Bec watched him, stunned, terrified of making the wrong move.

Ned stared out, his eyes fixed on the road, cold and hard. The only sound between them was his labored breathing. Bec glanced down to his stomach. The dark stain of blood had bloomed on his shirt, but she couldn't tell if he was still bleeding or not.

Finding her last bit of courage, Bec cleared her throat. "N-Ned?"

His eyes didn't leave the road. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

She watched him swallow a gulp of air, the muscles of his jaw flexed twice before he answered her. "I'm fine, kid. Jude threw me out of a car, screwed my friend, set me up, stabbed me and forced me to kill her. It's been a hell of a week."

Bed raised her brows, realizing that he was right, it had been a week since he'd picked her up off the side of the road like a homeless mutt. She nodded to him, pointing at his wound. "I meant your belly. Maybe you should let me drive, I can take you to a hospital and-"

"I said I'm fine, Bec. You need to learn how to listen. It's been a shitty week but I can still drive. It's a flesh wound. I would've been dead by now if it was anything serious."

His voice was stern, and he still hadn't looked at her, but Bec didn't mind. She believed him; if Ned said he'd be all right, then he would be. And now that Jude was gone, Bec thought that maybe he would relax. She did what he did, and looked out at the road before them.

The road stretched out ahead, the endless desert on either side of the asphalt, broken only by a scattering of tiny towns. Ned kept driving forward, not stopping for food or rest. Bec fell asleep at some point on their trip, dreaming of a place where she wasn't always on the run.

It was hours before Ned glanced at the kid, noticed she was asleep in her seat. He took a deep breath, shrugged to himself and turned off the main road, looking for a motel where they could rest up for the night. He needed something to eat, a shower, a bed. He hadn't let himself think about how tired he was, or how Jude's knife had hurt like hell. All he'd been able to think was that as much distance as possible had to be put between him and Jude's body.

He wasn't afraid of the police, he had done hard time and expected that sooner or later he would be there again. No. He wasn't afraid of prison. He felt haunted by Jude. He'd never killed a woman before, and he never thought he'd have to kill one he loved. The reality of what had happened over a sack of jewels left him feeling unbalanced.

He couldn't afford that.

Ned glanced at the kid, she still had the sack of jewels in her lap, her hand resting over them in her sleep. He pulled off the road and it didn't take long to find a truck-stop motel. It was nicer than he'd expected to find in the middle of the desert, but it was a busy truck route; with many clients coming and going, the motel management had invested in the place. He didn't expect to run into any trouble here, but his gun was loaded all the same.

Ned knew that he would be forgotten soon after handing over his money for the room, the benefit of a cash-only establishment with daily high turn-over. He parked the car and nudged the girl. "Hmm, Ned?"

He nodded to her, despite the dark. "Yeah. I'm gonna run in here and get us a room. Sit tight."

She nodded and he got out of the car, forcing himself to ignore the shooting pain in his side. He went inside and just as quickly stepped back out with a room key. Bec got out of the car, clutching the sack of jewels against her chest as she followed him into room #16. Ned opened the door and headed straight for the bathroom, not saying a word to her and slamming the door behind him. A second later, she could hear the shower going full-blast on the other side of the door.

Bec stood at the open doorway to the room, wondering what was going to happen now.

Her eyes took in the layout of the room. Two nightstands, the bathroom, one window, a table with two chairs. A few landscape pictures on the walls. One bed.

Bec shut and locked the room door, then went to the window and closed the blinds. Heavily, she sat down on the edge of the bed, dread settling in her chest.

Would Ned fuck her now? Bec didn't know. He'd protected her days before, shooting one of his oldest friends to keep her safe. Why? Because he wanted her for himself or he didn't want her to be raped at all? She frowned to herself, remembering that she liked Ned. He'd picked her off the road and hadn't hurt her when they both knew he could've done so anytime he'd wanted. He'd gotten her involved in his adventure, made her feel useful and he hadn't dumped her back onto the street yet. He'd saved her, first from Uncle Mike and then from Jude, she supposed that Ned now wanted her to give him some release, the oblivion that men fell into after having a woman.

She crossed her legs and curled her toes, flexing, tensing. Ned wasn't like her father. He could be nice, he hadn't hit her. She didn't think he'd hurt her. It wouldn't be rape. Bec didn't welcome the idea of being used again, but if it was Ned using her...well, she liked him. She took a deep breath. He'd saved her life, so she could do this for him.

Bec looked up to see Ned emerge from the bathroom. A room towel was around his waist, his shirt had been rinsed free of blood and was now hanging up in the bathroom. He was still wet. Bec couldn't help looking at him, and thinking how different they were. He was very pale. She had never been with a white man before.

Though there was no muscle definition in his body, Bec was not fooled. Not being equipped with chiseled muscles didn't make this man any less dangerous, she knew that better than anyone now. The wound was low on his side, but it wasn't bleeding anymore. He glanced at her through his wet hair. "What're you looking at?"

She glanced away, changrinned at being caught. "Sorry. It doesn't hurt?"

"No. I told you, it's just a flesh wound. It'll heal. You hungry?"

She shrugged. "I could eat. You want me to bring you something?"

