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Chapter 3: Another One Alone

3 months later…

Jarod yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. What city was he in now? He looked out the window and searched for a city sign. “Boulder,” it read. Hmm. So. He was in Colorado now. Must have been a looong nap. He looked around the Greyhound bus, his “home” for the past three days. The lights were dimmed, allowing the other passengers sleep. Jarod smiled at the thought of sleep. Finally, he mused, restful sleep didn’t elude me. The bus slowed to a stop. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs and grabbed his bag. He got up, following a few other people ahead of him to the head of the bus. He went down the steps and got off. Spotting his other bags, and the beloved silver case, he picked them up, thanking the bus driver as he left.

Jarod looked around. Boulder was more scenic than Texas, landscape-wise. Green and purple painted the horizon. There were mountains as far as the eye could see, and all the fresh air a free man could want. Jarod smiled. As beautiful as “Wild West” Texas was, the long, awe-inspiring mountain range and woodsy areas were a nice change. He smiled. Beautiful. Just like Miss Parker, the real Miss Parker.. Jarod sobered at the thought of the ever-elusive dream and saddened. If only she would only let herself.. show. She never let her real self out; instead, she insisted her “Ice Queen” persona was the real her. If only she knew. If only she understood it was okay , even beautiful, to have a softer side. If only she believed she could survive – even thrive – with the softer Miss Parker she keeps locked up inside. If only… Jarod sighed, shaking his head. Stop that, Jarod. Dwelling on “if only”s will only accomplish one thing – heartache and misery. Now is not the time to dwell on wishes. He headed over to a nearby stand and bought the local paper and some candy. He was running low on Pez. Absentmindedly thanking the vendor as he walked away, he folded it and put it in his notebook, the Pez in his pocket.

***

It was dusk, sundown quickly approaching. A set of footsteps running went past the alley. Voices and more footsteps approached on the street just feet from where a girl was hiding. The voices were shouting, yet the words being said were indistinct. All she could tell was that they were chasing after someone. She hoped it was whoever ran before them, anyone but her. She scrunched down even more, making sure the shadows of the stack of boxes were hiding hers.

***

Jarod opened the door to his first floor motel room and set his stuff down by the coat rack. Kicking the door shut, he picked up the silver Halliburton case and gently slid it under the bed next to the nightstand. Standing up, he took a good look around. Ever since the incident in Navasota, he wasn’t taking any chances. The inspection was the same with every room he’s ever stayed in since. The bathroom was directly across from the coat rack, next to the door. There were two windows side by side on the wall opposite the door. He walked over and opened them. Good. Big enough to crawl through, high enough to hide below the window line, and plenty of bush cover, he analyzed. Now, the bathroom, in case there is to be a repeat occurrence. He closed them, leaving one open a millimeter, and headed to the bathroom. No windows. Well, there goes that idea. Although... He looked up. That vent might be something to work with. He smiled in satisfaction as he stepped up onto the toilet seat and took a closer look at the vent. It was screwed in. Easily undone, he thought approvingly. He’ll have to make sure he had a screwdriver.

Finally feeling safe, he flopped onto the bed and opened the newspaper. There was a town meeting the previous night to discuss some new development plans, an advisory of a couple roads closing due to construction, even an article about the results of spelling bee finals. There was nothing, however, that needed Jarod’s help at this time. Good, he mused. As rewarding as it is, nice to get a little break every once in a while. Time to relax.

He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the TV remote. He turned it on and started flipping through the channels. Something on the Sci-Fi channel intrigued him, so he stopped there. After a few minutes of watching, he saw it was the X-Files. Smiling, he shook his head. Aliens and UFOs? Nonsense. They should do an episode on the Centre, if they want something “out there”, he mused. Heck, even a series of episodes wouldn’t be enough. If that wasn’t “out there”, nothing was. What was that phrase? Ah, yes. Truth is stranger than fiction. Heh, that’s for sure.

