Brightest As We Fall

by Cleo Peitsche

  “You don’t deserve it. That’s my offer.”

  Unexpectedly, the quizzical smile reached the other side of her mouth. “I’ll be someone new?”

  “Yes.”

  She stuck her hand out. “You have a deal.”

  As they shook, Jason said, “It’s the best move. For both of us.”

  “I deserve more than you’re offering, but no one said I was smart.”

  He met her eye. “I’m saying you’re smart. Working together is the best chance for either of us to get through this in one piece.”

  “Business partners,” she said, appearing to mull it over. “There are things you need to tell me. Who were you meeting, and what happened?”

  “Let’s get the money and leave town,” he said. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know once we’re a couple hundred miles away.” Maybe he would, maybe not.

  Her crooked grin was charming. “I bet you’ll try to weasel out of it.”

  “Real polite—”

  He broke off to study three groups of couples in their mid-twenties who were approaching the restaurant’s entrance.

  “Here’s the other thing,” Jason said, watching as they filed through the doors and fanned out, the girls going toward the toilets while the guys approached the counter, the same as he and DeeAnn had done. He considered the alluring woman sitting across from him. She was proving to be a bigger headache than he’d bargained for. DeeAnn’s eyes looked huge in her face. Jason wasn’t fooled. She wasn’t half as innocent or naive as she appeared.

  But she was a far cry from tough, and that could be a problem.

  She lifted an eyebrow, and he frowned, regaining his train of thought. “You’re going to have to trust me. If I tell you to do something, you need to do it. If you have a problem with something I’m doing, keep it to yourself.”

  “You’re the big bad criminal, and I’m the clueless tagalong,” she said. “Believe me, I get it.”

  He would learn soon enough if that was true. “Good. Let’s find a car.”

  DeeAnn’s eyebrows drew closer together.

  Maybe he should send her on an errand while he jacked their future ride.

  No.

  If she couldn’t handle this, it was better to find out now, and not when their lives depended on her obedience.

  Chapter 12

  The evening had grown cool, and Jason was aware of DeeAnn shivering as they walked down the sidewalk. On the distant highway, a horn blared.

  While the parking lot was busier than when they’d arrived, it wasn’t full, especially down this end. Most of the activity surrounded the burger chain.

  “Where are we going?” DeeAnn asked.

  Jason scoped out each vehicle as they passed.

  A quick look, nothing suspicious.

  Many of the parked vehicles were occupied, which was to be expected.

  Then he got lucky.

  The couples he’d watched enter the pizza restaurant had parked at the edge of the allotted spaces, likely wanting to stay together. Three cars, all of them empty, and nothing beyond but the dark night, and in the distance, the highway. One of the cars was an older model.

  “You see that truck?” Jason pointed at the semi parked illegally at the back of the lot. Despite the streetlight’s glare on the windshield, the telltale red glow of a cigarette let him know the driver was sitting inside.

  “What truck?” DeeAnn asked. Jason almost answered, then realized she was making fun of him.

  “Go give the driver five hundred bucks.” Maybe ask if he’ll take you off my hands for another five hundred, leave you thousands of miles away.

  DeeAnn’s jaw dropped.

  “Sixty seconds ago, you promised to listen to me.” He grabbed five bills out of the duffel and pressed them onto DeeAnn’s palm. Her fingers were cool, but he briefly felt the wild fluttering of her heart. “Go on.”

  She stared at him with wide eyes, then ducked her head and hurried away.

  One stone, two birds.

  He unbuckled his belt. Inside was a set of special tools, and he never went anywhere without them. Precisely for occasions like this.

  He chose the older car, a dark blue sedan parked all the way on the end. Half the people in the country drove one like it. Jason could steal one of these blindfolded and hungover.

  Without glancing around to check if he was being watched, he unlocked the door.

  The driver hadn’t set the alarm. Unfortunately, they hadn’t stashed a second set of keys in the visor.

