Chapter Three
A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in forever! I haven't had internet and I've been really busy! But anyways, read, review, the usual (:
--
[Sonny's POV]
"Sonny?" Trinity approached tentatively. "We've been following that car for twenty minutes. It isn't going anywhere." I rolled my head to the side so I could take a good, hard look at my driver. I knew it was true. I felt like Craig's car was going North of Nowhere and South of Nothing!
"Trinity!" I cried. "We can't give up!" I thrust my chin in the air. "We have to save Chad!"
Trinity quietly made a sharp left turn and tucked a strand of silvery blonde hair behind her ear. "Why don't we just call the Police?" She suggested in her peaceful way. She seemed like one of those girls who never raised their voice, never said anything mean, and was incredibly dreamy.
I pondered that idea. What had the Police done last time? Nothing! "No. They wouldn't help. All they'd do is cause a bunch of un-needed press and drama," I informed Trinity, who nodded agreeably.
At that moment, I heard the faint cry of sirens. I peered out the window, but didn't see anything. "I hope that wasn't an ambulance!" I sucked in a breath. What if Chad had gotten shot or something? He couldn't handle it. He had probably never been seriously hurt in his life. I shook my head, and cringed when the wail of the sirens increased in decibel.
"Maybe they're on the trail!" Trinity stated happily, still tracking the sleek black van in front of us. The windows were tinted, so I couldn't see inside. That didn't stop me from imagining: Chad with a gun to his head, Chad soaked in blood, or, even worse, Chad laying very still on his back, his face calm, a pale corpse.
My hopes soared at the thought of Chad's rescue. "Yeah, maybe!" I cheered, gazing out the window. Then, with a snap of realization, I discovered the cop car was right behind Trinity's pale blue Bug.
"Maybe we should stop the car," Trinity said peacefully; she had seen the car too.
"No!" I said forcefully. "We have to keep going! We can't lose them!"
But the screaming sirens had flown past us, and the Police Car was stubbornly parked in front of us. I sank in my seat as Craig's van barreled down the road, and over a bridge. In a split second, it had vanished from site.
With a sigh, I turned to Trinity's door as a cop approached. He had thick blonde hair that curled over his ears, a bright red nose, and a big belly. He looked kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa went around in police clothes and had a small carton that read "The Donut Shop" tucked under his arm.
"What seems to be the problem, Officer?" Trinity inquired. The Officer leaned down and glared at us. "A driver called 9-1-1 to report a car following him. He described a blue Bug." He rose his furry blonde eyebrows at us.
Trinity and I widened our eyes at each other. "Omigod," I breathed. "Craig knows we're following him!" Trinity looked concerned, but didn't speak. Heart racing, I stared incredulously at the Officer. He was eating a white powdered donut and humming, oblivious to the powder covering his beard.
"Sir," I tried to hide the panic from my voice. "The man who called you, did he say his name?"
"Well, no." He blinked at me.
"Well, his name is Craig Peterson!" I enunciated. "Five months ago he kidnapped me and Chad Dylan Cooper. Instead of going to prison he got sent to some Wacko Shack-o. " I rolled my eyes. It was hard to understand. How could the government not take this seriously? "So apparently he broke out or something, and he has Chad!" My voice cracked. I was on the verge of hysteria.
The Cop chewed his donut thoughtfully. Finally, he spoke. "If that's true-"
"IT IS!" I shouted. Why would I lie?
He narrowed his chalky gray eyes at me. "Don't get your britches in a bundle, Miss Snappy Pants!"
Trinity stepped in before I exploded. "Pardon me, sir, but her boyfriend was kidnapped! They've driven away now, but if you start following them by tracking Craig's cell phone signal, this can be over before it starts." Trinity's pretty face stretched into a tranquil smile.
The cop smiled, mouth full, at her as my jaw dropped. "That's a good idea!" He agreed. Then he turned to me. "But I'm watching you!" He threatened, holding two fingers up to his eyes, then thrusting them in my face. "Always. Watching."
He ambled over to his car and took off to the bridge.
"How do you do that?" I wondered, looking with new respect at Trinity. Could she get anything with that pretty smile?
Trinity merely shrugged and smiled at me. "The police will take care of this," She soothed. "Everything will work out. You'll see!"
I crossed my arms and groaned. "The Police? Yeah right," I snorted. "They let me and Chad stay captives for five whole days, while they flipped their hair for the news reports!" Another flash of realization hit me. "I should call Tawni. That way, if something-" (I gulped) "-happens, she'll tell the Police-" (I rolled my eyes) "-And tell my Mom."
Trinity shot me another encouraging smile as I pulled out my cell phone. "Should I continue to follow them?" She asked curiously, her pale, silvery blue eyes sparkling.
