For as long as Boyd can remember, he's been pushing pins into a map. Carson City, Las Vegas, Albuquerque -- all places he wants to see, for a dozen different reasons that wouldn't mean a thing to anyone else. When he finally gets a chance to purchase the '70 Plymouth Duster of his dreams, at a price that even he can manage, Boyd jumps at the opportunity.<br><br>Oliver seems like just another kid with a broken dream when their paths cross in Vegas. Against Boyd's better judgment, he offers to let Oliver hitch along for the ride when Oliver confides the need to get out and get gone.<br><br>But isn’t long before Boyd realizes Oliver's reasons for running are more complicated -- and more dangerous -- than Oliver let on. Boyd doesn't like people who play hardball, and he definitely doesn't like people messing with a man who's managed to light a fuse that Boyd forgot he had.

Road Trip

Oliver watched him walk back to the car, and when Boyd finally allowed Oliver’s red-rimmed eyes to level with his, Oliver whispered, “You got a spare set, right?”


The defeated tone in Oliver’s voice scraped every nerve ending Boyd had, though whether that anger was more at himself or Oliver, Boyd couldn’t manage the patience to try and figure out. Problem was, he’d asked about a spare set when they’d been exchanging information on the car, and the previous owner had told him there wasn’t one. There had been, back in the day. Time and carelessness had taken their toll, however. Boyd had told himself it wasn’t a big deal, that he’d just get another set cut when he got back home. It had obviously been a bad decision, and Boyd didn’t like making bad decisions. And topping a crappy call with another foolish move, like trusting a kid to keep an eye on one’s important property, just made Boyd ten times more stupid.


Chapter 23