Chapter Thirty-Six - The Absolute Best
"Rollins, you're not gonna believe this shit," McNeal said, shaking his head. He had just gotten off the phone with someone while he, Rollins and several other agents sat with them inside a large FBI jet plane on their way to New Mexico.
Rollins gulped nervously, sweat beginning to pool across his forehead.
"Those girls aren't even in New Mexico anymore but they've left quite a trail. They locked a New Mexico state trooper in the trunk of his own car, shot holes in all four of his car and stole his gun and ammo. A passerby with a crowbar had to rescue him. And a trucker on his way to California got stranded after they blew up his damn truck and shot holes in all four of his tires."
Rollins' face instantly flushed after listening to the unpleasant news. He then shook his head in disappointment, feeling sick to his stomach.
His heart sank as he thought of everyone he had met during this case; the fugitives' friends and relatives and co-workers. All of them had been hurt, disappointed and shocked to hear of their predicament. And Rollins himself couldn't help but feel that way as well. He had seriously wanted the best for them and he was angry they seemed to be making matters worse for themselves. He sighed deeply, sadly.
A loud male voice crackling over a police radio broke him out of his thoughts.
"Attention Arizona and New Mexico," the voice boomed. "Stay on alert for two female fugitives. One is Blair Patricia Warner; blonde hair, brown eyes. The other is Joanna Marie Polniaczek-Bonner; brown hair, green eyes. They are in a 1967 red GTO convertible. Proceed with caution; fugitives are armed and dangerous. Repeat, fugitives are armed and dangerous."
After that, everyone kept quiet until the plane landed in a small airport where a helicopter waited nearby. Rollins and McNeal both clambered out of the jet and ran across the tarmac into the helicopter.
"So what happens next?" Rollins asked grimly after they had all been settled in and the helicopter rose from the ground.
McNeal sighed. "To be honest with you, Ted, I don't know."
Blair couldn't help but take a look at herself in the car's rearview mirror as she and Jo sped through the desert on a barren highway. Blair studied her deep tan, windblown and unkempt hair and her dirty, worn face.
What a difference a couple of days makes, she thought. Blair hardly resembled the gorgeous glamour girl who had prepared herself for a vacation in the mountains.
As she continued to stare at herself in the mirror, a Arizona police car passing them in the opposite direction made Blair jump in alarm.
"Oh, shit!" She swore loudly, turning frantically towards Jo. "Jo, do you think he saw us?" she asked.
"I dunno, babe," Jo replied. "But let's just get off anyway."
Before Jo could turn around or stop, she glanced at her rearview mirror and saw the police car turn around and make their way towards them, the lights flashing.
Shit.
Jo turned to Blair. "Babe, is ya seatbelt on?" She asked her.
Blair reached over and pulled her seatbelt on. Jo then floored the car and watched as they made some distance between themselves and the police car behind them.
Blair turned her head back, glancing at the car behind them, her insides quaking in fear.
"I guess we probably should've put together some kind of plan for what to do if we got caught, huh?" Blair asked, her voice quavering.
"No way, Blair. We're not gonna get caught," Jo said determinedly. She set her jaw and clutched the steering wheel tightly.
"How far are we from Mexico?" Blair asked curiously.
"'Bout two hundred and fifty miles, the last time I checked. Why?"
"How long do you think that'll take?"
Blair turned around again before Jo could answer her to see another police car behind the first one.
To Jo's amazement, Blair stood up from her seat and flipped both cars off.
"We're going to Mexico!" She yelled defiantly at them. That ought to show them!
Jo burst out laughing. "Ya too much, Blair," she remarked.
"Ugh. There's another one, Jo," Blair said, settling back in her seat. "We gotta step on it and fast."
As the two women both continued to look back at the two cars in hot pursuit of them, they turned around in just enough time to see yet another state police car pull into the middle of an intersection crossing the road in front of them.
Blair and Jo both screamed loudly. Jo swerved in just enough time to avoid hitting the car head on. The car went off the road, Jo struggling to pull the car back onto the road.
"Ya OK, babe?" Jo asked Blair concerndly, breathing heavily as the car continued speeding down the road.
Blair nodded. "Never better," she remarked, laughing nervously.
Is this really happening? Blair thought.
"Did you see that guy, Jo? He was right in the middle of the damn road!" Blair exclaimed, horrified.
"Shit!" Jo yelled, staring at her rearview mirror again.
"What?" Blair asked.
"'What!? Whaddya mean 'what'? Whaddya think?!"
Blair turned around again to see more and more police cars coming towards them.
Jo pressed her foot on the gas as hard as she could and the car roared ahead, moving further and further away.
"We probably shoulda filled up the car before we blew up that damn truck," Jo mused.
"Why?" Blair asked in confusion.
"They'll probably catch us when we have to stop for gas!" Jo exclaimed incredulously.
Blair bowed her head ashamedly. "I know this whole thing is all my fault," she said. "I just know it is."
Jo shook her head in disbelief. "Blair, there's one thing you gotta understand by now...it's not ya fault," she told her.
Blair gave Jo a grateful smile. "Jo, no matter what happens, I'm so glad I came with you."
Jo felt her heart burst at Blair's words. She brushed a strand of loose hair from Blair's face. Trust Blair to get sentimental in the middle of a goddamn car chase.
"Ya crazy, Blair," Jo said fondly, grinning.
"Crazy for you, Jo," Blair said, giving Jo a matching grin.
Jo then swerved off the road and headed for the desert, twenty cars behind them.
"You're the best girlfriend I've ever had," Blair said to Jo as the car zoomed through the desert, dust in the air and the sound of police sirens in their ears.
Jo laughed. "There's been other girls?" She teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Well...the only best girlfriend," Blair clarified. "You're the best, Jo."
Jo smiled, jutting her jaw out proudly. "Damn right I am," she crowed. "Ya, too, sweetie. The absolute best."
The two lovers then smiled at each other shyly.
"Guess I went a little crazy, huh?" Blair asked sheepishly.
"Nah...ya always been crazy, babe. This is just the first chance ya had to really express yaself."
Blair chuckled dryly. "Guess like everything from here on in is going to be really shitty," she observed.
"Yeah...probably pretty damn unbearable, I think," Jo agreed.
"Seems like everything we've got to lose is lost already," Blair mused.
Jo shook her head. "How d'ya stay so positive?" she teased as their car continued to speed down the dusty desert, many police cars still behind them.