I get the feeling this is going to be one of those chapters where I get more comments on the teasers then the actual new chapter. (Please no?)
Part
10
"Tonight,
you arrested my mind when you came to my defense with a knife in the
shape of your mouth. In the form of your body with the wrath of a
god…"
It had seemed lighter when Jude left the Motel. It had seemed like midday when she was safe in the confines of her motel room. But now on some deserted back alley she felt like that stupid girl in the cliché horror film, the one who walked down the dark, shadowy alleyway in the middle of the night.
She glanced over her shoulder; certain she'd seen a hooded figure duck behind a bush from the corner of her eye. She stood frozen in the street as she scanned the path behind her. It was empty, eerily empty. She turned around and began walking, her eyes on the road and her mind screaming at her that the whole thing had been a terrible idea.
"Hey sweetheart," a male voice called from across the street.
She glanced over but didn't stop walking. Three guys were standing around a wheel-less motorcycle on a driveway just up ahead.
"Hey," another called, "come on over here. We'll get you a beer."
"No thanks," she sped up, trying not to look scared while moving as fast as possible. The men were crossing the street, moving toward her like locusts across a dessert dune, at an alarming speed. With hands in pockets they strutted across the one lane road and stood side by side on the footpath ahead of her. She froze.
"Come on honey, it'll be fun," the first guy insisted with a creepy smirk.
Turning, she began to run back the way she'd come. She kept her eyes on the ground, checking for potholes and cracks in the tired old footpath ahead of her. She could hear three sets of feet gaining on her and she glanced over her shoulder seconds before crashing into a figure she hadn't seen. She screamed in fright then mentally slapped herself for being so weak, pathetic and… girly. She backed away from him, her eyes quickly lifting to see the new assailants face. Tommy.
He gently pushed her behind him as he faced the three men. "Is there a problem here?" he asked.
"Yeah," the first guy spat, "you're taking our girl."
"Actually," Tommy responded calmly. "She's my girl. If you lay a hand on so much as one hair on her head, I swear, I'll kill you."
The main looked over at his buddies and the three broke out into guffawing laughter. "You and what army?" one managed to stutter between giggles.
"No army, just the artillery," he remarked calmly as he casually pushed back his jacket, exposing the hilt of the pistol tucked into his jeans. The three men instantly began to back away.
"Look we don't want no trouble, just thought your girl looked a little thirsty and was offering her a lemonade or something."
"Or something," Tommy nodded, "next time don't."
The man nodded and turned away, tripping over his feet as he did so. Already his two buddies were disappearing up the street and he quickly scrambled back to his feet and raced after them.
"You okay?" Tommy asked, wrapping an arm around Jude shoulder and hugging her to him protectively. For once she didn't shove him away. She didn't answer and it wasn't until they'd rounded the corner and put some distance between them and her would be attackers that she broke down.
"I'm so sick of all these men trying to hurt me and scare me and always threatening this that or the other. I should be able to walk down the street!" she remarked angrily. As she spoke her voice began to break and the pitch wobbled all over the place before finally dissolving into tears with the final syllable.
"I know," he whispered soothingly, pulling her into a hug.
"That includes you," she thumped her fist against his shoulder angrily.
"I know that too." He cupped the back of her head, running his fingers through her hair soothingly as his other hand stroked her back. She buried her face in his chest, breathing in his scent and appreciating the temporary feeling of safety he was giving her, knowing in a couple of seconds she'd push him away. In a couple of seconds she'd shoot him a glare then storm of up the street, keeping at least ten feet between them all the way back to the Motel while secretly appreciating the security of having him there. In a couple of seconds she'd stop repressing her anger toward him. In a couple of seconds reality would set in.
In a couple of second she'd wonder how he managed to be there at the exact moment when she needed him and how he'd known…
- - -
"Cause from zero to sixty in three point five. Baby you've got the keys, shut up and drive!"
A relatively short and stocky greasy haired scoundrel, Tony glanced at the rear vision mirror for what felt like the fifteenth time. The red Porsche was still behind him, just as it had been since he left the pub on Reef Street; more then twenty city blocks back. He'd noticed the car straight away, perhaps if it been a mini or station wagon he still wouldn't have noticed it's close presence behind him but a car like that got his attention the second it moved into his range of vision.
