Excerpt: Lookout

Addie Boggs tightened her grip on the steering wheel and drew her arms against her breasts. Cold air swirled through the Chevy Malibu, stinging her skin through her wool coat. Her breath spread in short, ragged puffs. Paul had promised to fix the heater before the temperature dropped below forty.

"Your promises are about as good as the heater," she said. The words puffed around her lips and disappeared.

A green sign informed her the last exit before the toll booth lay ahead. Fear chilled her already frozen bones. The only money she had was the five dollars Paul had given her that morning. The exit raced toward her. She veered to the right and followed the white lines toward the stoplight. Now what?

"Think, Addie." The car rattled to a stop. She glanced over her shoulder. Through a layer of gray clouds, she spotted the shape of the sun hovering over the horizon. She didn't have much in this world right now, but at least she had a compass only God could give.

"Sir, it'd be nice if you could give me a little direction, too." She bit back the fog. Be careful what you ask for, her mother always said. The good Lord might indeed give her direction, and that may lead behind her. To Chesapeake. To home.

Keeping the waning sun on her right shoulder, she flew down the two-lane road, picking up the expressway several miles to the south. The pulse pounded in her wrist, racing ahead of her, urging her toward the North Carolina border. She had to make it. Had to. He didn't love her anymore. None of them did. Her phone lay silent on the frayed vinyl. The seat Jonathan cut with the pocket knife she'd asked Paul not to give him for this thirteenth birthday. The cut Brianna picked at when she didn't get her way. Addie flexed her frozen fingers. Not a call or a text message. Then again, they would only call if they needed something.

Welcome to North Carolina! loomed ahead. She pressed the gas pedal leaving Virginia behind. They didn't care if she needed anything. Well, it was her turn now. She was free to do as she pleased.

A hot tear dribbled down her cheek. Free, with nowhere to go.