2. Joaquin

Chapter 2

Joaquin

Joaquin felt himself wake up abruptly as a couple began to argue a few seats ahead of him on the bus. With the rain still lashing down outside, Joaquin wasn't best pleased to have been woken up – but he was immediately more concerned about the argument that was taking place.

‘Is everything okay down there?' Joaquin said, leaning over toward the aisle so that he could get a better look.

‘Leave them, they've been going at it for a half hour,' the vodka lady replied, a dismissive tone in her voice. ‘Couples argue. Shit happens. Here, have another drink…'

Joaquin rubbed his eyes and saw that the woman was now deep into a bottle of white wine. The thought of gulping down some wine wasn't especially appealing, and Joaquin's mind was still on the couple as they continued to shout at one another.

‘Suit yourself,' the lady said, withdrawing her outstretched hand and the bottle of cheap wine too. ‘And if I was you, I wouldn't even think about getting involved down there. The assholes woke me up too.'

The woman took another large glug of wine and turned away from Joaquin and faced the window. She clearly had her own stuff going on, but Joaquin knew that she was probably correct about not getting involved with the other couple's drama. As far as Joaquin could tell, the man and woman were both giving each other as good as they were getting, and it would probably resolve itself soon enough.

‘Good luck guys,' Joaquin muttered to himself, leaning back in his chair and staring out of the window once more. ‘But don't take all the good luck. I'm going to be needing some for myself…'

In between sheets of rain crashing down, Joaquin could see lights in the distance. Maybe it was another town, a factory, or even an airport. Joaquin had no real idea where he was, or even where he was heading. The only goal in Joaquin's mind when he jumped on the bus was to get as far away from home as he possibly could.

Joaquin's plan was to stay on the bus until the end of the line, no matter how far that was. But then an avalanche of thoughts had started to creep into his mind.

What if he was being followed?

What if the men he'd escaped from were going to track him down?

What if the men he'd angered so much were already driving toward the end of the line and were going to ambush him when he got there?

Surely it was better to hop off the bus earlier, try and pick the most random stop to get off. Suddenly, the idea of getting off at the end of the line seemed like the most obvious – and dangerous – thing to do.

Joaquin felt a pang of pain in his ribs and held himself tightly. The last thing he wanted was to ever see those men again, and he knew that he had to do whatever it took to make sure that happened. And if that meant spending time in some nowhere town, then that was a price worth paying.

Joaquin would bide his time and lay low.

It might be a few weeks, or even a couple of months.

But Joaquin knew that he simply couldn't get caught – he owed too much money and had crossed too many lines with the worst people.

All that was left for Joaquin to do as far as he was concerned was get his head down and keep it down. No more fights. No more trouble. And definitely no more romantic entanglements either. From here on out, it was all about maintaining the lowest of low profiles and entering into survival mode.

Romance hadn't really been on the card for Joaquin for some time. Sure, there were always girls in clubs and bars, typically only after a quick fix and out for what they could get. This suited Joaquin too, and whenever he did end up with someone, he was always relieved when the morning came, and it was just him again.

Joaquin hadn't been in a proper relationship since high school, and even then it felt more like kids' stuff than anything real. Joaquin would sometimes imagine how life would have turned out had he followed Jenna to college. But college life wasn't something that Joaquin was ever cut out for.

There was always too much fun to be had for Joaquin to properly focus on his studies and get the grades he needed to go to university. And the idea of simply following Jenna and getting a job while she studied and partied was always a no-go too.

The one thing that Joaquin did wish though was that he'd ended things with Jenna in a more open and honest way. The truth of the matter was that he'd pretty much cut and run after high school graduation. A quick text message and Joaquin was out of her life, travelling across the country in the passenger seat of his friend's truck. Joaquin had always regretted not sitting down and talking through things with Jenna to at least explain to her that it was nothing personal and simply a case of their future's not being compatible.

But that was a long time ago – or it certainly felt like it anyhow.

Joaquin figured that Jenna was probably far happier with him out of her life, so he saw no reason to go drudging old emotions up again. And even more so, there was far too much going on in his life he be spending time thinking about Jenna.

Joaquin took a deep breath and did his best to put all thoughts of the past out of his mind. Even by his own wild standards, the previous few months had been a real rollercoaster for Joaquin. Except right now it was feeling like there were way more downs than ups.

I need a break.

I want something new.

I just don't know what it is, or how to get it…

Joaquin wriggled in his seat to get comfortable again and see out the rest of the journey. The bus was going to be on the road for another eight hours, and Joaquin knew that he would need to start thinking about getting off at a stop sometime soon.

The only question was… which stop?

‘I hope you find what you're looking for, kid,' the vodka and wine drinking lady said, her words blurring into one another at this point as she struggled to focus her gaze on Joaquin. ‘Try not to fuck your life up too bad.'

‘Sure, I'll try,' Joaquin said, feeling a pang of sadness at how clearly messed up the lady was. ‘You take care too.'