He nodded. "I'm not hungry, but I'll want something later. Here," he said, handing her a few crumpled bills. "See if you can find something around here."

She reached for the money and he took hold of her hand. Bec looked up at him, startled to see concern in his eyes. "Be careful, you understand me?"

She nodded and left the room.

Ned dug through his bag and pulled out a change of clothes, gratefully covering himself. He was so pale he'd probably blinded her, he thought, smiling. The wound shot a stinging pain through him, but again Ned ignored it. There wasn't time to spend on flesh wounds; the more distance put between him and the crime scenes he'd left behind, the better.

He took the sack of jewels and dumped them on the bed, sorting through them, reviewing the cuts, colors and sizes of the gems, wondering if it had been worth losing Jude over.

She set you up, tried to have you killed. You lost her a long time ago, if you ever had her at all.

Ned shook his head. He'd deal with that later. Now was the time to rest, and in the morning he'd plan a way out of the country. Nothing standing between him and Canada now. Lots of space, free healthcare, and no deserts. With the jewels it wouldn't be a problem to get citizenship, then maybe he'd get a life, a real life, away from all the shit.

And the girl? Ned shrugged to himself. Bec could come with him or he would drop her off on the way up north. He could admit that he liked having her around. Either way, he was going to start over.

Ned looked up as she stepped inside with a bag of fast food. The man wasn't hungry but he knew he had to eat, if only to keep from stopping in the morning once they'd hit the road again. He swept all the jewels back into the bag and joined her at the little table. He eyed her, wondering why she was acting so skittish. "See anything while you were out?"

She shook her head, her fingers beginning to fidget with her curls. "No. There's just a bunch of truckers out there. No cops."

"Good."

"Ned...what happens now?"

He raised his brows at her and punched a straw through his drink cap. After a few sips of Pepsi, he cleared his throat. "I was thinking about that just a minute ago. I want to start over in Canada. A real life. I've had enough of life the way it is here. These jewels are my ticket to a new life. I'm going to be driving north first thing in the morning. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You want me to drop you somewhere, or...?"

"Oh." She looked down, suddenly taken with the need to inspect her nails.

"I won't send you back to your dad, if that's what's got you worried. I'm a bastard but I'd draw the line way before sending you back to that. What about your mom?"

Bec shook her head. "She's gone. I don't even remember her."

"Hmm. Ever been to Canada?"

"No."

"You will by the end of the week. Go to sleep. It's a lot of driving tomorrow and I'm not doing all of it myself."

Bec stood before him, not moving. He raised a brow at her. "What's on your mind?"

"Look, Ned, what happens now man?" She asked, her voice suddenly tight, upset.

"I just told you. Tomorrow morning we're going to Canada."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then what are you talking about?"

"Are you gonna fuck me or what?"

Ned shot out of his seat. "Are you fuckin' kidding me? What the hell's got into you?"

"You brought me to a motel, there's only one bed, and now you're talking about us running away to Canada! So just make it happen, all right, I don't need this to be dragged out."

He rolled his eyes, scowling. Just when he thought he could be free of trouble for one night! "Bec, listen to me. You're a pretty girl, but I'm not into kids, all right? Hey, look at me." He said, raising his voice. Bec's strange blue eyes met his own. "I'm not your dad. I didn't pick you up that first day so I could fuck with you. I wanted a little company, and I still do. But not that way. If you can't trust me on that then you can get the fuck out right now."

His voice was cold, his eyes steely.

Bec looked away, her voice more level when she spoke. "I'm sorry, Ned. I just thought-"

"I know what you thought. I told you before- I'm not that big a bastard that I'd do that, especially knowing your situation. You remember back at the pump station, what you said to me? That we could abandon the jewels and Jude, just you and me go to Canada together as friends, for company? That's what I want."

She met his eyes again. "That's what I want too. Again, I'm sorry, Ned."

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it kid. In the next few days we'll be in Canada. As soon as I can find somone to fence these jewels, we'll be citizens."

"And then what? Become hockey players?"

"You have a better idea?"

"I don't know, maybe. We could open a shop, start a little business." Bec said, picturing a simple life in her mind.

Ned shrugged. "That's not a bad idea. But first thing's first. We need a good night's sleep before we rip up the highway tomorrow. There's one bed. We're both sleeping in it- I'll be on top of the covers, you get under them."

There was no arguing with him now, only a plan to be obeyed.

They made quick work of finishing up the lousy fast food and then settling in for the night. Bec felt like an idiot for having insulted him earlier, though Ned had seemed to forget about it already. Still, she felt something had to be said. "Hey Ned?"

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you stopped to pick me up while I was hitching. I feel lucky."

Beside her, a deep chuckle. "If you feel lucky after this week I think there might be something wrong with your head. But I'm glad I picked you up too. It's been nice having someone to talk to."

"Yeah. I think things will be better in Canada."

"Count on it. Things have to be better there. We can make things better for ourselves."

"We can do it. Good night, Ned."

"Good night Bec. Long day ahead tomorrow."

She nodded and turned over, half hopeful and half terrified of this new chapter in her life, but glad that she would not be alone in living it.