From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(86)

“I didn’t say a thing, Josie.” He smirked and folded his arms across his chest, shifting down to get comfortable. “Wake me up if you get sleepy.”

“I will.”

“Where are we stopping?” he asked.

“Rapid City, if we can make it that far. We should get there tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, we can eat and get cleaned up, maybe catch a nap.”

“Sounds about like heaven right now.” His voice was heavy as she pulled out of the truck stop and made for the highway.

She commandeered the radio, plugging in her phone and starting her Go-Go driving mix. An electropop song came on, and Jon huffed.

“Got something to share, Jon?”

“I don’t know how you listen to that.”

“Well, I don’t know how you survive on country music from the sixties, so we’re even.”

He snorted a laugh.

“Jon, we’ve been listening to Merle Haggard all day. Please, give me this.”

“Fair enough.”

Josie smiled as he shifted again and closed his eyes. He was snoring softly within minutes.

She drove and sipped her coffee, oddly content in the quiet of the night, comforted by his presence next to her. The next few days would be long and rough as they fought to make up ground on Rhodes, and fear flitted through her again when she questioned whether or not they would find him at all.

They hadn’t heard from a single motel on the list, but she tried not to consider that fact. She couldn’t do a one thing about it. Instead, she focused on imagining scenarios in which they caught him. She pictured chasing him with her gun drawn, wondering if he had a firearm and how quick he’d be to use it if he did. Rhodes had nothing to lose, and men like that were dangerous.

She looked over at Jon, barely lit by the dash and the passing headlights. His face was soft as he slept, his body tall and sturdy in the seat next to her, and she was grateful for him. For his company. For his help.

She’d been so alone for so long that she forgot what it was like to have a companion, a friend. But it was more than that, she knew. Those old feelings she’d pretended were long gone stirred in her chest, feelings that reminded her of before. Feelings that scared her.

He hurt you. He left you. He chose her, she told herself.

But she found the power of the words faded like paper in the sun every time she repeated them.



Josie drove all night with her thoughts tumbling around her head. There was so much to sort through, and when left alone to consider it all, she found herself overwhelmed and unsure, like she was being pulled into quicksand. It was Rhodes, the chase, the case, the fear. It was Anne, the memories of her invading Josie’s mind, ratcheting her anxiety that they wouldn’t catch him. And Jon, her feelings for him too loud to ignore.

By ten in the morning, Josie’s eyes burned, the blazing sun rising behind her as they approached Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which was the last decent-sized city for two states. The sun had been up in full force for hours, and she’d been contemplating digging out her sunglasses for at least one of those but didn’t want to wake Jon.

When her burning corneas would no longer be silenced, she finally caved.

She bit her lip and reached behind Jon’s reclined seat for her bag, finding the opening to slip her hand in. She leaned awkwardly across the armrest, her back cramping as she fished around for her sunglasses but came up empty. There was no leaning any further over either, not without letting go of the wheel, so she bit her lip as she found the strap of the bag and gave it a good tug, trying to maintain some gentility. The force jostled his seat despite her efforts, and he stirred.

He rubbed his eyes and squinted as she sat back down, defeated.

“Fuck, Jo, I’m sorry. What time is it?” He scrunched up his face as he looked at the clock on the dash, trying to make out the time. “You should have woken me.”

“It’s all right. Did you get some rest?”

“Yeah, a bit. You doin’ okay?”

“I feel like I belong in The Evil Dead, but I’m hanging in there. Let’s stop for breakfast if you’re hungry?”

“Starvin’.” He shifted and straightened his seat back. He glanced around. “Where are we?”

“Just outside of Sioux Falls.” She reached back and dragged her bag into her lap.

“I wonder how far we are behind him.”

“I don’t know. Hopefully, we’ll get a call from one of the motels on the list.” Her fingers grazed her glasses, and she pulled them out of her bag, slipping them onto her face with relief.

“Well, you sent it to about a hundred. I hope that we get at least one call.”

The comment filled her with unease. “I actually sent it to closer to three hundred, but as of right now, he would have stopped at only four out of all of those. There’s no way every hotel saw it or cared,” she said, beginning to realize something very crucial, something she hadn’t fully considered. “Half of them probably went into the trash, and if they didn’t, who’s to say it was even posted somewhere another attendant would see it?” She just kept rambling, suddenly feeling like their entire plan was futile.

They were chasing a ghost.

“Don’t think that way, Jo. We’ll just stick to the plan. There’s really only one way into Washington from here. We can head him off in Spokane and work backward. We’ll get a lead. I’m certain of it.”