I grinned thankfully at my new friend. "That'd be wonderful. I trust that cop as far as I could throw him!" I cracked, spinning through my contacts, and I stopped at Chad. Cocking my head to the side, I wondered if I should text him or something. I'll handle that later, I decided, thrusting the phone to my ear as I dialed Tawni.
"Hello?" Tawni's chipper voice sang through the phone.
"Tawni? This is Sonny. Now listen carefully to what I have to say." I started, seriously.
Tawni giggled. "I knew it!" She cried. "I told you so! Chad broke up with you and you need me to do damage control, because clearly you threw a fit and some reporter witnessed it. Don't worry honey- all you have to do is-"
"Tawni, stop!" I fumed. "Chad did not break up with me!"
Tawni paused. "Oh. Well. Fine." She actually sounded offended. "Then what's up?"
"Craig is back." I said, trying to sound mysterious.
"…who?" Tawni peeped.
"CRAIG PETERSON. The Crazy Fan? How could you forget?" I squealed. This was not going well. Trinity glanced over at me, concern crossing her serene face, but she didn't but in. She kept driving, keeping a steady pace away from any car. She didn't want to get spotted again. Boy, was I lucky she was coming through for me.
"Oh, right, sorry, I totes remember, girl!" Tawni's words tumbled over each other. "And anywho, you say he's BACK? Wasn't he in the Fanatical Fort?"
"That's what I thought," I griped. "But when Chad and I were at the park, he left to buy ice cream. I glanced over but I didn't see him. A woman told me she saw him and his 'friend' roughhousing. Next thing I see, Craig is standing like five feet away from me, shoving Chad into a car!" That hysteria was creeping back into my voice.
"Well-" Tawni started.
"So I hopped into a car," I interrupted her. I had a story to tell. "And the girl, her name is Trinity, she has great hair, you'd be jealous, drove after them and we were right on the trail!" I hammed it up. "But the cops stopped us and were about to throw us in the slammer!"
Trinity flashed me a curious look, probably wondering when that happened. "So we escaped at the nick of time after convincing them to hunt down Craig. And now we're trying to find him again before he kills Chad." I finished with a dramatic sigh.
"Wow, I can't believe I missed all that!" Trinity gasped, her jaw dropping. "Sometimes I start daydreaming and miss out on reality!" She giggled.
I wasn't sure if she was making fun of me, so I just turned back to Tawni.
"Wow. I can't believe it," She sucked in a breath. I was relieved to see that Tawni was taking the issue seriously. "What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing, yet." I replied. "This could all be over in a matter of hours. Or…" I drew out my voice.
"Wait, there's one thing I don't get," Tawni trilled. "Why would some girl do all this for you? Why are you in a car with a stranger?" She actually sounded kind of…scared.
"But…" I stole a glance at Trinity, who was humming softly as she drove down the road. I coughed and said, "That person that you are speaking about, is doing the nice deed, to be helpful." I tried to disguise the topic so Trinity didn't pick up on anything.
"Omigod! Remember that episode of Desperate Housewives where Susan was in the car with the bad guy and Mike called her and OMG!" Tawni panicked, envisioning what had happened during the season finale of Desperate Housewives, a show that we both find enthralling.
"Well…" My heart was thudding wildly in my chest. Trinity wasn't really an accomplice of Craig, was she? The thought had never occurred to me, but now my mind was swamped with the possibility.
"Look. I'll try to…avoid that outcome. I'm going to go Tawn. Don't tell everyone. But if my Mom calls or something, especially, don't tell her." I warned.
"Alright, bye," Tawni said uncertainly. I started to slide my phone into my pocket, but it suddenly vibrated; a new text message.
"It's from…Chad?" I squeaked. Trinity's eyes widened. "What does it say?" She asked, still sounding composed. That was Trinity. Cool, calm, and collected. But could I trust her? Finally I calmed myself down. Of course I could trust her. She was just a friendly person who wanted to help out a celeb. Tawni was just being melodramatic as usual.
"It says…" My heart was racing, out of control. "'If you try to find your boyfriend, I'll kill you too'," My breathing became gaunt. "Don't follow us. I already had to kill somebody today. But I wouldn't hesitate to kill another.'"
"Why would Chad write that?" Trinity asked, sounding surprised.
I rolled my eyes and realized my hands were shaking. "That was Craig," I informed her. "He already killed someone." I leaned my head back on the seat, my body quaking. "We have to stop him." I managed to say.
Trinity stared with fresh determination at the road. "We'll do it. You can do this, Sonny. You have to." She glanced at me steadily.
I squeezed my eyes shut and clutched my phone.
"When did the future switch from being a promise to being a threat?" – Chuck Palahniuk
--