He grinned as his attention turned back to his own car and he ran his hand over the plush leather seat next to him. He's jacked the car a couple of days ago and still couldn't believe his luck. Some idiot just left the keys in the ignition! Who does that?
He'd had a friend check the police reports and no one had reported a car missing in weeks. It was almost too good to be true and perhaps if he'd not been so high and hung-over he would have realized it was.
He glided into a one way back street figuring he'd instantly lose the Porsche but to his surprise and slight alarm it followed. "What the?" he muttered, adjusting the mirror.
He gunned the engine as he turned right on the connecting street. He quickly passing the speed limit and headed for the city limits. The Porsche followed. They wove through dense traffic, changing lanes and overtaking until the traffic began to thin, as did the surrounding warehouses. Soon they were the only two cars on a long and desolate country road.
The driver of the Porsche honked his horn, holding it down for an entire minute as the sound carried without interruption through the valley. He sped up until he could pull up alongside Tony in the other lane. Tony turned to try to catch a glimpse of his harasser but was unable to see a thing through the car's ominous black windows.
The Porsche suddenly swerved toward him and to avoid being hit he moved off the road and onto the dusty gravel that lined the edge. Dust was kicked up into the air as the Mercedes skidded and began to spin. Panicking, Tony slammed on the breaks which only made the car spin out even more. It covered a few meters of ground before finally spinning to a stop, jerking Tony around in his seat and cracking his head against the window before it came to a complete stop, facing the road.
The Porsche idled to a spot alongside him and for a moment the two drivers gazed at each other silently. Tony considered restarting the engine but the Porsche was blocking his escape and he would have to reverse into long grass and scrub and risk getting stuck for any chance of escape.
His plans of escape were discarded when the driver's door of the Porsche opened. He gulped. He reached for his beer and took a big swig before leaping out of the Mercedes and boldly marching over to the smug blonde man now leaning against the Porsche's bonnet.
"What's your problem, man?" He yelled.
Chris gazed at him silently then looked pointedly at the Mercedes. "Nice Merc. Last time I saw it, it had a different driver."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Tony muttered.
Chris moved to walk over to the Mercedes and Tony barked his disapproval. Chris calmly pulled back his jacket to reveal the hilt of the gun tucked into his belt. "You really have no idea what you've walked into."
Tony held his hands up in surrender, his eyes conveying the message that he didn't want any trouble. He watched silently as Chris reached into the Mercedes driver's door and pulled the lever to open the trunk. He stood frozen in place as Chris wrenched out the false floor of the trunk and tossed it to the ground behind him carelessly. Without saying a word he took out the equipment that he'd been stored there and dumped it into the backseat of his own car. He closed the trunk then walked over to Tony. Slowly he circled him, looking him up and down in a confrontational manner. He suddenly clapped his hand down on Tony's shoulder, hard, causing him to jump into the air, swearing under his breath or was it praying?
"Where'd you get the car?" Chris asked calmly.
"I told you I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Oh cut the crap! I don't care okay? You can have it! I just want to know where you jacked it."
Tony stared down at the ground for a moment before finally asking, "Cloverton, outside the train station."
"There. That wasn't so hard now was it?" He chuckled to himself as he walked back to the car.
Just as Chris was climbing into the car Tony timidly asked, "So you're just letting me keep it?"
"This must be your lucky day. One can hope anyway. I'm sure this isn't like some action movie where the car is set to self destruct after a certain period of time. And hopefully there's no DNA inside linking the driver to a murder. But hey, you look like the kind of guy who likes to take risks. Enjoy!"
As Chris drove away, the red of the Porsche soon blending into the horizon, Tony slowly turned back to his recently acquired car. He scratched the back of his neck as he glanced around him nervously then slowly and tentatively lowered his head to the bonnet to listen for ticking.
Teasers
for Part 11
"Your
secret kiss of confidence was my escape…"
Her
heart was beating wildly within her chest as she slid into the booth
and moved so that she was partially sitting on the seat and partially
sitting on Tommy's lap, facing him and with her head slightly above
his. "What are you doing?" he breathed.