Page 5 of Almost There
Tessa pressed on the gas pedal, watching the dial click closer to E. And you were going to siphon gas. She chewed the inside of her cheek scanning the abandoned highway with no vehicles or buildings in sight.
Normally, she liked long drives. Allowing your mind to wonder is a powerful thing. But now her brain wouldn’t turn off and each thought sent her down a spiraling anxious path. She couldn’t stop thinking about Landon. Would he ever make it home? She glanced at Robin from the corner of her eye. The kids were still asleep, but she was awake. How was she handling this? Does she need to talk?
“Are we going to help them?” Robin cupped her hands over her mouth, projecting her voice to be heard over the wind.
“Help who?” Tessa turned her attention back to the road. Miles ahead was a single vehicle with the hood popped open and the late afternoon sun reflecting off the bright white paint. As they got closer, a woman moved out from the driver seat and jumped up and down on the side of the road with the desert wind whipping around her long black hair.
Tessa rolled the window up even as sweat ran down the back of her neck. “Why is she sitting there waiting when there is no one to call for help? We haven’t seen a single vehicle. Why hasn’t she started walking?”
Robin arched an eyebrow above her sunglasses. “She probably ran out of gas. We can’t just leave her, can we?”
Tessa tightened her grip on the wheel. “I have a bad feeling about this. Is anyone else with her?”
Robin lifted her sunglasses, leaning forward across the dashboard to get a closer look through the windshield. “I can’t see anything past the hood, but there’s no one else outside.”
Goosebumps prickled on her skin despite the sweltering heat. She wasn’t one to give into superstitions, but something wasn’t right. Old Blue picked up speed as her foot stayed heavy on the gas. The woman moved to the middle of the road, waving her arms in the air.
“Are you going to run her over?” Robin gripped the door handle as she looked to Tessa with wide eyes. Tessa’s foot twitched, easing off the gas for half a second as the moral dilemma weighed on her. The woman was straight ahead, crying as she stood on the worn asphalt and motioning to her vehicle. Mason groaned in his sleep and pulled his sweat soaked body away from Emily. Her daughter turned to bury her face against Tessa’s stomach.
Her foot moved of its own accord, slamming back down on the gas pedal, and Tessa swerved off the road into the dirt just as the woman jumped to the side.
“He’s got a gun!” Robin screamed as she turned to stare out the back window. The crack of a bullet hitting Old Blue reverberated through the cab of the truck. The tires skid as Tessa jerked the wheel, moving them back to the pavement, and she held her breath as she pressed down the gas pedal as far as it could go.
Faster. Faster. “Are they following us?” Tessa cried out, afraid to take her eyes off the road. The red dial shook at the 85mph speed mark.
“I don’t see them anymore,” Robin stuttered. “What would have happened if we’d stopped? The guy was crouched down back there behind the trunk. How did you even see him?”
“I didn’t.” Tessa bit her lip, gripping the wheel so tight her hands ached.
“Is this like mom intuition or something?” Robin kept her face glued to the rear window and watched for any sign of pursuit. Tessa eased off the gas as the gauge dropped closer to E.
“I don’t know what it was.” She glanced at the rearview mirror expecting some gang of thieves to come breaking through the cloud of dust she’d left behind.
Robin shook her head in disbelief. “Whatever it was, let’s trust that from now on.”
“Whatever what was?” Mason yawned as he pushed himself up.
“Don’t worry about it.” Tessa breathed deeply and willed her heart to slow down.
“Okay.” Mason used his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. “Can we stop soon? I have to pee.”
“No!” Tessa and Robin cried out at the same time.
Mason looked between the two of them, confusion wrinkling his nose, and then crossed his arms over his body as he fell back against the seat. “Fine. But I can’t hold it forever.”