“You know, maybe we could find another way to Colville,” I suggested nervously. 

Jake was eyeing up the only cars in the diner’s parking lot. All three were old and used and obviously needed by their owners. To steal one of them felt so petty. I just couldn’t stomach doing that to them.

“You're going to let me steal a semi then?” he looked back at me annoyed. “Have you forgotten what’s at stake here?”

“I know, but if you steal one of those, you're really going to make someone’s life miserable,” I argued.

“He made my life miserable!” Jake snapped at me. 

“Jake, I’m sorry, that’s not- I didn’t mean to-,” I struggled to find the right words. “It’s just making sure he sees out his full sentence is no excuse to mess with someone else’s life.”

He came up at me with fire in his eyes. I backed up until I hit the exterior wall of the diner and even then he got right into my face, staring holes into me.

“I got out of the hospital as soon as I could walk, but the pain, the pain wasn’t gone. It stayed with me wherever I went, whatever I did, for months. For fucking months! So what if some waitress has a bad day or week even? At least she’s able to sleep! You know who shouldn’t be able to sleep? Richard fucking Roger,” he gritted his teeth.

“How did you cope with it?” my voice shook as I tried to remain calm.

Jake pulled away slowly, “Coping isn’t a word I would use to describe that time in my life. I survived and that’s all that matters.”

“Jake...” I stroked the side of his face. “Is that why you got the tattoo?”

He turned his head away, “A friend convinced me it would help me regain control.”

“Fuck,” I bit my lip. “I wish I was there for you. I should’ve been there for you!”

“No!” he roared. “Never! Fuck, the things I did then... I had absolutely no restraint. I just did whatever the fuck I wanted to whoever I wanted. I would have- I would have done things. Regrettable things. It was better you weren’t there. Having you here now has been a reminder I must never let myself stray that far off the path again.”

I sighed, “It’s your story the board needs to hear, not mine.”

“How? As far as they’re concerned, I wasn’t there!” he refuted. “It’s not like I can walk in, point to him and say, ‘That’s the son of a bitch that nearly burned me alive!’”

“Do you have your hospital records? We show them those. For the John Doe discovered on the side of the road outside the mines with severe burns,” I argued.

“Of course I have them,” he admitted. “We still need to get to Colville though. We have just over five hours and over three hours of driving to cover and you won’t let me steal a fucking piece of shit car because it might hurt someone’s feelings. So how, pray tell, will we get there?”

“I don’t know. We start walking until we find something else?” I shrugged.

“Wow, so you're too good to steal from these people, but maybe after another hour of walking we'll find someone who does meet your criteria,” he said sarcastically.

“Or we hitch a ride with one of the truck drivers!” I offered. “No, wait, that ended badly the last time.”

“If we weren’t so focused on getting to Colville, I'd say we just sneak onto the back of one of the trailers and let fate take us to our next destination,” he shook his head.

“I suppose going back inside and asking each driver where they were going would look rather suspicious,” I thought out loud.

“No, but I have other ways of finding out who’s going where,” Jake stepped away and looked at the company names on the sides of the trailers. “Some of these are local, but some are traveling across country. I just need to find out which one is going in our direction.”

“And that will get us closer?” I questioned.

“It should cut the distance down considerably,” he nodded. “Just have to hope they have space in the back for us.”

Jake took off his backpack and crouched down to pull out his laptop. He then sat down on the concrete with his back against the wall and while his computer woke up from sleep. As soon as it loaded he was absorbed in his work so I let him be.

Meanwhile I started pacing back and forth. I thought about the hearing and tried to figure out exactly what I was going to say to the board. Never before had I given such a statement in front of the person involved. Sure, I was asked to speak at Richy’s trial, but the judge had agreed to letting the prosecution video conference me in. I didn’t actually have to stand in front of Richy and give testimony against him, which made it a lot easier for me back then. To be honest, I hadn’t even seen him since his video confession. The others told me he had been burnt badly by the fire, but that was as much as I knew. This time I would be speaking out against him while standing in the same room. This would have a lasting effect on his life. Could I pull it off? Did I have the backbone for it?

I paused and looked at Jake working at his laptop. Alan Bloomgate, the Duskwood police chief, told me they couldn’t bring up manslaughter charges against Richy because there was no body and no way of proving that a wanted fugitive was even in the mines. They could only charge him for the kidnapping, assault, and arson. As Richy plead guilty to those charges and showed deep remorse, he managed to get away with lighter sentencing. Because he gave key eyewitness testimony against Hannah and he was able to prove that he had drunk too much that night, he managed to avoid any charges related to Jennifer’s death. Hannah, his kidnapping victim, was forced to accept the full force of the law over Jennifer’s death. It had been the worst outcome in all of this - Richy’s full sentence was the same time as Hannah’s earliest release. If we could prove Jake’s injuries were a result of Richy’s reckless behaviour then maybe we could at least guarantee that Richy sees the same time as Hannah and that would be the only solace we had in all of this. I'd only have one shot at this. If they grant him parole, that’s it, he’s free.

“There, that truck with the tarpaulin sides is running freight to the depot outside Colville, about 30 minutes away from the prison. It looks like it is only 80% full so there should be enough space for us to slip in,” Jake announced optimistically.

Jake closed his laptop and shoved it back into his backpack. Then he pulled out his pocket knife and stood up, slinging his backpack back over his shoulders. He took off in the direction of the truck in question without warning. I had to rush to catch up to him. He opened his pocket knife and cut a small hole into the tarp on the side of the truck. Quickly he put his pocket knife away, and after taking one last look around, he pushed the tarp open enough for him to climb through. Once he was in, he held the tarp open for me to climb in after him.

The trailer had several full pallets of various cartons, all plastic wrapped for transport, but there was enough space for us to sit on the floor at the back of the truck. Jake pulled his backpack off and sat down with his back against the rear of the trailer. I dropped our bag to the ground and sat down next to Jake while pulling the bag close to my side.

“Now we wait,” Jake sighed.

“He’s going to leave soon, right?” I asked nervously.

“Well, he’s scheduled to be arriving at Colville by 1 so he better?” Jake responded less confidently. “Stealing a car is still an option.”

“No, we’ll stick with this,” I nodded. Jake waited a moment, then pulled his laptop back out. “What are you doing?”

“Hurrying things along,” he explained. “There,” he turned and smiled at me.

“Do I want to know what you did?” I said apprehensively.

“Just sent a message, that’s all,” he grinned. "A harmless little message."

Jake went back to his laptop and switched windows. I rested my head on his shoulder as I watched him connect to a remote server and download several files stored on there. He opened them to check through the contents. As soon as the first one loaded, I realised they were his hospital records. First was a digital written record describing the extent of the injuries. Next was a statement from the EMTs that brought him in, detailing where he was found and who had called it in. He was about to open the next file when he paused.

"I didn't want to show you these, but if you’re going to take them to the parole board, it's best you see the photos now," he sighed. "Are you ready?"

I hugged his arm and nodded, "Show me."
God, I wish he hadn’t. If there was anything in my life I wish I could unsee, it was those photos of Jake’s burns. Thankfully the truck started up just in time for the noise of the engine to drown out my cries.