Author's Note: This chapter will be shorter than usual and split into two parts due to the power and internet outages in Western North Carolina from Hurricane Helene.

James, approximately 10 months before the disappearance

"Hurry! Go!" Austin said, jumping into the truck and slamming the door shut.

"Um, hi." James squinted at him, taken aback. "You still want to try fishing at Stackpole Creek?"

Austin glanced over his right shoulder. "Don't care, just bolt!"

James shifted the truck into gear and pulled onto the road around the main square. When he adjusted the rearview mirror, he saw two guys dart around the corner. They ran across the street searching for something. Or someone.

"Faster!' Austin said, ducking.

Without questioning, James pressed the pedal down and swerved around the car in front. He made a quick left onto a side street, followed by another through an access alley. Behind the row of buildings, he peeled out in the opposite direction taking a state road away from downtown.

Austin settled back onto the bench seat of the truck. "Thanks," he said, buckling his seat belt. "Don't think they saw me get in here."

"Me neither." Good thing, because he hadn't signed up for this kind of trouble.

A few minutes later, he pulled into a ruined gas station, the pumps rusted over from years of neglect. Around the back of the building, he eased onto a hidden road. The truck bounced over the rough terrain, kicking up dirt in their wake. Gravel crunched beneath the wheels, the only sound breaking the silence between them. He knew Austin had always been evasive, and he hadn't wanted to push, afraid to push him away. But he needed answers. Now. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

"I stole their money," Austin said.

"What?" James jerked the wheel to the right as he turned to stare at Austin.

"Bro! Watch the road!"

James steered the truck back onto the lane as the right wheel dipped off the shallow bank. "You used me as a wheelman? This ain't the General Lee, you know."

"Who's the General Lee?" Austin asked. "And they swiped my cash first. Just gettin' it back."

James raised his eyebrows and shot him another look, this time keeping the truck on the road.

"With some extra." Austin gave a half-hearted grin, but it didn't reach his eyes. The silence stretched until he whispered, "It was everything I had. I couldn't let them take it."

𓄿𓄿𓄿

James slowed down, heading to a couple of scraggly trees in a small clearing at the end of the dirt road. He shifted into park, pulling the break up with a grinding noise. Austin stared straight ahead, quiet and focused on nothing.

James rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and sighed. The uneasy feeling in his stomach grew. "Come on. I know a nice place to sit by the water." He grabbed a black backpack from the truck bed but left the fishing poles behind.

Austin nodded and slipped out of the truck, following James down a short path through the trees. They pushed branches out of the way, pausing as a striped red, white, and black snake slithered across the path. "Just a king snake," James said when Austin hesitated. "Not venomous."

"Thought it might be a coral."

"They have larger black patches. Plus, I've never seen one around here." He pushed against the branches of a large shrub, holding them aside. "Careful, these spring back quick."

"These safe to eat?" Austin asked, plucking a dark purple berry from the shrub.

"No. You hungry? I got sandwiches in the backpack."

Austin flicked the berry away. "In a bit, thanks. You're like a boy scout, always prepared."

"I think that's the Coast Guard," he said, shoving through a few more branches before emerging at a rocky outcrop on a bank above the water. James pulled himself onto one of the rocks, turning around to offer a hand, but Austin had already scrambled up beside him. They wound around several large boulders before dropping down on a flat slab overlooking the reservoir ten feet below. James slipped the backpack off and they sat down, soaking in the warmth of the late afternoon sun.

"Many people know about this place?" Austin asked. They were completely alone.

"Not many. It's hard to get to and pretty well hidden. My brother and I used to fish here when we were younger, back before he became such an asshole. Used to swim here sometimes, too, though you're not supposed to. Some girl drowned a few years back, so the city blocked  access."

"Missed a road."

"Yeah." After another minute, James cleared his throat. "So you gonna tell me the whole story or what?"

"Sure you wanna hear it?"

"Obviously! What the hell is going on with you?" That sick feeling swirled around his gut. He rubbed the nylon strap of the backpack between his fingers.

Austin reached into his pocket and pulled out a joint with a plain green lighter. He lit the end and inhaled.

"You're selling drugs?" James said. He scrambled to his feet.

"No!" Austin coughed as he exhaled. "Just swiped this with the cash." He looked up at James wide-eyed, his hand trembling. "I'm... tryin' to come up with the words."

James crossed his arms, but his anger seeped away when he realized how young and scared Austin looked, all curled up into himself. The dark circles under Austin's eyes were more obvious in the sunlight, as were his ill-fitting clothes. His dirty jeans were too big, held up by a knotted cord, and he wore the same Guns and Roses t-shirt as before. James slid back down, looking out over the pond. He sighed. "Just start from the beginning."

Austin inhaled again, holding onto it for a while before blowing out. "I'm Amish."