Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by C. J. Kudlacz

 "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," by C. J. Kudlacz, in Bat Out of Hell, edited by Don Bruns, 2025.

I listened to an audiobook version of this story, so apologies for any inaccurate quotes. 

Someone said that what an author of fiction is supposed to do is chase the protagonist into a tree and throw rocks at them.  Big tree in this story, tons of rocks. 

 Jacob Mills, age 17, has not had an easy life.  After his father died in the war his mother hit the bottle, moved them to northern Maine, and married an abusive creep named Clint.  Part of Jacob's reaction  to all this earned him a term in juvenile prison.  

Now he's out but this is a specially bad day: 

Ten miles to Canada and Jacob Mills had an empty gas tank, a flat tire, and his stepfather's body in the trunk.

Oh, it's also snowing.   And he's vague about who killed Clint, largely because of his concussion.

 So yeah, bad day.

 But all he has to do is somehow fix the tire without opening the trunk, slip across the border, get to his grandfather's house, and bury the corpse, all without being spotted by the cops who know him all too well.

This is a suspense story that turns out to be about more than suspense.  It's gripping and very clever.