road and into a truck stop.
Austin parked the Lincoln to the side of the minimart. He couldn’t fill up the
car, since his wallet was in the Spectrum. He remained in shadow, where he could
keep an eye on Zach and Dave. He rifled once more through the belongings but
found nothing that could be used as a weapon.
Zach stayed in the car. Austin watched Dave fill the tank. Loathing crawled
over Austin. He wanted to kill that man.
The entire drive Austin had been imagining what his life would be like without
Zach around. The strength of horror that filled him answered any lingering
questions he had about the depth of his feelings toward Zach.
Without Zach’s smile, his optimism and romantic spirit and humor and
affection, Austin’s life would be bleak at best. He hadn’t realized how addicted he’d
become to the relaxed happiness he felt when Zach was with him, but it had
happened. He loved Zach and couldn’t bear returning to a life without him.
Austin popped the trunk and stepped out of the car. He quickly searched the
trunk, glancing up frequently to make sure Zach and Dave weren’t about to drive off
without him. In the trunk of the Lincoln, he found a spare tire and short but heavy
crowbar. He shut the trunk and stood beside the car, at the ready. The snow fell
lightly now. The bulk of the storm had passed farther north, but it was still only a
degree or two above freezing, and within seconds Austin started shaking again.
Dave finished filling the tank, then opened the driver’s-side door. He forcefully
yanked Zach out of the car.
Alarm rushed through Austin.
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Austin couldn’t hear what Dave said, but Zach’s expression instantly dulled,
and he walked forward, Dave following a step behind. Terror seized Austin.
He’s
going to shoot Zach
. As the men passed under the station lights, Austin saw the
bruises on Zach’s face, his bloody nose and red-rimmed eyes, and the tumult of fear
in Austin’s heart went instantly quiet.
Cold, pure hate saturated Austin. Guilt and doubt faded. He was going to kill
Dave. Nothing else mattered.
Zach marched stiffly through the snow, Dave urging him forward with the gun.
They did not enter the gas station. Instead Dave shoved Zach to the side of the
building, behind a Dumpster.
Austin burst into a run.
* * *
Zach was jerked from the car by his coat. The movement caught him by
surprise, and he stumbled out of the car.
He moved to raise his hands, but Dave stabbed the pistol sharply into Zach’s
lower back.
“Put your hands down!” Dave whispered from behind. “Walk forward, you son
of a bitch, and look natural or I’ll fucking kill you!”
Dave directed him to the side of the convenience store. “Go all the way back by
the Dumpster.”
Terror filled Zach. In that blackened corner, Dave could easily shoot him, since
there was no place to run or hide. Yet he stepped forward, scared into following
orders.
The darkness of the narrow space between the Dumpster and the building
swallowed Zach. He slipped on thick ice and steadied himself against the cold brick
wall.
A shadow moved to his right. Fear locked his throat shut. He turned.
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65
Austin stepped out of the darkness and smashed a crowbar against the side of
Dave’s face.
Dave crumpled instantly. He fell in a heap at Zach’s feet. Austin kicked Dave
in the gut, picked up his dropped pistol, and then hovered over the body for a
moment, uncertain.
“Austin!” Zach croaked, too stunned with shock and relief to say more.
Austin pulled Zach to him in an urgent embrace. Zach held him tightly, joy
filling him entirely. Austin’s body shook violently, whether from adrenaline or the
cold, Zach didn’t know. He held Austin tighter, hoping to warm him.
Austin pushed Zach against the cold wall and kissed him. His lips were like
ice.
“Jesus, are you okay?” Austin cradled Zach’s face. Austin looked terrified.
Zach was still too stunned to speak, so he just nodded. He placed his hand
against Austin’s shirt, felt his frantic heartbeat.
“I thought you were dead,” Zach said, his voice breaking. He dragged his sleeve
over his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you.”
Austin gripped him again. They held each other silently. To Zach’s
amazement, he felt the rhythmic tremble in Austin’s body, heard him sniff, and
realized he was crying.
“God, you’re freezing!” Zach unzipped his coat, shed it quickly, and helped
Austin pull it on. Zach’s arms were shorter than Austin’s, but Austin looked too
grateful to complain.
Sirens sounded nearby. “I dialed 911 before getting out of the car,” he said.
Austin stared down at Dave’s unmoving body. “Good.” He gently prodded
Dave’s leg with his foot. “I wonder if I killed him.”
“I think he’s still breathing,” Zach said after a moment.
“I don’t care either way,” Austin said.
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“Neither do I, but it’ll be less trouble for us if the bastard is still alive.” A police
prowler pulled into the truck stop. “Come on. Let’s go talk to them.” He moved to
step out of the shadows, but Austin grabbed his sleeve and held him back.
“Wait. Zach.” Austin swallowed. His teeth chattered. “I really love you.”
Zach’s chill faded instantly. He blinked back tears. “Hold on, Austin. I’ll be
right back.”
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Chapter Seven
Tuesday, December 7
It took nearly three hours with Wyoming State Patrol to clear up the night’s
events before Zach and Austin were allowed to go. They gave separate accounts to
officers inside the convenience store, out of the storm. An ambulance carted Dave
away, and an EMT bandaged Austin’s twisted ankle.
The police in turn informed them David Magnusson was indeed a recently
paroled violent offender who had stolen a weapon and kidnapped and killed a
woman by the name of Margaret Wheatlock. Dave’s ex-girlfriend Bethany was
notified of his release and subsequent capture.
By the time they were set free, it was four in the morning. They grabbed their
bags out of the Spectrum, stumbled across the street to a trucker motel called the
Budget Chalet, and got a room. Austin curled protectively around Zach, and they
both slept like the dead.
