Chapter Seven: More trouble in Paradise (Temporary title)
Pulling into the driveway of her Mansfield apartment, Clarice sighed heavily. Already, she missed Hannibal more than she'd ever missed him before. Now she could admit that she'd missed him when they were still uneasy enemies. The FBI agent against the psychopathic criminal. Now, it was something altogether different. She was no longer an agent of the FBI. She didn't even work for the law at all anymore. She kept dibs on what was happening in her old line of work through Ardelia, but that was all. Her career had taken a new turn, and she'd been studying at Connecticut's Uconn University to become an English teacher… and maybe she'd be qualified to teach law to high school students. She still believed in the law. Then again, so did Hannibal Lecter – and he was a deliberate criminal.
With a frown, she struggled to unlock the front door to her apartment, and then forcefully pushed the door inward. She hated her apartment. She'd had a tidy little fortune to live off of when the FBI had fired her… but the living prices for living in Mansfield were steep. The best she could really afford was a lousy cramped apartment, if she wanted to keep her computer hooked up to the Internet, and still be able to afford to go to school. Making her way into the small TV room, she tossed her coat and purse onto the couch, put her keys on the table beside it, and then settled down in front of the computer to check her e-mail.
Shouldn't you be packing your clothes, and collecting your favorite things to bring with you tomorrow? A part of her mind asked. Silencing it, she smirked to herself. You've got all night, and can sleep in the car. He said we'd be going halfway across the country before taking a plane anywhere.
There was an e-mail from Ardeliea, but the rest of it was junk mail. Upon seeing the email FcrimeBustingIntensity_ardelia@hotmail.com, she smirked softly. Leave it to her best friend to rub her career in her face. Yet she didn't really care. She felt a bit of sadness, knowing she could probably never contact her friend again, since she was about to become a wanted woman for being Hannibal's companion. Still… she knew that there would be places she could use her e-mail without being found. Resting her chin on her hand, she clicked her mouse onto the address.
CLARICE – WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU ALL EVENING. DID YOU FORGET I PLANNED TO MEET YOU TONIGHT??
Shit. She had forgotten, as simple as that. Yet it hadn't been the first time. She hoped that her absent-mindedness wouldn't clue Ardelia in that something was changed. She wanted to be able to get away with Hannibal before anyone began looking for them.
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Hannibal hadn't gone to the little hotel on the Uconn Campus where he'd been staying. There wasn't a need to. He'd called on his way there to tell the manager he would be checking out, and that he wanted all of his things packed and ready at the door for him. The manager had been eager to please when he was promised a fine sum of money should everything be in his cases like it should be, and that he wouldn't be stalled when he got there.
Clarice is mine. He could scarcely believe his own good fortune… his own joy… as he thought that. The bellboy to the hotel was placing his things in the trunk of his Taurus, and he gave the money over to him with the assurance it'd be split between him and the manager. Then, he drove off campus and toward the highway, stopping only to take more money out of a bank account he'd opened under an assumed name, and fill the car with gas. He didn't want to take Clarice's GTO, although it would run better, because it would be spotted a lot easier if someone started looking for her.
He was able to see Clarice's apartment from the gas station as he filled up the car. A light was on in her TV room, a room he'd stood and looked at a great deal in the middle of the night, knowing that she'd likely fallen asleep studying, or watching TV. Now, he had the ability to go and knock on the door, and have her answer him with a smile, just as he'd always dreamed of her doing.
A black car pulling into the landfill of a parking lot and park across from Clarice's apartment door. Following it was a gray van that parked a few spaces over. The back doors were opened, and he clearly saw agents from some police force in unmarked coats move over to the car. He knew immediately what was going on… at least he thought he did.
Somehow they've found out I'm around and that I've seen her. But where?
Maybe it was at the mall, or the Chinese restaurant. He wondered to himself if it might have been in the mall when he'd been following her. Perhaps they had been tracking her from time to time to see to her safety. They could've been there to protect her… or to arrest her for walking off with him. Maybe someone had even seen them leaving the Chinese restaurant together, arm in arm.
Clarice… Get out… get out… He thought with alarm. Moving to the front of the gas station, he made sure his back was to the driveway leading into the apartment complex. Picking a quarter out of his jacket pocket, he popped it into a payphone, and dialed Clarice's phone number.
"Starling." Her crisp yet brightly spoken tone answered after the first ring.
"Get out." He whispered, his voice oddly rough, his throat dry from worry.
"Is that you H---"
"Get out!" He repeated more forcefully. "Take the back door and get out now! Run to the video store down the road! Through the woods!"
After slamming the phone down, he made his way back to the corner of the building, and peeked around it to see the agents by the van hadn't even been paying attention to the call. Perhaps they hadn't tapped the phones… or perhaps they hadn't expected anything to happen yet, so hadn't listened in on the call. There was a chance Clarice would make it out all right.
Climbing back into his car, he started his car, almost forgetting to pay for the gas. It seemed like such a trivial thing. Yet he didn't need the cops after him when they were right there. Running into the gas station, he tossed a fifty carelessly onto the counter, ran back out to his car, and peeled out of the driveway. He rode less than a quarter of a mile to a nearby video store, and parked to the side of it, where he wouldn't be seen from the road. Once there, he prowled the area, trying to see Clarice come out of the foliage.
