Arlington, Texas, En Route, 2019
Police Officer Kyle Miller thoroughly enjoyed these moments, when he got to drive the patrol car. Being a rookie cop in his first year on the job basically meant spending most of his time sitting behind a desk stapling forms and stuffing envelopes.
Definitely not what he imaged police work would be like when he started basic training.
Bet Starsky and Hutch never had to put up with this shit!
He took a right into the flat, dry expanse of Sherry Street, admiring a set of yellow complexes along the way; eyes catching the For Sale sign right out front the main gated entrance.
Should get Darla to call them up. Could be a great starter home for us…
Kyle knew there was a shorter route he could take but seeing as the drive was better than the desk, he really was in no hurry.
"Kilo Delta Two, come in."
He shook his head as he heard his call sign come over the radio.
Dammit! Can't I have one moment's peace?
He reached over and pressed the transmit button. "This is Kilo Delta Two reporting in, over."
"Kilo Delta Two, report status."
"Coming up on East Abram. About One Zero minutes from HQ Three. Over."
There was a long pause of nothing but dead air.
"Um… Kilo Delta Two… What's the status on your passenger?"
Kyle blinked in surprise. "I dropped him at South Central Hospital a few minutes ago. He said he was visiting a sick aunt."
Muffled in the background of the radio, somebody shouted, "Fuck!"
…
Arlington, Texas, Vicinity of South Central Hospital, 2019
The idea to have Miller drop him at the hospital was genius! And it placed Luke only four blocks from the rendezvous point.
When he was sure the patrol car had left, he exited the hospital lobby and strode with purpose down the road. He wanted to run. But he was terrified of drawing any kind of suspicion. He forced himself to keep to a steady pace.
Almost there.
They'd been renting the standalone garage from an elderly couple named Earl and Mavis Granger ever since they first moved to Arlington. The couple was in their 90s and lived in a retirement complex south of the city.
He and Noah searched high and low for the safest place to stow the van and emergency supplies. They figured a couple that frail would have little opportunity to get curious and check out what the Sutherlands had stored in their garage.
As it was, they were right. So long as they received the monthly check, Earl and Mavis seemed happy with the couple's custom.
The garage was set away from a large white house with blue shutters that had once been the Granger's home, until it became too much for them to maintain. They sold the house but retained the detached garage. They used the rental on it to supplement their pensions.
The road leading up to the side of the house was unkempt and grass grew high between the strips of cracked concrete driveway. Luke walked over the grass, stomping it down with his feet; hoping they'd be able to drive the van out over it without causing any axel damage.
Hell, he wasn't even sure the van would start at all! Again, he cursed their complacency.
When he reached the garage, all was quiet and he swallowed painfully. He knew Noah had at least been there. The huge padlock they used to secure the door was gone.
He knocked tentatively on the corrugated door. "Noah? Are you there? It's me."
He heard a shuffle and a hopeful voice. "Luke?"
Luke grinned in relief. They hadn't left him. "Yes, it's me. Stand back, okay? I'm opening up."
The roll-top door was rusty and Luke had to pull and push hard to get it open. Noah stood right on the other side of the door and Luke dropped his arms to drown in the blue eyes he'd just come so close to losing.
"I'm so sorry," Luke whispered.
They stared at each other for minutes before Noah hooked the back of Luke's neck and pulled their foreheads together.
"I'm so shit-scared!" Noah declared.
Luke nodded his head against Noah's, holding onto the man's wrists and feeling him tremble. "Me too. But we've been here before."
"What happened?"
Luke shrugged, "A stupid twist of fate! Absolutely nothing to do with us! Does it really matter?"
"No. I suppose not." Noah kissed him. Smooth and sweet; hinting at the desperation and fear they both felt.
"God!" Noah whispered as he pulled Luke in his arms, holding him so tight it hurt, "I kept thinking what I'd do if I had to leave you behind!"
Luke pulled back and scanned the garage.
Noah had been busy. The van was stocked with food and clothes. Luke could see the box of weapons waiting to be loaded into the vehicle. But there was something glaringly absent.
"Noah, where's Leo?"
Noah shook his head, eyes somber. "Luke… we totally forgot!"
"Forgot what?" Luke asked; feeling a sick hand of dread choke him.
"Baseball game against Fort Worth! He's not due back at school for another 15 minutes."
…
Arlington, Texas, En Route, 2019
Leo Sutherland detested Baldwin Junior High with every bone in his body. But then he'd hated pretty much every other school he'd attended over his short academic career; and he'd been to many!
The reasons for why, out of all the towns and cities they'd lived in, his parents should suddenly decided to take root in Arlington, flew over Leo's head completely.
Not only were the majority of people bigoted beyond belief; they also hated Jews, Blacks, Mexicans, Latinos and, most of all, 'trailer park trash'.
Basically anybody who deviated even one inch from the narrow path of life the people of Arlington considered "normal".
Okay, so maybe he was being a little general himself. He had made one or two good friends over the years they'd spent there. Not all the people of Arlington were that way.
The old lady, Rose, who worked with his dad over at the garage, always gave him candy when he visited.
He'd been able to relax for the first time in his life. He'd gotten close to some of the other kids; allowed himself to settle; dared to call the place home. In the past, he'd never known when his parents would decide to up sticks and move on again.
So, as much as Arlington was dry and boring it was at least stationary.
He liked being settled. He definitely didn't want to move again.
He turned his gaze from outside the bus window and noticed, three seats ahead of him, Craig Greenford glaring back through one painfully-bruised black eye.
"Hey Craig," Leo sang, grinning with satisfaction as though they were the best of friends. "How's the shiner?"
His two best friends, Max and Shane, sniggered and congratulated Leo on his dig by slapping him on the back.
"Leo Sutherland!" Leo rolled his eyes at the sound of Mr. Farrow's voice from somewhere up front of the bus. "You have been warned!"
He had been… twice before he got on the bus; once on the bus and three times before the game. The only reason he'd been allowed to attend was because he was the school's best batter by a mile.
Make that two.
The fact that Craig Greenford spent every spare moment of his day finding ways to insult and humiliate Leo didn't seem to matter as far as the authority in the school administration was concerned.
Leo was not only the son of gay parents. To top it all off, he was also labeled as 'trailer park trash' which, by default, meant he was always in the wrong. That was just how it went.
Leo knew his parents could afford to buy a house and live like regular people, if they so chose. That would at least remove one of the worst sources of bully ammunition. But then they'd be tied down. And for some unfathomable reason, the thought of being tied down seemed to terrify both his fathers.
Leo slumped in his seat and sighed as the school gates came into view.
A whole hour of Biology before home time! Sucks!