Austin didn’t wake up until noon. Light streamed in through the grungy motel
windows, illuminating a blank white landscape and sunny skies. Austin stretched,
his body achy from the previous night’s tensions. He unwound the bandage on his
ankle and prodded it gently. The swelling was nearly gone.
Austin leaned over Zach and brushed his dark hair up into a spike on his head.
Zach slept on, curled to face Austin. His nose was a little swollen, and a bruise
marred his right cheek. But there was a smile on his lips. Dark stubble covered his
face, and long, dark eyelashes formed crescents under his eyes. He smelled sleepy
and warm. Austin kissed his lips.
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The gratitude Austin felt, having Zach with him, alive and well, was all-
embracing and whole. He could think of no one or thing more precious to him at
that moment, and he knew he’d do anything to preserve this, to keep what they had
safe.
Zach blinked and opened his eyes. He stretched. “Morning,” he said, his voice
croaky with sleep.
Austin looked at him intently.
“What?” Zach asked. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re looking at me funny. Is my
nose crooked?”
“No.” Austin smiled. “You look amazing.”
Zach grinned.
“You feel all right?” Austin asked.
Zach nodded. “I was more scared than hurt. I’m still just amazed and grateful
that you’re alive.” He stroked Austin’s body, and Austin reciprocated the gesture.
The two kissed and felt each other in a lazy exploration of flesh. Austin’s
arousal wasn’t hungry but instead was a gentle thing, blooming with each caress.
Their kiss was like speaking—sharing words that were silent.
Austin slid Zach’s boxers off. He ran his fingers down Zach’s hairy, warm
chest, and turned to take Zach deep into his mouth. He felt Zach’s hands, blazing
hot against his inner thighs, spreading open Austin’s legs. Austin’s breath caught in
his throat.
Zach kissed wetly down Austin’s shaft, and Austin groaned, his voice muffled
around Zach’s heavy cock. They found a rhythm together, a slow and lazy push and
pull, Austin’s world dissolving into only Zach’s body, being filled by him, filling him.
All his senses converged into this one intense, wet heat, pleasure expanding and
racing through his nerves. He wished he could hold back, but Zach urged him wider
and cupped his balls. Austin came, surprised by the speed of it on such a languid
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69
morning, dazed by how quickly it had grown from a mellow pleasure to all-out
ecstasy.
He clasped Zach’s buttocks and pulled him to his face, and Zach writhed,
pumping his hips. Austin coaxed him into his climax, feeling Zach’s rapture in each
clutching grasp. They lay there panting afterward, Austin too glutted on pleasure to
even bother turning around.
“I can’t get enough of this view,” Zach commented from between Austin’s legs.
He rested his head on Austin’s inner thigh, and his breath caressed the sensitive
skin beneath Austin’s scrotum. It tickled, but Austin didn’t pull away.
“I suppose you want to hit the road,” Austin said after a while.
Zach was quiet for a moment. He turned his head and kissed Austin’s thigh.
“Nah, not yet. Let’s sleep more and do that again.”
Austin found the energy needed to turn around and pull Zach to him. “We only
have one more day to make it to your folks’ house before Hanukkah is officially
over.”
“I know,” Zach said. “But this was a trip about you and me as well, and after
last night I just want to have you. We’ll get there tomorrow and have a whole day to
spend with family. For now I want to be with you alone.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Zach reached up and touched Austin’s rough cheek. “You’re my hero,
you know.”
Austin swallowed. “
I’m
the one who put you in danger. If I hadn’t been such an
idiot and—”
Zach kissed him. Thoughts fled Austin’s mind, especially when Zach broke and
smiled radiantly.
“I love you. And everything else is the past.”
Austin nodded. They would leave the past in the past.
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They slept on and off and made love again that afternoon, although this time,
more conscious, they were louder. Loud enough to piss off the trucker trying to sleep
next door, who banged on the wall and demanded they give it a rest.
Austin bundled up and searched for food while Zach slept on. The roads were
clear and busy once more, filthy snow lining each lane.
When he returned, he found Zach still naked in bed, but he was awake. He had
his arms crossed behind his head and stared intently at the ceiling, as if pondering
some great thought. Austin’s stomach clenched. It looked like Zach wanted to say
something meaningful, which would either break Austin’s heart or send it soaring.
But instead Zach blinked and gave Austin a crooked smile. “What did you
find?”
Austin presented Zach with a bouquet from behind his back. He’d built it in
the lobby out of dried flowers he found at the minimart across the street, two
bottled waters, two cheeseburgers, french fries, and hot apple pies, and a cassette
tape of Styx, one of those bands he knew Zach adored but would never admit to
loving.
Zach laughed.
They ate together to the sound of the football game on TV. Austin watched it
out of the corner of his eye but was more intrigued by Zach’s strange silence next to
him. Something preoccupied him, and it made Austin nervous.
Austin replayed last night’s image of the crowbar smashing against Dave’s
head. It haunted him, and now he wondered if the same sight burned into Zach’s
memory. Austin knew Zach thought of him as a violent man. And Austin hadn’t
done anything to improve that impression on this road trip.
“Did I ever tell you about Ed Majors?” Zach asked. He stared blankly at the
football game, slowly eating french fries one at a time.
“No.” Austin frowned. “Wait, is he the guy you dated a few years ago?”
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71
Zach nodded. “He wasn’t anything like you, really. Self-centered, egotistical
prick when it came down to it. Some high-powered software salesman from the east
side. Thought he was amazing all around. But he was the same size as you. Big