  Jason turned off the car’s dome light as he slipped into the driver’s seat. Using his phone’s flashlight, he illuminated the ignition.

  Footsteps approached. Jason knew who it was.

  “What are you doing?” DeeAnn asked.

  “Did you give him the money?” Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out his keyring.

  “Yeah. He said thanks.”

  Jason snorted softly. “Get in.”

  “We shouldn’t steal a car,” DeeAnn said. “For a lot of people, most of their money is wrapped up in their cars.”

  “Then people should buy less expensive vehicles.”

  “My car got stolen a couple of years ago. It screwed up my life, no exaggeration. I couldn’t afford to replace it. Lost a pretty good job at the distribution center because the buses weren’t reliable. My boss decided I was out partying every night. She wouldn’t give me a reference.”

  “You should have taken earlier buses.” Jason knew he was being an asshole, feeling defensive.

  “It’s not right,” DeeAnn said stubbornly.

  “I told you to get in. Remember our deal.” He fixed her with his hardest look, and she withered under his glare.

  She climbed into the passenger seat. Jason jammed a flat metal “key” from his keyring into the ignition, using more force than he remembered needing in the past. Though it had been almost two years since he’d stolen a car.

  Hopefully, this would work because he didn’t have time to be messing with wires. Once the jiggler was inserted as far as it would go, he wiggled it up and down but couldn’t get it to turn. He pulled the jiggler free.

  “What are you doing?”

  Jason studied his keyring, chose a key and slid it into the ignition. Nothing happened. He leaned out of the car and scraped the ridged edge of the key along the ground.

  When he reinserted it and turned his wrist, the engine roared to life.

  Now he glanced around. The three couples were sitting at a table inside the pizza restaurant. They were joking, laughing, eating. They looked happy.

  How fitting.

  “It’s like watching primates in a zoo,” Jason said, lifting his chin at them. “See how that girl is playing with the guy’s hair? Grooming, just like monkeys.”

  DeeAnn huffed. “Do you really believe that comparing people to animals makes stealing their car any less wrong?”

  He didn’t point out that for all DeeAnn’s bellyaching, she had strapped herself into the seat without too much convincing.

  But maybe she had a point. He reached into the duffel and pulled out a stack.

  “See this?” Jason held it in front of DeeAnn’s face, then climbed out of the car, walked to the next closest vehicle, and tucked the wad of bills under the windshield wiper.

  The similarities between him and those people didn’t matter—they were probably only a few years younger than he was, but they seemed from a different generation. Those kids had nothing in common with him.

  They would go home to their safe, warm houses. They’d ignore nagging texts from parents who loved them, and bitch about student loans for degrees from colleges they never would have attended if they’d been born into the wrong family. Or if they were unlucky. Jason had been born into the right family, after all, but it hadn’t been enough to protect him.

  “Thank you,” DeeAnn said as he slid behind the steering wheel. She was closing the glove box. “The car belongs to Timothy Swinton, if you care.”

 
; Jason didn’t care. “Thank yourself. That money is coming out of your share.”

  “Fine by me.”

  He didn’t like the snotty way she said it, and he had the feeling he would come to regret the decision. Now she’d expect him to yield and compromise on everything.

  If so, she was in for a surprise.

  “Wait!” DeeAnn suddenly cried out. “There’s a suitcase.”

  Before Jason could stop her, she jumped out, then yanked open the back door.

  “There might be clothes inside. Could come in useful.”

  But DeeAnn was already pulling the suitcase away.

  He saw her fussing with the windshield of the other car and knew she was taking the money he’d left there. She returned and banged on the trunk until he opened it. After a moment, she slammed it shut.

  “I hope you took the money for yourself,” he said when she finally returned.

  A dirty look. “Of course not. I hid it in the suitcase’s top pocket.”

  “Hiding money is kinda your thing, isn’t it?” he said, stepping on the accelerator. He could feel her glare burning through him.

  Chapter 13

  For twenty minutes, we’ve been combing the trails near the forest service road. I don’t think we’re that deep in the woods, but I also have no idea which direction leads out.

