Chapter 1 - Good Luck, Lena
The silver pickup was already moving when I ran barefoot across the gas station lot.
One sandal had fallen behind me. The concrete burned beneath my feet, but I kept chasing the truck while Kyle and his brothers laughed through the open windows.
“Kyle, stop!”
My husband glanced at me through the driver’s mirror. He wore a gray T-shirt and the cap he always used in videos because viewers called it his signature look.
He did not stop.
Brad and Chase leaned from the passenger windows, holding their phones toward me.
“Good luck, Lena!” Chase shouted. “Only three hundred miles to walk!”
The truck accelerated toward the empty highway.
Dust rose behind it, swallowing their laughter before they disappeared around the curve.
My purse was still inside the truck. So were my wallet, medication, house keys, and the emergency cash I kept hidden beneath the lining.
Kyle had sent me into the store for an energy drink.
The moment I came outside, he locked the doors and began filming.
My phone vibrated nearly an hour later.
Its battery showed one percent.
Don’t get mad, babe. It’s only a prank. We’ll be back when you calm down.
The screen went dark before I could answer.
I looked toward the empty road, then at the sandal lying near the pump.
For six years, Kyle had called humiliation comedy. If I objected, he said I lacked a sense of humor. If I cried, he kept the camera rolling because “real reactions performed better.”
This time, he had taken everything that could help me get home.
He expected me to remain exactly where he left me.
I opened the phone, removed the SIM card, and snapped it between my fingers.
“I’m done.”
An old minivan pulled beside the pumps. A tired-looking woman stepped out and noticed my bare feet.
I walked toward her.
May you like
Before dropping the broken SIM into the trash, I looked once more at the highway.
“Let them wonder.”
