Sanctuary Found (Pelican Bay 2)

Anger went through me at my own stupidity. I’d been in such a hurry to flee our apartment in San Francisco that I’d somehow managed to drop my stash of cash when I’d been packing the car. We hadn’t been wealthy by any means, but I’d done a lot of disgusting shit for that money.

Our moving on money.

I’d eventually remembered the money, of course.

Yeah, about ten hours after the fact. We’d just crossed into Utah and had stopped at a cheap motel for the night. It’d been all I could do not to cry when I’d reached into my pocket only to find the wad of cash gone and realizing I’d likely dropped it on the street outside of our shitty apartment building while I’d been getting my car keys out. The mix of fear and despair had been crushing as the reality of what I was doing had hit me all at once–dragging my little brother across the country with nothing more than a few hundred bucks in my wallet and all our worldly possessions stuffed into our crappy rattrap of a car. It wasn’t like it was a new thing for us, but at least the last couple of times we’d done it, I’d had a little bit of extra cash on me.

After trying to plead my case to the motel owner that I’d clean rooms in the morning in exchange for a night’s stay, he’d made me a much uglier offer. One I’d actually considered for about thirty seconds, since it wasn’t like he’d been asking for something I hadn’t given up before. But I hadn’t been about to leave Newt in the car for the few minutes it would have taken the guy to use me and toss me aside.

So I’d ended up finding a spot near a small lake that had been private enough that Newt and I had made an adventure out of it, including a fire over which we’d roasted hot dogs and marshmallows before snuggling up in a single sleeping bag in the back seat of the car. The second and third nights had been worse, because the weather had turned considerably less accommodating the farther north we’d headed. Last night I’d had to leave the car running most of the night to ward off the subzero temperatures in North Dakota.

So yeah, spending a night in a house where I could actually sleep would be a good thing. It would make it that much easier to get back to normal tomorrow. Hopefully, I’d manage to get us closer to Chicago and the temperature would be a little less frigid. And the second we got to New York, I’d make use of the money that remained and find a decent motel along with someone trustworthy to watch Newt and I’d go out and earn us enough cash to last us a while. Maybe I’d even rent us a house soon.

With a back yard.

And a dog for Newt.

I flinched as I thought about how many dicks I’d have to suck or take up the ass to manage something like that. Maybe not as many as a hooker walking the streets, but I’d stopped considering what I was doing classy about a hundred fucks ago. Didn’t matter that I called myself an escort. It was time to call a spade a spade.

No matter how much money it cost for some guy to bend me over a piece of furniture or whether there was carpet rather than cement beneath my knees when I got down on them, I was still just one thing.

A whore.

At least the brick wall didn’t know that about me. If he did, it sure would have been a lot harder to get in his face like I had. But I had gotten the satisfaction of catching him off guard. No, poking the beast hadn’t been my finest moment, but I hadn’t been about to let the condescending prick set that kind of example for Newt. Maybe I couldn’t give my brother the biggest house or fancy toys and gadgets, but I’d be damned if he would ever allow someone to see him as less.

And that started by making sure I didn’t let anyone treat me that way.

Even if I hadn’t been trying to be someone my brother could look up to, I still wouldn’t have let Maddox the Dick’s treatment of me slide. I’d gotten enough of that shit from Gary, thank you very much.

And I’d been doing swimmingly until Maddox the Asshat had tossed that last line over his shoulder.

Don’t steal anything.

“Dick,” I muttered as I reached the car and opened the back door.

“You always talk to yourself like that?”

I jumped at the sound of the deep voice and immediately hit my head on the doorframe. “Ow, fudge!” I cried out as I grabbed my head and turned around. “What the ever-loving heck?” I bit out when I saw Maddox standing not five feet behind me.