Racing Hearts (Hollows Garage Book 3)

Sometimes you go to sleep and think that was the most terrible day of your life, only to be surprised when the next day is even worse.

I thought yesterday was it. I thought it would be marked as the worst day of my life. But then this morning, my stepdad and his best friend, Tristan, proved me wrong.

I spent the last eight hours locked in my room hiding, but I was sure they were gone now. I pulled open my bedroom door and peered out. The house was quiet, everyone gone or asleep, and it was my only chance to grab what I could and run.

Run as far as I possibly could, and hope that they didn’t come looking for me.

I rolled my eyes. Of course they would come looking for me. Somehow their idea of family was becoming a little gang, and they thought they needed me for that.

I hadn’t realized they had been tricking me for years, encouraging me to learn about computers, praising how smart I was when I’d help them. It started small, switching little things in the records for the cars at their shop. There was always a good reason for it, and my mother’s unwavering faith in my stepdad made me never question a thing.

Did I like him? Not even a little. I hated him and his gross friends, but I was told that he was taking care of us and I should help him whenever he needed it, so I did.

Until yesterday. When I walked into their dirty, creepy garage after months of staying away, all the pieces fell into place. First, I had walked past the guy grinding a VIN number off of a door before adding a new, what I realized was fake, VIN plate in it’s place. Then, we turned the corner, overhearing Tristan and one of the guys talking about the next round of cars and parts they were sending out of town to sell. There was no hiding what we heard as my sister had run over, throwing her arms around Tristan as he glared at me.

It was a mess, just like all the information in my brain, but then it all clicked together.

I had been inadvertently helping them steal cars.

I felt so stupid. I should have known, I should have made myself pay more attention, but whenever my stepdad was around, I couldn’t think straight. He honestly terrified me and I learned fast that quiet and out of sight was best with him. So every time he asked for help, I put my head down to quickly do what he needed before going to hide back in my room.

I did exactly the same thing yesterday. I went back home, shut myself in my room, and laid in bed while I tried to figure out what I should do now that I knew what they were doing.

I thought I’d have more time, but this morning, I found out I was wrong.

When my stepdad and Tristan sat me down and made my options very clear. I was going to help them steal new cars. They planned to take new cars off the manufacturer lots and I was going to adjust their VIN numbers to make them look legal, along with creating fake titles for them. Then, they could sell them for full price, and be long gone before anyone caught on.

They had gotten this idea that I could help them by casually hacking into some national database to change legal numbers.

As scared as I was of both of them, I couldn’t help but laugh in their faces. I could build websites, organize their accounts, run their programs, and suddenly I was supposed to hack into secure databases. In their delusional state, they really believed I could do this.

It didn’t matter if I could or not, I wasn’t going to.

That made it clear that if I stayed to help them, they would ease up on me and make sure I was taken care of, and if I didn’t do this for them, they would make my life hell. More than they already were, apparently. They had thought that everything was wrapped up so nicely, but they forgot to account for the fact that I finally opened my eyes and realized this was it. If I stayed, there would be no turning back to a life outside of their illegal lifestyles.

I slipped into the small garage attached to our house and opened up Slaughter’s laptop. He had one at his garage too, but last I knew, he kept copies of most of his files on this one.

I only hoped it was enough information.

I moved every single file I could find over to the thumb drive, my hands tapping against the table the entire time. My dog, Riot, came up, whining and knocking into me, probably annoyed at my sudden anxiety.

“We are really going this time,” I told him, trying to calm my racing heart down as I watched the files load. “No doubting ourselves again. We are leaving.”

It wasn’t the first time I had daydreamed about leaving, telling Riot that we could have a better life, but it was the first time I was actually doing it. My life had transformed into a living hell, and yesterday was the last straw. It had become unbearable, pushing me to desperate measures like this.

It hadn’t always been like this, but at some point, Slaughter saw my mom struggling and took his opportunity to snake his way into our lives. He took over the uninvited role of the man of the house, claiming that my mother shouldn’t have to do all of this alone, and that he could help her as my new stepdad. It wasn’t long before his ‘help’ quickly escalated into a dictatorship, turning our lives upside down in a matter of days. Somehow, my mother thought this was better than handling this on our own. I tried over and over to talk to her, but she was adamant that she was happy and things were not changing.

But now I knew that I would rather be alone than stuck here. The relentless questioning, the demands, the arguments, the nasty comments about my weight or outfits, the days or even weeks spent locked in my room as if I were still a child – like I wasn’t a grown woman. For so long, I thought that I owed them something, but I don’t. That was just the weight of their manipulation on my shoulders.

The laptop pinged, showing that the thumb drive wasn’t working. Something was corrupt on it or on the laptop.

Of course it wouldn’t work. Why would this be easy?

Riot whined again, making me more anxious.

“Alright, nothing stopping us, right?” I said, slamming the laptop closed and taking the entire thing with me.

I ran back to my room, grabbing my packed bags, trying to take as much as I could carry. I had my bags, my truck, my money, and Riot was already next to me. There was nothing stopping me.