***

She shivered in the dimly lit alley. As hot as it was in the daytime, summer nights sure were brisk. She rubbed her arms to get rid of the goose bumps. She must have dozed off sometime after the shouting faded. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around. The sun had not only long since disappeared, it seems to be coming back already. Wow, she thought, I must have been tired, to have been able to sleep that long. The nightmares usually gave her little respite from daytime troubles. It was good to have some peace. And not a moment too soon, she relished with relief. Running sure gets a girl plumb tuckered out. She stood up and stretched. Her stomach growled. Time for a bite to eat. Perhaps there’s a nice little restaurant in need of a dishwasher, willing to let a girl work off a filling breakfast. She ambled out into the growing sunlight from the dismal alley with anticipation, her frayed backpack bouncing on her back.

***

The sun woke him up. He sat up, stretching, and looked at the clock. The big red numbers read 7:00. He vaguely remembered dozing off, sometime between “X-Files” and “The Late Show with David Letterman”. He liked the part where David read off The Top Ten list. It had something to do with supermodels. He was puzzled, however. Why is it funny that blondes are constantly pushed into the “dumb” stereotype? He knew plenty of smart people with blonde hair. He shook his head in bewilderment and focused one thought: breakfast. I think I saw a nice little restaurant on the way from the station. I hope they have blueberry waffles.. they’re delicious! He reveled in the happy thought of his latest yummy discovery, blueberries and syrup, and got dressed.

The walk wasn’t long, as Boulder wasn’t that big. After the three-day bus ride, it was nice to stretch his legs. He even jogged a little, to get his heart pumping.

Ah, here it is. Jarod walked in the door of Bob’s Home Eats and chose a booth in the back. No harm being careful. This is perfect, right by the door. A waitress came over and inquired about coffee. He nodded his assent and watched her as she poured him a cup. Her customer supplied with plenty of sugar, the waitress went away with his order. The previous customer had left the day’s paper, much to his fortune. He opened it and began reading.

***

Her stomach full, she began washing dishes. For some reason, the simple chore was pleasant, soothing, for her. When it’s just her and the dishes, there was no one to yell at her for how she did her job, what they thought of her performance, or insist she did it better. The owner sure was nice, she reflected. From the first moment she walked in the nice ma and pa’s restaurant, Mr. Bob was nothing but kind. He saw her for what she was, an honest girl willing to trade a meal for some decent work. He was fair and did not demand too much work for penance. The time went quickly as she worked, humming softly and banging dishes.

***

It wasn’t long before a big stack of waffles, drowning in maple syrup, appeared in front of Jarod. He gave a very happy thanks to the waitress and dug in. It tasted as good as it smelled. He marveled at the presence of blueberries in every bite, and the perfect ratio of syrup for each piece he cut. This is worth every mile I’ve run from them, he enthused. He was wiping the remains of the syrup with the last piece when the waitress came back.

“Is everything to your liking, sir?” the waitress asked. She had a tag with the name “Heather” on her uniform.

“It’s very good, Heather! Thank you.”

Heather smiled. “You must have been hungry,” she commented. “Anything else?”

Jarod smiled. “Thank you, I was. Orange juice would be wonderful, if you’ve got it.”

The waitress smiled and nodded, then walked away.

***

There. All done, she thought with satisfaction And just in time. She turned her head as Bob walked in the kitchen. “All done, sir. Thank you for letting me work for my breakfast.”

Bob smiled. “You’re welcome, Reyna.” He looked around the kitchen. “Looks like you’ve done a great job.” He walked over to the shelf of dishes and picked one up. “Yup, a great job indeed! Looks like you just earned yourself another meal. Just come by sometime.”

Reyna perked up, her eyes brightly lit up. “Thank you, sir! I definitely will.” She shook his hand with both of hers. “Thank you. I really appreciate the chance you gave me.”

“No problem. You’re welcome here any time, ya hear?” Bob grinned.

Reyna nodded, her face shining. “Yessir, I hear.” She picked up her bag and strode toward the back door. She opened the door and turned around. “Thank you.” She disappeared out the doorway, the door gently closing behind her.

She was in her own little world as she was leaving the little café, oblivious to the world around her. She was just passing an alley when a pair of hands grabbed one of hers.

***

Jarod walked out of the little café. He had just turned the corner when he heard a shriek and someone being pulled into a nearby alley.