rested upon the bed and he moaned as teeth gently took hold of his nipple to suckle on, making his dick swell uncomfortably under the fly of his jeans.

  Kyle tried unbuttoning Del’s shirt but his hands were shaking with pent-up desire, making it difficult to push tiny round things through small oblong holes. So Del finished the job himself while Kyle watched through narrow eye slits, licking his lips as each inch of skin was bared little by little. Del left him only long enough to unsnap the top of his jeans, the sound echoing in the cab like a bottle of champagne popping. The zipper came down, teasingly, and then Del wiggled his hips as he pulled the jeans down, grabbing his shorts along with them to pool at his feet. The striptease only lasted for maybe half a minute but it seemed like an eternity. Kyle stared at him in wonder, especially at the thick cock proudly standing at attention. He reached for it, rubbing the bulging vein that disappeared under the mushroom head where a drop of white fluid dripped from the hole.

  Kyle bent down and licked the tip, loving the salty essence on his tongue. Del placed his hands on Kyle’s head, guiding him into a blowjob which Kyle happily complied. He slipped his mouth around the large head, tracing each curve with his tongue and easing his mouth over then down, going slowly. Kyle encircled the base of Del’s dick with his hand while Del controlled the thrusts. Del was a big man so it took a moment to adjust to the thick cock in his mouth and to let his throat muscles relax. In short time, however, he was deep throating Del and there was a sense of power as he made the bigger man moan and shake with pleasure.

  Little by little, Kyle increased the tempo, speeding up, his hand moving to Del’s heavy sack to roll the balls through the skin. Del gave a heavy gasp, his hips starting to twitch under the restraint he was holding onto.

  “God, Kyle,” he grunted. “I can’t hold on … Fuck! Fuck!”

  With one more slide of his mouth, Del exploded, shouting out a set of unintelligible sounds. Kyle sucked him down, milking him with his tongue, loving the wild taste upon his taste buds. After a few moments, Del slumped and Kyle pulled off him, using his shirt to wipe his mouth. Del pulled him into his arms and hugged him. Del’s heart pounded between them.

  “Wow,” Del said after a few minutes. “That was unfucking believable.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m not the most socially outgoing man there is, Kyle. I hide. I like to hide. I’m perfectly happy with my life.”

  “But?”

  “But I want you. I get a hard-on every time I see you.”

  Kyle couldn’t help it, he glanced down and saw Del’s cock grow semi-hard. With wide eyes, he glanced back up and raised his brows.

  “And I want you to stay, as long as you want.”

  “I’d like that,” Kyle said, as evenly as he could.

  “Then why don’t you get your ass up in bed and we’ll see how I can please you this time around,” Del growled in a low, sexy voice.

  ****

  The night was quiet, peaceful. Kyle lay wrapped up in Del’s arms, snuggled in warmth against his solid frame. The small bed didn’t allow much wiggle room, but Kyle liked it this way.

  “Where’s this thing between us going?” Del asked in a quiet tone, shaking Kyle out of his falling slumber.

  “I don’t know,” Kyle said, responding as honestly as possible. “This shit with Brian… I don’t know how long that will take.”

  “I never thought I’d like having someone around, but I like having you here.”

  “Because you don’t dream when we’re together?”

  “No,” Del said. “Well, yes, but that’s not it. I like your company. I like our conversations. I like that I don’t feel lonely around you, and that’s something I hadn’t even known.”

  “What?”

  “That being alone and being lonely were completely different things.”

  Happiness surged through Kyle, dimmed only slightly by the knowledge that he had to return to Baltimore. Time to grow up and face his family, although fear still hung over him like a heavy blanket. How could it not?

  “I understand if you need to move on,” Kyle said softly. “I can’t ask you to wait for me.”

  Silence descended, stretching through infinity until Del’s arms tightened.

  “Perhaps I want you to ask me to wait.”

  In the dark, Kyle searched for Del’s hand. Once he found it, he twined their fingers together.

  “Will you wait for me, Delaney Vance?”

  “Reckon so. I’m not sure how it happened, or when, but I’ve fallen for you, Kyle Hardigan.”

  There were a thousand things Kyle wanted to say, but emotion choked him up. Instead, he kissed the back of Del’s hand. Finally at ease, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  The girl laughed coquettishly and beckoned with one finger. Brian moved closer so she could lower the zipper on his jeans and bring out his dick. As she proceeded to give his cousin a blowjob, watching it made Kyle very uncomfortable. He brought up his camera to zoom up to the girl’s face, then pulled out until the focus cleared and was able to line both the girl and Brian into frame. Perhaps he could blackmail Brian into making sure he wouldn’t have to see another one of these things again.

  “Ouch!” Brian yelled. Thro
ugh the lens, he saw Brian backhand the girl. She went flying onto the bed. “You fucking bit my dick, you bitch! You’ll pay for that.”

  Kyle took a step forward intending to help the girl when a hand held him back. He looked up to see one of Brian’s friends shaking his head no. He placed a finger on his lips and nodded toward the video camera trained on the bed. Part of the act? Brian’s hands encircled the girl’s neck even as he forced himself into her mouth.

  “You better not bite me again, you fucking cunt!”

  The girl visibly began to struggle, clawing at Brian’s hands. Just as Kyle took another step toward the so-called staged love scene, Brian let her go and hit her again.

  “Let’s try this again.”

  Feeling sick, Kyle walked away. He couldn’t watch something so sick and wondered how people found hurting another human being a sexual turn-on. He ended up at the recreation table where red cups waited, filled with something that had an amber color and foamed at the sides. Wasn’t hard to guess it was beer, and even though it was probably warm, he needed the alcoholic fortification to get through the night. He picked one up and took a deep drink, grimacing a little at the bitter taste. Cheap beer was the worst.

  “Hey, what are you doing?”

  Kyle looked up to see another member of the production staff, although calling it a ‘movie’ shoot was laughable. “Isn’t this hospitality?”

  The man smirked. “This stuff is for the girls.”

  He pointed into a makeshift roped off room and Kyle had to lean a little to the right to see around the bigger man. Inside, several girls sat, apparently waiting, their skimpy clothing letting him know exactly why they were there.

  “Do you ply them with alcohol before you bang the shit out of them?”

  Brian’s friend flexed his muscles. “Can’t wait. So don’t drink this stuff. Our drinks are over there, in the coolers.”

  Kyle looked over his shoulders. Two red and white coolers rested a fair bit away. Sealed bottles of beer and water rested on top, surrounded by ice.

  “Thanks,” he said dryly.

  The man shrugged and picked up a red cup before walking into the room where the girls resided. He looked around before choosing a girl by handing her the cup. Thinking they were all fucking psychopaths, Kyle left the table behind. As he walked away, he glanced at the bed and had to swallow the bile that rose up in his throat. The girl who had been giving Brian head now lay sprawled spread eagle, either passed out or acting compliant, while Brian loomed over her, fucking her inert body.