Tristan and Slaughter were headed to the neighboring town to pick up – or more likely steal – car parts because I couldn’t think of any parts store that’s open past 10 PM. My mom was a heavy sleeper, so that was no issue. Luckily, my sister had finally moved out and lived down the street with Tristan. It was the perfect opportunity for me to go in the opposite direction. I had been saving money for months to eventually move out and now I only hoped that I would have enough to make due until I started a job and got a paycheck.

I threw the last bag into the back of my truck and helped Riot up, his big Rottweiler body apparently too heavy for him to get himself up to the seat. Every minute that went by shrunk my window to leave, and the anxiety was starting to get to me. I didn’t know how long Tristan and Slaughter would be gone, but they would know I had left as soon as they saw my truck gone. With everything that happened today, I knew they would be hunting me down immediately, especially when they saw both me and the laptop were gone.

I turned the truck over, not letting myself panic when it didn’t crank the first time.

Or the second.

I almost cried until, on the third try, it finally turned over and roared to life.

I held back a sob as I took one more look at the house and prepared myself to let go of the only life I knew. It wasn’t like I would miss it, but leaving behind such a deep part of who I was felt strange. It was freeing and scary, and I realized just how long I had been waiting for this exact feeling.

I tried to not jump every time a car passed, but it was hopeless. Every set of headlights made me worry that they had caught onto what I was doing and was following me.

I made it almost five miles down the road before the truck started to sputter. Then it popped, the entire thing shutting off and the power steering going out, making me cling to the wheel to try and pull onto the side of the road.

I cursed as the truck came to a stop and Riot perked up.

“No, you stay here,” I said, jumping out. “This can’t seriously be happening.”

I popped the hood, laughing at myself that I thought I would be able to diagnose it. I knew how to change the oil, change a flat tire, and check fluids. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with an engine that decided to stop going down the road. I still tried, checking all the fluids and finding them a little low, but I couldn’t imagine that made it shut off.

I leaned back on the bumper, looking out into the dark. There were no cars, no sounds, and nothing even remotely within walking distance.

There was nothing.

If this was the universe telling me I wasn’t going to get to leave, it wasn’t funny. Or maybe it was telling me that my life was what it was, and that I just needed to accept it.

It was hard to believe there could be this many roadblocks without it being some sort of sign to turn back, go home, and live out the rest of my miserable life.

I don’t know how long I sat there. It could have been five minutes or hours but the sound of a car approaching finally caught my attention.

The familiar sound of an engine revving before shifting down, the curves here too dangerous to take at full speed.

My body tensed at the sound, the tears threatening now, but I pushed them away. Now was not the time to fall apart. If I was a crying mess, I would have no chance against whoever it was.

I grabbed the bat out of the back and opened the passenger door, unclipping Riot’s seatbelt and ducking down to hide.

Just as I expected, the car came to a stop. If Slaughter, Tristian, or their friends were already looking for me, it wouldn’t be hard to spot this old green truck if they passed. My grandpa gave me the truck, and I was grateful for it every day, even if it did stand out so horribly. There was no way I would be able to afford any other vehicle right now and it gave me the chance to save to leave instead of having to save for a car.

My plan had obviously been flawed, though, based on the truck’s inability to even get me out of town. But even acting up, I still loved it.

The car pulled in, the headlights bathing us in light, but I was still hidden behind the passenger door. Riot whined from his spot in the passenger seat, and I tried to shush him, pushing his big body back into the truck more while I carefully peered at the car.

“Hello?” a man’s voice that I didn’t recognize echoed.

The guy walked towards the driver’s side as I crept around behind him from the passenger side. I’d never seen him or the car before, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t helping Tristian and Slaughter find me. They had so much reach with these car guys that I wouldn’t be surprised if there were already a dozen of them out looking for me.

Riot barked again and jumped from the truck, going right towards the guy before putting himself between us. I lifted up the bat, ready to swing. If the world was going to force me to go back to that damn house, I wasn’t going to go without a fight.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

The guy turned, jumping back at the sight of me.

“Fuck. What are you doing?” he asked, taking another step back and holding up his hands.

“No. You tell me what you are doing. Why did you stop?”

“To help?” he asked, sounding bewildered. “I thought some old man would be out here. Is this your truck?”

“Do I look like an old man?”

“Obviously, not. I assumed it was an old man based on the old truck and would feel bad all night if I didn’t stop.”

“Are you out looking for me?”

His face scrunched. “No? What does that even mean? I’m not actively going out trying to find women broken down on the side of the road.”

“Not women, me. Did someone tell you to come out and look for me?” I asked, slower now.

“No. I don’t even know you. What is happening?” he yelled. “And is your dog going to attack me?”

Riot was sitting at my side, not taking his eyes off of the guy.

“No, not unless I tell him to.”

“Do not tell him to. I would like to keep all of my limbs.” He shook his head and looked back at the road and then the truck. “Do you need help?”

“No,” I said.