Pulling into the driveway of her Mansfield apartment, Clarice sighed heavily. Already, she missed Hannibal more than she'd ever missed him before. Now she could admit that she'd missed him when they were still uneasy enemies. The FBI agent against the psychopathic criminal. Now, it was something altogether different. She was no longer an agent of the FBI. She didn't even work for the law at all anymore. She kept dibs on what was happening in her old line of work through Ardelia, but that was all. Her career had taken a new turn, and she'd been studying at Connecticut's Uconn University to become an English teacher… and maybe she'd be qualified to teach law to high school students. She still believed in the law. Then again, so did Hannibal Lecter – and he was a deliberate criminal.
With a frown, she struggled to unlock the front door to her apartment, and then forcefully pushed the door inward. She hated her apartment. She'd had a tidy little fortune to live off of when the FBI had fired her… but the living prices for living in Mansfield were steep. The best she could really afford was a lousy cramped apartment, if she wanted to keep her computer hooked up to the Internet, and still be able to afford to go to school. Making her way into the small TV room, she tossed her coat and purse onto the couch, put her keys on the table beside it, and then settled down in front of the computer to check her e-mail.
Shouldn't you be packing your clothes, and collecting your favorite things to bring with you tomorrow? A part of her mind asked. Silencing it, she smirked to herself. You've got all night, and can sleep in the car. He said we'd be going halfway across the country before taking a plane anywhere.
There was an e-mail from Ardeliea, but the rest of it was junk mail. Upon seeing the email FcrimeBustingIntensity_ardelia@hotmail.com, she smirked softly. Leave it to her best friend to rub her career in her face. Yet she didn't really care. She felt a bit of sadness, knowing she could probably never contact her friend again, since she was about to become a wanted woman for being Hannibal's companion. Still… she knew that there would be places she could use her e-mail without being found. Resting her chin on her hand, she clicked her mouse onto the address.
CLARICE – WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? I'VE BEEN CALLING YOU ALL EVENING. DID YOU FORGET I PLANNED TO MEET YOU TONIGHT??
Shit. She had forgotten, as simple as that. Yet it hadn't been the first time. She hoped that her absent-mindedness wouldn't clue Ardelia in that something was changed. She wanted to be able to get away with Hannibal before anyone began looking for them.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Hannibal hadn't gone to the little hotel on the Uconn Campus where he'd been staying. There wasn't a need to. He'd called on his way there to tell the manager he would be checking out, and that he wanted all of his things packed and ready at the door for him. The manager had been eager to please when he was promised a fine sum of money should everything be in his cases like it should be, and that he wouldn't be stalled when he got there.
Clarice is mine. He could scarcely believe his own good fortune… his own joy… as he thought that. The bellboy to the hotel was placing his things in the trunk of his Taurus, and he gave the money over to him with the assurance it'd be split between him and the manager. Then, he drove off campus and toward the highway, stopping only to take more money out of a bank account he'd opened under an assumed name, and fill the car with gas. He didn't want to take Clarice's GTO, although it would run better, because it would be spotted a lot easier if someone started looking for her.
He was able to see Clarice's apartment from the gas station as he filled up the car. A light was on in her TV room, a room he'd stood and looked at a great deal in the middle of the night, knowing that she'd likely fallen asleep studying, or watching TV. Now, he had the ability to go and knock on the door, and have her answer him with a smile, just as he'd always dreamed of her doing.
A black car pulling into the landfill of a parking lot and park across from Clarice's apartment door. Following it was a gray van that parked a few spaces over. The back doors were opened, and he clearly saw agents from some police force in unmarked coats move over to the car. He knew immediately what was going on… at least he thought he did.
Somehow they've found out I'm around and that I've seen her. But where?
Maybe it was at the mall, or the Chinese restaurant. He wondered to himself if it might have been in the mall when he'd been following her. Perhaps they had been tracking her from time to time to see to her safety. They could've been there to protect her… or to arrest her for walking off with him. Maybe someone had even seen them leaving the Chinese restaurant together, arm in arm.
Clarice… Get out… get out… He thought with alarm. Moving to the front of the gas station, he made sure his back was to the driveway leading into the apartment complex. Picking a quarter out of his jacket pocket, he popped it into a payphone, and dialed Clarice's phone number.
"Starling." Her crisp yet brightly spoken tone answered after the first ring.
"Get out." He whispered, his voice oddly rough, his throat dry from worry.
"Is that you H---"
"Get out!" He repeated more forcefully. "Take the back door and get out now! Run to the video store down the road! Through the woods!"
After slamming the phone down, he made his way back to the corner of the building, and peeked around it to see the agents by the van hadn't even been paying attention to the call. Perhaps they hadn't tapped the phones… or perhaps they hadn't expected anything to happen yet, so hadn't listened in on the call. There was a chance Clarice would make it out all right.
Climbing back into his car, he started his car, almost forgetting to pay for the gas. It seemed like such a trivial thing. Yet he didn't need the cops after him when they were right there. Running into the gas station, he tossed a fifty carelessly onto the counter, ran back out to his car, and peeled out of the driveway. He rode less than a quarter of a mile to a nearby video store, and parked to the side of it, where he wouldn't be seen from the road. Once there, he prowled the area, trying to see Clarice come out of the foliage.