Home Is Where The Heart Is
Jesse sat quietly in Rae's room, his fingers playing over the back of her hand in circles. She was asleep and no longer reliant on a ventilator, although it still stood by her bed in case she needed it when she awoke again.
It was five in the evening, and both Rae and Cheryl had come round during the afternoon. Cheryl was also breathing on her own, and didn't seem to be as traumatised as Rae. Mark had been with her when she came round, he had asked her who shot her but he thought she must have still been under the influence of the anaesthetic because she had said just the one word 'Martin' before falling fast asleep.
Jesse had arranged for Brian to come in and see Rae when he was free. He had a special late appointment, which didn't end until five forty-five, and he had promised to come in once that had finished. Not for the first time that afternoon Jesse wondered how Steve was getting on. He had resisted the impulse to call him, just to make sure that Jo hadn't had her patience stretched to the limit already. He felt Rae's hand move under his, but all she did was shift slightly in her sleep and then become still again. Alex still had her sedated, but only mildly so. There was just enough of it going into her system to keep her in a contented sleep. They would be able to wake her if they needed to.
Jo was sitting on the deck looking out at the sea. She had never been a lover of the ocean, but she had to admit that it was very relaxing when it was calm like it was now. The weather had been so hot for so long that nobody was surfing these days. She leant back in her seat and let the sun beat down on her face for a while. She had put on her sunscreen before she had come outside, but had an idea she would need to renew it quite soon.
Steve rolled over on his bed and gave a sigh. He had been more tired than he had expected on the journey home. Jo's car was much smaller than his, but not quite as tiny as Rae's. It was very comfy, and he could only just remember leaving the parking lot of Community General before he must have fallen asleep. The next thing he had known Jo was gently running her fingers down the side of his face and placing little kisses on his forehead. He had stretched until his ribs protested and resisted the temptation of trying to rub his eyes. But he had blinked with surprise when he had realised where he was.
Steve hadn't known why, but he had expected Jo to look after him at her house, with the aid of Michael, but now he looked with delight at the beach house in front of him. "Jo?"
"Steve, what's the matter, honey? Are you all right?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's just that … that I didn't expect to be coming home."
"What? Baby, you have broken ribs an' hands, I know it is painful an' annoyin' but you were never in any serious danger of losin' your life."
"Ok, I will explain again." Steve smiled at her. "I expected to be staying at your house, not mine."
"Oh, sorry! Let's go in, then we can carry on this conversation in comfort." Jo had gently placed her hand under Steve's elbow and let him lean into her. As soon as Steve was upright, though, he had moved away from her, "I can manage now, thank you." Then he walked up to the door, stopped, sighed and turned. "Ok, so I need you to open the door, then I can manage."
It seemed to him that Jo had smiled awkwardly before she turned the key in the lock. Steve had walked in without another word and headed straight down to his apartment. He'd opened the door with his elbow and moved straight over and sat on the bed.
He reflected now that he must have fallen straight back to sleep, and he realised as he looked at the clock, slept for hours. Great, now I will be up half the night. He stood up and looked around with a smile, there was no doubt home was the place to be.
Jo started as she heard a movement behind her and turned in the chair. "Hey, honey, did you have a good sleep? You do know that you are gonna be awake all night now, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. Why didn't you wake me?" Steve snapped before he even realised he was doing it.
"Because I figured I might get the reaction I just got. I'm sorry, honey, I came down and I was gonna wake you, but you looked so peaceful an' all, that I just let you be. I was just jokin' Steve, you are convalescin' remember, you will sleep just fine."
"Jo, why did you bring me here?"
"Because this is your home." She watched as Steve began to pace up and down the deck his arms hanging awkwardly by his sides. "Sit down, Steve, come on, just sit an' listen, after all, you asked the question." Jo waited until he had sat down and then she continued. "When I was ill, before… you know when. I didn't care where I was, an' that was just as well, because although the institution I was in was very expensive, an' had all the latest equipment an' treatments it was still an institution, an' it looked like one. Once I started to get better, an' I began to realise that life was still going on around me I just wanted to be back in my own room, in my own home."
Steve smiled at her. "And you knew I would feel the same. Thank you, Honey. I am glad to be here, but I'm just so short tempered, and Jesse's right you know, I will get worse."
Jo moved over to him then and placed her lips against his. Slowly she began to move her tongue into his mouth, and her fingers through his hair. Steve shut his eyes and enjoyed the sensation. He so wanted to run his hands through her beautiful hair, and feel her skin underneath his fingertips. Suddenly he felt frustrated and angry and he pulled away.
"Don't, Jo. Don't do something you can't follow up. Just leave me!" He moved back from her touch and stood up. The chair crashed backwards and he began to lose his balance slightly. Jo leapt forwards and placed her hands on his arms.