Joaquin flung his small backpack over his shoulder and made his way down the bus toward the open door.

As he stood in the doorway, Joaquin looked out into the blackness and did his best to make some kind of rapid-fire assessment of the surroundings. With the rain still torrential, Joaquin knew that he would need to move and move quickly if he was to have any chance of avoiding a total soaking – and even that was an optimistic aim judging by the howling gale that was whipping the rain up, down, and from side to side.

‘You might want to try the Smokers Tavern,' the bus driver said. ‘It's right across the road. See the blue neon sign? Cheap beer and they usually have rooms to rent too.'

‘Thanks,' Joaquin replied, smiling at the driver before taking the step down onto the street and immediately launching into a full-scale sprint across the road, albeit quickly realizing that the damage was already done and he was soaked from head to toe.

As he walked underneath the neon sign and opened the door to the bar, Joaquin was immediately hit by the sight and sound of hockey jerseys, loud music, and the kind of high-energy atmosphere that he knew would present opportunities as well as danger.

On the one hand, there would be the chance to pickpocket, hustle, and maybe even end the night in a profit. Drunk sports fans were rarely vigilant with their wallets, that was something that Joaquin had learned over the years.

However, Joaquin also knew that hockey fans with several beers inside them were also prone to losing their shit and go from enthusiastic to outright aggressive in the blink of an eye.

‘Okay, okay, let's see who's who here…' Joaquin muttered, finding a barstool in the corner that would hopefully allow him to observe in peace and without making himself a target for any hustlers or assholes.

Joaquin began to cast his eyes across the bar and saw a broad mixture of hockey fans in various states of intoxication. There were couples dotted around the bar too, either quietly drinking together or making out – something that always provided an excellent gap for a skilled pickpocket.

Joaquin decided that it was time for him to get to the bar and get himself a drink. After all, he didn't want to draw any unwarranted attention from a bar manager.

With the bar area quiet, save for a few barflies propping up the bar, Joaquin was quickly served by the young bartender.

‘What can I get you, stranger?' the bartender asked, flashing her pearly-white teeth and standing with one hand on her curved, strong hip.

‘Just a beer, thanks,' Joaquin said, not giving anything away as he cast his eyes around, checking to see if there were any obvious troublemakers around.

‘Here you go,' the bartender said, placing the frosted beer glass down on the mahogany surface. ‘The name's Tiffany, by the way.'

‘Thank you, Tiffany,' Joaquin replied. ‘I'm… Steven .'

With blonde hair that came with two purple streaks, there was no denying that the bartender was cute. But Joaquin kept his comments brief and polite. He wasn't in the mood for anything other than a beer and some much needed solitude.

Giving Tiffany a false name was something that Joaquin did without thinking. Joaquin figured that with a name like his, it was always a bad idea to reveal his true identity. And given the fact that he might end up committing some low-level criminal acts in this bar, it felt like an especially good idea to serve up Steven instead of his real name.

‘Okay… Steven … Ridgeback Falls is a small place. I'm sure I'll see you around,' Tiffany said, a knowing smile on her face as she walked to the other end of the bar to serve a customer.

Joaquin smiled to himself. Tiffany clearly sensed that Steven was a false name, and it made Joaquin aware that he was going to have to keep his wits about him. Clearly, the residents of Ridgeback Falls were no idiots. And Joaquin knew that if he had any thoughts of an easy ride, he probably needed to park them, and park them fast.

Just as he was about to take his beer and go back to his seat, Joaquin's eyes were drawn toward a man at the bar. He hadn't been there a moment ago, but was now very much taking center stage.

Tall, strong, and with a rugged look to him, Joaquin could tell that this was one man in Ridgeback Falls not to cross.

But there was more to it than that.

Joaquin almost felt like he'd seen this man somewhere before. Frustratingly, Joaquin simply couldn't place where he might know this man from. Racking his brains, Joaquin thought about the dead-end jobs he'd worked in various towns – it was more than possible that this guy could have worked in a factory or power plant, he certainly had the broad shoulders and strong arms for it.

There's something about him.

I don't know what it is, but he's making me…

Nah. I'm being paranoid. He's just another customer.

Joaquin broke himself out of his thoughts and picked his beer up. But just as he did, he made the briefest of eye contact with the man – who was now staring directly in his direction.

With his self-protection instincts on high alert, Joaquin immediately averted his eyes and took his beer to the relative safety of his spot in the corner. Whoever the gruff man at the bar might be was none of Joaquin's business – and with plenty of susceptible targets emerging in the increasingly rowdy Smokers Tavern, Joaquin was thinking along very different lines.

Joaquin may have escaped a terrible fate in the city, but no one in Ridgeback Falls knew that. As far as they were concerned, he was just another face in the crowd.

With the taste of a frosty beer on his lips, Joaquin smiled a deliciously devious smile.

It was time to make some money…