Escape

Chapter 2

Justin glanced at the still sleeping man next to him. He had barely stirred for the past hour, and Justin would have been worried except for the fact that his breathing was normal. Justin pulled the car off the main road and into a secluded area of a rest stop. The clock on the dash read 3:40. Justin had been driving for three hours and the original adrenaline rush had worn off. He was getting tired. His joints hurt from straining against the leather straps. Tears started to well up in his eyes. "No," he said aloud. "I won't give him the satisfaction."

"Huh?"

The unexpected sound caused Justin to jump. "You're finally awake. How do you feel?"

Brian sat up and looked around, secure in the fact that this was just a dream and that he would wake up back at that place, in the room he had called `home' for the past 5 months. He rubbed his hands over his face and when he looked again, he was still in the car with the night surrounding him. He sat up straighter, working the kinks from his lanky body.

"Who are you?" he asked the young blond sitting behind the wheel.

"Justin."

"Okay, Justin. Now who the hell are you and what am I doing here?"

"You obviously don't remember me. I practically had to throw you on my back and carry you out of that place. Of course if you wanted to stay, then I'm sorry. If you want to go back, you can get out here. I'm sure you wouldn't have too much trouble thumbing a ride."

Brian stared at the blond. "No, this is fine," he finally said. "But, I ask again, who are you and what are we doing here?"

"Stories later. Right now I'm very tired. I think we're far enough away from Greenhills to risk a little nap. He pushed the seat back and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I have to pee." Brian opened his car door and winced as the interior light came on. He looked back and caught sight of the young man, already asleep. It was the first chance he had to get a good look at him. The first thing he noticed was the pale, perfect skin and youthful appearance. But there was something else, something...sad, even in sleep. Brian stepped out of the car and almost fell. He was surprised at how rubbery his legs were and how muddled his head felt. The night air felt surprisingly good against his skin. He stared at the leather jacket, wondering where it had come from, but glad he had it on. By the time he returned, his head had cleared and he felt less drunk. When he returned to the car, Justin was still asleep. There wasn't much left for him to do but try to sleep, too. He closed his eyes and was asleep almost immediately.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back at Greenhills, the director was on the phone, trying to calm the person on the other end. "I don't know how he got out. He was sedated and restrained. We're searching the grounds now. Well, he's not alone, as far as we can tell. Another client is missing, too."

The distraught man wiped his forehead with a handkerchief he pulled from his pocket. He did the best he could and hated having to answer to assholes like the one now yelling at him over the phone. "Yes, Sir. As soon as we know something...yes, yes. I understand."

He slammed the phone down as the security chief came into his office.

"There's a car missing from the parking lot. Belongs to Thornton, in records. He just stopped in for a few minutes to get some papers and left his car unlocked and the keys in it. Taylor must have taken it."

"I want him found. Now. And no police. This has to be settled close to home, Wally, and I mean close to home. No publicity or we're all in jail."

"I already got cars out looking for them. They had an hour head start on us. No telling where they are or in what direction they went. The guard at the gate denies seeing them leave. Swears he was watching the whole time. I doubt it."

"What about the guard that was injured? Can he be trusted to keep his mouth shut?"

"He'll do what he's told. I'll see to it."

"I need to go over the files on Taylor and Kinney. See if there's any clues there as to where they would go. As far as I know, they never had access to each other here, so I'm wondering how it happened that they escaped together. Kinney was in an isolation room. Fuck. Why now?"

"Have you called Kinney's contact? He needs to know what happened, too."

The director groaned and reached for the phone. Sometimes he hated his job, no matter how good the money was.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In a large house just outside of Pittsburgh another phone slammed down and a man was pacing back and forth in his office. He stopped long enough to pour himself a double shot of whiskey and downed it in one gulp. Everything had been on schedule until this happened and he wasn't about to let it all go wrong now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin awoke to the blast of a truck horn. When he opened his eyes, he was looking into the most beautiful hazel eyes he had ever seen.

"Mornin'. I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up."

The smile on Justin's face was short lived when he remembered where he was and why. He sat up quickly, raising the seat back with him. "I almost forgot...what time is it? Have you been awake very long?"

"Not sure about the time." He held up his wrist. "No watch and I couldn't start the car to see that clock."

Justin nodded. "I'm going to the bathroom, then I think we need to eat. I don't have any money, though."

"We'll think of something. Hurry up. I don't want to hang around here too long in the daylight." Brian watched as Justin hurried to the brick building, admiring the view of the young man as he walked away. Even in the shapeless scrubs that passed for pajamas at Greenhills, Brian could tell he had one perfect ass. When Justin was no longer in sight, Brian turned his attention to the inside of the car. He opened the glove box and rummaged around, pulling out several envelopes and a leather case with the registration in it. He put that back then sorted through the other stuff.

"Well, well," he said, pulling a twenty dollar bill out of a bank envelope. "Jackpot." Just then the driver's door opened and Justin got in.

"Where did you get that?" Brian pointed to the open glove box, then shoved all the papers back and closed the lid. "Food," Justin said as he started the car. "And gas. We got maybe a quarter tank."

The car merged cleanly into the morning traffic as they headed toward the next exit.

"So, what's the plan, Papillon? You broke us out. What next?"