"Steady, Sweetie, I've got you."
"Yeah, you sure have, right where you want me."
Jo said nothing, but she watched him carefully as he went down the steps and out on to the beach. She knew roughly where he went when he wanted to be alone, and so she just kept a quiet eye on him while she sat back down and began to think.
Rae wasn't sure where she was, but she knew that it was a bad place to be. It was dark and cold, with a menacing air to it. She could see Cheryl who seemed to be reaching out to her, but she couldn't get to her. Each time she tried to move something was pulling at her neck and throat. She tried to cry out, but her throat felt so restricted that the sounds wouldn't come through. She began to struggle, trying all the time to move towards her friend, knowing that she had to get her to somewhere where it was light, and warm. Suddenly she felt something else holding her back, not on her neck this time, but a strong pressure on her shoulders and the noises she had been trying to make burst forth and she could at last communicate. "Cheryl, no, my God, no!"
Jesse had been dozing off himself when Rae began to move again. This time it was apparent that she wasn't going to slip back into sleep and so he moved over and pressed the buzzer to see if Brian Dobson was free to come up immediately. Once the nurse had left the room he began to watch her carefully, so that he could tell Brian how she had been as she came round, and also so that he could stop her from becoming too agitated.
As Brian came into the room, he saw Jesse with his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her; he could hear the love and concern in his voice as he tried to break through her nightmare.
"Rae, Honey, come on, please, it's all right, I'm right here, nobody will hurt you now."
Suddenly Rae's eyes opened wide and she began to shout. "No, my God, no!" She tried to move away from Jesse's touch. "Help me, I have to save her."
"Rae. Rae, listen, you aren't there any more. You did save her, Cheryl is right here, in the hospital with you." Jesse wasn't sure if what he had said was right, but he was pretty sure that it was Cheryl that she was talking about.
"What? Jesse…? No, I don't want to be here, my throat…help me." The two doctors watched as her hands moved up to her throat. She didn't touch it, but her hands hovered there, and Jesse had to look away for a second.
"Rae, this is Brian, can you hear me?" Doctor Dobson moved towards his patient, his mind racing as he walked. He could see that although she was awake, she wasn't aware of his presence, and he had a feeling that nothing would be gained tonight from trying to talk to her. "Rae, Cheryl is safe, do you understand that? Cheryl is safe."
Slowly Rae turned her face towards the noise and nodded. Then she began to relax back against the pillows and her breathing got deeper and more even. Her eyes began to close and both men were relieved to see her drift back to sleep.
Jesse moved away from her and towards the door. He gestured to Brian and they retired to the hallway. "Thank you for coming up, but I don't think she is ready to speak with you yet."
"No, I am of the same opinion. But I think that she is aware now that Cheryl is safe. Maybe you could let me know just who Cheryl is."
Jesse smiled. It hadn't occurred to him that Brian wouldn't have known whom she had been talking about. "Cheryl is the detective that Rae job swapped with last year. This is her first case since she returned, and they have been working together. Rae is Steve Sloan's permanent partner now, but he was injured a while ago, and still isn't working. Cheryl is Martin Robertson's partner; the four of them were working this case together, at least at the start. We have no idea where Martin is, but we haven't told either of them that yet, obviously."
Jesse, without realising it, had moved towards Cheryl's room as he had been talking. She was still asleep and she looked very peaceful. "This is Cheryl. She was shot and then both her and Rae were found in the water out at the docks. Until one of them feels up to telling us what happened we have no way of knowing what is going on down there."
Brian Dobson looked between the two rooms. It seemed clear to him that whatever had happened to Cheryl happened first, and that Rae had seen herself as being in a position to save her. She hadn't been sure if she had succeeded however, and so that would need to be addressed once again when she woke up. He looked over at the young doctor in front of him and smiled. "I think I need to go and write up what I have observed here tonight. I will let Helen know to interrupt me whenever Rae needs me, and I will explain to my clients that I may have to leave their sessions. I think the people I am due to see tomorrow will understand." He held his hand out and Jesse took it. "Remember, Jesse, if you need somebody to talk to my door is always open for you." With that he turned and walked away, his mind already running through the possible ways Rae's therapy would need to proceed.
As the doors shut on all the cells on A wing, its newest occupant stood and surveyed his new accommodations. They were small and sparse, but at least he didn't have to share with a snoring moron whose whole life seemed geared to how well the Raiders did each weekend in the football season, and deep depression the rest of the year. As they had shared quarters during one very long hot summer he had been particularly morose. However, he had learnt some very useful lessons from Big Dave, as everybody seemed to call him.