  I’m exhausted, a weariness that tugs at every cell in my body. The yawns won’t stop coming, and my head is fuzzy. It’s not late, but my body is crashing after the walk and now the carbs and sugar.

  The only reason Jason got me out of the car is because I can’t stop thinking about what will happen if some cops drive by and realize the car is stolen. Granted, it’s unlikely. There aren’t even street lights around here. It’s not a place you drive by. But better safe than sorry.

  Both my feet are throbbing, but the right one feels like it might just fall off. I kinda wish it would. My ankle, at least, is doing better.

  The night has turned cloudy, but Jason found a flashlight in the car’s trunk. Luckily, that’s all he found; no overlooked packages of insulin or expensive prescription eyeglasses.

  Jason must not have ever had anything important stolen from him, and he clearly thinks that if you give people money, they’ll let you do whatever you want.

  Maybe he’s right. That truck driver didn’t even blink when I offered him the five hundred dollars. All he did was look over at Jason, nod once knowingly, and then ask me to pass along his gratitude.

  I’m still shocked about it. Shocked and dismayed.

  Now we’ve moved onto a narrow hiking trail. It splits again. None of this looks familiar, but Jason is certain this is the right access road. Smugly certain, and it irritates me that I can’t contradict him, because it all looks the same to me in the dark.

  “Is it here?” Jason asks. He’s left the trail. He’s surprisingly quiet as he walks, sweeping the flashlight back and forth over the tangled grasses and bushes.

  “Um… maybe it’s deeper in.” I cross my arms, then uncross them to scratch at a fresh mosquito bite below my ear.

  I’ve already told Jason a dozen times that I hid the money next to a fallen tree trunk, so why does he keep asking me?

  “Is it over there?”

  “I don’t know,” I snap.

  He laughs. “I’m doing this so I can keep track of where you are.” His voice gets slow and distracted at the end, like he’s concentrating on something else.

  Like he’s found the tree.

  I struggle up the hill toward him, and I pay for each step with a shooting pain up my leg. So much for my ankle being better. My heart stutters when I see what Jason’s looking at.

  The long, half-rotten trunk sleeping on the forest floor could be the same one, but I’m coming at it from a different angle. I have no idea how I got so turned around, and I really hope Jason knows how to get back to the car.

  As he starts toward the tree, I say, “Wait.”

  My voice is sharp, full of fear, and it actually gets his attention.

  The flashlight swings toward me, but he’s pointing it at the ground. Considerate of him not to blind me, but all I can see of him is a partial outline that fades to nothing the farther it is from the light; I can’t see his face at all.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “Are you going to run off and leave me here?” I ask.

  “Let’s find out.”

  He turns away, and I feel like I’m going to puke.

  It doesn’t take Jason long to excavate the bundles of cash. My heart bangs wildly around my chest.

  “Come here.” He shines the light at my feet so I can see where I’m stepping.

  There’s something new in his voice. I don’t know what it is, and therefore I don’t like it. It’s not as if Jason has been full of positive surprises.

  When I shake my head, he curses under his breath.

  Then something comes sailing toward me. I only realize at the absolutely last second, and then a filthy bag stuffed with cash slams into my chest.

  I’m not fast enough to catch it, and it lands half on my foot and half on the forest floor.

  “I can’t carry them all,” he says.

  It’s not true. He could. In addition to his backpack, he’s got my duffel.

  I guess he’s making a point, that he’s not deserting me.

  That, or he’s trying to lull me into a false sense of security so it’ll be easier for him to get close enough to crack that metal flashlight over my skull.

  After all, why share if he doesn’t have to?

  I’d feel a lot better if I knew what happened with Toby and the bikers in that building. Was the fight fair? Did Jason execute them for the money?

  “Looks like that’s it,” he says. “You did a good job, though one rainstorm and it would have all been exposed. I’d advise you against ever trying to bury a body unless you want it found.”

  “You know from experience.”