“Great then, have a good night,” he said, stalking back to his car without another glance.

I couldn’t imagine someone that was helping Tristian and Slaughter would leave that easily. Unless he was going to tell them that I was broken down. I was obviously a sitting duck in my current situation, and more of them showing up wouldn’t help. Maybe letting him check it over wouldn’t hurt.

“Wait!” I yelled, making him turn back. “Actually, I do need some help. Do you know anything about fixing a truck like this?”

His deep frown flashed in the headlights as he turned back to me. “Yeah. I know everything about fixing a truck like that.”

“Would you possibly mind looking it over? Something made a big banging noise and then it stopped as I was going down the road, but I really need to get going again.”

“Because someone is out looking for you?”

“Yes. I think so. Now, would you mind looking?”

“Since you asked so nicely, no, I wouldn’t mind.” He grabbed a bag out of his car, coming back and clicking on a flashlight. His face had calmed as he looked it over and that settled me a little more. Maybe he really did just stop to help me.

“Not the kind of car I’d expect someone like you to be driving.”

“Someone like me?”

“Under seventy years old.”

“It was a gift,” I said, realizing that I wouldn’t be able to go see my grandpa for a while, either.

He moved to step around me, but Riot growled as he got closer.

“That,” he said, taking a step away. “Still looks like an angry Rottweiler.”

“Protective, not angry. Enough.” I said, watching as Riot visibly relaxed at my side with the command.

“And well trained.” His eyebrows jumped, but he turned back to the truck, ignoring both of us.

“Yes, so while I appreciate your help, please don’t make me send Riot after you.”

He shook his head and reached into his bag. “You named your dog Riot?”

“I didn’t. Someone else did. He was horrible as a puppy. He basically named himself.”

“I can only hope that I won’t be doing anything to warrant you sending him after me.”

‘He’ll keep his distance. He’s not fond of men, and I can’t blame him for that.’

‘Ah, so both of you are jaded.’

‘Isn’t everyone?’ I replied.

“For tonight, I can agree,” he said.

“What was your name? And is there any chance this will be quick?”

“Jax, and I don’t know. You’ll have to give me a minute. On the run from the police? Or an ex?”

“Neither,” I said, looking from him to the road.

“Are you going to tell me your name?”

“Carly.”

“Alright, Carly, tell me what happened to the truck.”

I ran over what happened, the truck stalling out as I came around the corner. “I know the basics, but past an oil change or a new battery, I’m out.”

He made a sound and peered back over the engine. It gave me a second to look him over finally. He was hot. The hard lines of his jaw and messy hair peeking out from under the now backwards hat made him look like he was straight out of a magazine.

I knew his type, but I couldn’t help but think he looked sweet. Even the way his jaw tightened when I looked him over still looked cute.

I turned away, scolding myself to stop. I didn’t know why he was here and him being hot could not distract me. Technically, he could still kidnap me himself, or be here to kidnap me for Tristan and Slaughter.

He took a few more minutes, tinkering with things and trying to turn it over, but none of it was working.

A car revved in the distance, making me jump. “Any luck?”

‘Not yet. I’m ruling a few things out,’ he replied, his voice taking on a more serious tone.

The sound of the engine reverberated around us and I couldn’t hide the tremble that went through me. Whoever it was had to be close to coming over the hill.

“Any chance it will be running in the next minute?”

He gave a harsh laugh. “I’m good, but not that good. No, I’m thinking it has a bigger problem than I hoped.”

“Ok. Then leave it. I’ll get it later.”

“Give me a few more minutes. I can call someone to bring it back to our shop if you want.”

“Shop?”

“I’m a mechanic.”

“How surprising, another mechanic who owns a garage and drives a fast car,” I mumbled, thinking how similar it all was to my life. I shook my head, it didn’t matter who he was. “No. You need to go. Take your stuff and go.” My nerves were getting to me as a car finally crested the hill, it was still at least a mile away, but they would cover that ground fast. I grabbed his tools, shoving them back into his bag.

“What?” he asked, looking around the truck to me, but I was already grabbing my backpack and the most important suitcase. “It’s really not a problem. I don’t mind waiting out here with you.”

“Just go. I’ll get it later. You need to go. I need to go.” I looked back, my heart thundering as I waited to see what car was coming over the hill.

“What’s going on?” Jax said, sounding pissed off now. “What trouble are you in?”

“I need to go and I’m worried that car coming is one of the people that I am trying to get away from.”

“So you really are running from someone? Who?”

“My stepdad and his goons. If they see me out here, they are going to drag me back. I need to go. Get out of here. I’ll hide until they leave.”

I whistled for Riot and he came to my side, but I realized Jax wasn’t moving.

“Go! Grab your things. Just go,” I yelled again.

“I’m not a dog to dismiss. What are you going to do? Hide out in the freezing woods all night?”

“Pretty much.”

He groaned and went to grab more bags out of the truck, a serious frown on his face as he pulled them out and headed to his car.

“Get in my car. Now.”