Levington was glad to see that he had a desk where he could sit and plan his future life, a toilet rather than the disgusting excuse for one he had had before, there was even a mirror for him to shave in each morning. All in all he felt that his hard work had been worth it. Now, at least he would be able to work out his preparations, and sort out the ideas sitting in his brain, in comfort.
Tomorrow he would start to receive instruction in the art of fire watch. It seemed a contradiction in terms. If you just watched a fire it would get worse. The way he understood it, they were supposed to extinguish them, oh well, the English language was very strange.
It was a nuisance that he was now further away from the object of his desire, but it had been necessary for his ideas to begin to come to fruition that he be moved away from his first prison to this one. Soon he would be able to begin to work his magic here, just as he had in the city. He lay down on his bunk and revelled in its comfort. Not quite as nice as the one at home, but it would do – for now!
Martin looked out across the ocean from the trailer park that had become his home. His own house wasn't very big, but at least it didn't bounce when you walked. Larry Griffith was standing just outside the door, smoking. Although he hadn't said anything, Martin had been delighted that he had decided that the trailer was too small to smoke in. He moved into the bathroom and began to dial Rae's number. He punched in the details of the short text message and pressed send. Then he slipped it back into his pocket and left the room.
"Hey, Mandy!"
Martin shuddered. Ever since Griffith had realised that Martin Anderson could be shortened to M. Andy he had called him nothing else. "Yeah, what!" Still it gave him every opportunity to be short tempered and curt with his companion.
"I'm going for takeout, get your shoes on." He didn't trust his new companion well enough yet to leave him on his own. For all he knew he might have been in league with his girlfriend, the cop. It wouldn't have been the first time a cop had fallen off the rails, even female ones.
"Oh, for God's sake, Larry, how long am I expected to follow you around like a stray puppy? Unless you are proposing that we eat out, I plan to stay here, you know what I want, you go to the same take out each night, and at least if the meat is curried I don't know if I am eating chicken or cat."
Larry Griffith laughed. He had to admit it would be nice to have some time to himself. He could stop for a few beers on the way back, and still have to spend most of the evening with him. "Ok, but you will stay in the trailer." He padlocked the door and headed towards the car.
Martin gave Larry five minutes start and then he went back into the bathroom and got out his cell phone. He dialled the number he had been given at the start of the case to leave messages on and told the machine exactly what had happened so far, and where he was. Then he phoned Community General and with his heart in mouth asked for Doctor Sloan.
Mark was just putting some milk into a cup of tar that was supposed to be coffee when he heard his name being called to the nurse's station. He walked quickly in that direction and saw the nurse on duty holding up the phone receiver. "Detective Robertson?"
"Oh, right. Thank you… Martin, is that you?"
"Doctor Sloan, I need to be real quick, but I have to know whether Rae and Cheryl are there."
"Yes, they are. They are both in the ICU, but they will be just fine. Have you got in touch with your Captain?"
"Yes, and I will try to contact somebody again soon. If anybody needs to get me they will have to wait until I can get in touch again. Larry doesn't know I have a phone."
"Ok, Martin, I will instruct the desk here to put you through to Doctor Travis or me whenever you call." Mark didn't ask who Larry was, he knew Martin wouldn't want to stay on the line.
"Oh, Doctor Sloan, how is Steve?"
"Fine, he was discharged this morning. I hope he is relaxing at home by now."
"Ok, I have to go. Goodbye." Martin shut off his phone and went to his room at the end of the trailer. He had a bed with a hardwood frame and a bed board made of particleboard. He had dug into the frame with a kitchen knife each night since they had arrived and now he had room to hide his cell phone, where it couldn't be seen with a casual glance. He put it back in its hidey-hole and put everything back where it should be.
Martin had been sitting on the sofa looking out, once again, at the ocean for about half an hour before Larry arrived back. Part of him had wanted to break one of the windows and make a run for it, but he knew that he had a chance to get deeper into the operation and that he should take it while it was available. So, as the door was unlocked and the smell of curry wafted into their makeshift home Martin was still sitting trusting to fate.
Mark had phoned the beach house to let Steve know that Martin had made contact, and to tell him that he would be working until about eleven and not to wait up for him. Jo had answered the phone, and said she would pass the message on. She had seemed quite relaxed, so Mark had figured that so far things were ok. So far, it hasn't been twenty-four hours yet! But he knew his son was an incredibly impatient patient. He smiled, what a silly statement. He admired Jo for even considering taking him on.
Jo put the phone down and grinned. She was glad she had left Steve to his own devices out on the sand for the last couple of hours, even though she had been worried about him. Now she had a genuine reason for going out to see him. The dinner was nearly ready, and there was a message to pass on. Well there were two actually, she had taken a message from his Captain, but she hadn't been in a hurry to pass it on. She slipped her shoes off on the deck and headed down the steps. The feeling of sand between her toes was one she didn't think she would ever truly get used to, and she couldn't decide whether she liked it or not.