  He only says, “Let’s finish and get the fuck gone.”

  My duffel sails toward me. I crouch and begin to fill it.

  Despite what Jason said, I must not have done that good of a job. He found it without too much trouble. What’s the ulterior motive behind his compliment?

  “Can we buy a car?” I ask. “I’ll pay.”

  “I plan on ditching the loaner in the morning.” Jason sets off at a quick clip through the woods. I have to hustle to keep up with him, and each step feels like I’m jumping up and down on nails and thorns.

  Finally, Jason slows to allow me to catch up, but I continue to lag behind. For some reason I feel he’s more likely to kill me if we’re in the woods than if we’re at the car.

  Illogical, I know. I guess it’s that fear of the unseen. The darkness of the forest is scary. Less scary than my violent hiking buddy, though.

  Cars feel safe, but it’s an illusion.

  “It’s not a ‘loaner,’” I say. “It’s stolen.”

  He doesn’t respond. I find myself thinking about his earlier comment, the one about other people being like animals in a zoo. It was a weird thing to say. It’s also weird to think about criminals going to the zoo in their free time.

  Jason confuses me. He’s a thug, and I know he’s not a nice guy. He’s not misunderstood and simply waiting for someone to see his soft, vulnerable side.

  I’ve been poor my whole life, and I know the difference between downtrodden and hard-as-fuck. Jason might also be downtrodden, but he’s definitely hard-as-fuck.

  “Do you have a driver’s license?” I ask. The zoo has me shaken. What other normal things does he do? I can’t imagine him studying the driving exam questions or trying to prove he can parallel park, while a man with a clipboard ticks off boxes.

  “A driver’s license?”

  “Do you even know what one is?”

  We’ve reached the top of yet another hill. Jason stops. The dirt road is just below, all but invisible in the weak moonlight. I’m glad I don’t have to climb uphil
l again; I don’t think I’m capable of the effort.

  Jason suddenly extinguishes the flashlight.

  My mouth opens, but somehow, before the scream erupts from my throat, my brain throws the override switch. Fucking be quiet, and he can’t find you.

  He wasn’t planning to murder me in the woods. He was waiting to do it near the car.

  A hand clamps violently over my mouth, pressing my lips into my teeth. I taste dirt.

  “Someone’s down there,” Jason whispers into my ear.

  Chapter 14

  I thought nothing could rival stumbling around the dark forest with a guy like Jason for heart-stopping terror. I was wrong.

  Jason eases his hand off my mouth.

  “Are you sure?” I ask.

  “Yeah. I saw a flash of something. A cell phone screen.”

  “Do you think they saw our light?”

  “I doubt it, or they’d be rushing us right now. I’m going to leave you here. With the money.”

  Gone are my aches and pains, my fatigue and misgivings. Vanished, too, is my fear of Jason.

  “Please don’t go,” I whisper.

  “I have to.” He quietly drops everything he’s carrying at my feet. “You’ll be safe here. If something happens to me, you wanna run.”

  I grab his arm. “What if they’re sneaking around up here?”

  “We don’t even know who it is. Could be a guy without a hunting permit trying to bag a deer. Or a couple of teenagers looking for a quiet place to fuck.”

  He doesn’t believe that, and therefore, neither do I.

  My grip tightens on Jason’s arm, my fingertips digging into the hardness of his muscles.

  “DeeAnn, I don’t know you at all, but from what I’ve seen, you’re a survivor. All right? So act like it. If they’re running around here, they’ll have lights, and you’ll see them coming.”

  “What about you?”

  I can hear the grin in his voice as he whispers, “I didn’t know you cared.”

  “Trust me, I don’t.”

  “I’ve got a gun.” With that chilling admission, he disengages from my grip and disappears into the darkness.

  Jason’s pep talk wasn’t very reassuring. After all, he’s running around the woods at this very moment, and he isn’t using light, and I have absolutely no idea where he is. And he has a gun? Why the hell didn’t he stop the farmer from robbing us?