Steve was sitting on his favourite sand dune looking out at the calm sea. There was hardly a ripple on the surface of it, and as much as he loved to see the waves crash onto the sand, he also enjoyed the tranquil beauty of a quiet ocean. He had to admit though, that it didn't match his mood. He was more like the breakers that Jesse prayed for on his days off. He would be going along nice and quietly, and all would be calm, and then something would happen and he would burst forth, indignant and furious. Then he would realise that it was pointless and his anger would come crashing back down again, leaving him exhausted and flat, until the next time when the unchangeable process would start again.
Steve put his hands to his head. He couldn't ever remember running his fingers through his hair constantly like Rae did, but since he hurt his hands he'd had to fight the urge to do it. He had a feeling that Rae did it when she needed to get emotions under control, or that it had started that way at least. When she needed to control either anger, or sadness, or anything that was inappropriate to the situation at hand. Oh, funny man! But he knew that now it was a habit, that most of the time she didn't even know she was doing it. Maybe that was why he needed to do it so much at the moment, he doubted that he had ever had so much trouble containing his emotions.
Jo could see that Steve was lost in thought as she moved closer to him. The trouble with walking across sand was that you made no sound. You could be right up close to someone and if they weren't looking your way they would have no idea you were there. As she got closer she cleared her throat. Steve let his hands fall to his sides and turned to face her. She was delighted when his face broke into a spontaneous smile.
"Hey, Jo, come and sit. It's a beautiful night, and I have missed being able to sit close to you."
Jo was happy to do just that. The dinner would wait, the messages would wait, but she knew that this wouldn't. She eased herself down next to him and snuggled up. "If I hurt you I want you to promise you will tell me, ok? I know your ribs are still sore."
"I promise, but it's ok at the moment."
They just sat together. There was no difference between them at that moment in time, no carer and patient no injured and able bodied. They were just a man and woman completely in love and secure in each other's company. After a while Steve turned to her. "Jo, I hate to break the spell, but I really need to talk to you, and I have to do it now. Otherwise it will be just one other thing gnawing away at me."
"Ok, do you want to talk out here?"
"Yes please. I said to Rae once, when she had some difficult things to say, that we would talk about it on the beach so that the wind could take her words and blow them away so nobody else would have to hear them. I kinda feel that way about this."
"Well, Honey, you had better be prepared to blow mighty hard, because we haven't had a wind strong enough to blow a speck of sand all week."
Steve smiled then. He knew that they were both relaxed and comfortable with each other at the moment, and that it would be the best time to do this. "I need to tell you why I kissed Rae."
"Do you know yourself?" Jo tried not to tense her muscles as she realised what it was her lover wanted to talk about.
"No, not really. It just happened. We had been at each other's throats for a couple of days. She was jealous of Cheryl, and neither Cheryl nor I had realised it, and I was insensitive towards her. In the end she asked if we could get a take out and talk. So that is what we did, and we decided to eat it at her place."
Jo was determined not to speak until she knew Steve had finished, so she waited while he collected himself ready to carry on talking.
"Well, it didn't take long before we were arguing again. Rae was really fed up with me, with Cheryl, everybody, and she didn't hold back when she told me. She was annoyed with herself because she didn't like being jealous, and that made it worse. She had worked really hard on a proposal for the Captain, and Cheryl and I presented it while she was out. I guess that was the proverbial straw."
This time Jo couldn't help herself. "Oh, Steve, you know how proud she is of her job an' how she does it."
Steve looked sheepish. He could still easily remember how he had felt when he realised how hurt she had been. "Yeah I know, anyway, she also said about how she would move aside if I wanted to stay partners with Cheryl." He stopped. He still couldn't believe that he had done what had happened next. As he sat there he wondered how Rae had been feeling about it. They had worked together a lot since it had happened, and there had been no embarrassment between them, so he guessed that as far as she was concerned it was a done deal. He turned as he felt Jo's hand on his arm.
"Honey, are you alright?"
"Yeah, Sorry, where was I?"
"She thought that you wanted to work with Cheryl."
"Yeah, well, I turned her face up towards mine and told her that I had requested that Cheryl work with Martin so that she could be my permanent partner and the next thing I knew… we were kissing." Steve looked at her, he wanted to walk away from the hurt he saw in her eyes, but he knew that he couldn't.
"Then what happened?" Jo's voice was almost a whisper.
"We pulled apart and I apologized. But she asked me if I had enjoyed it." Steve stopped again.
"And had you?" Jo couldn't help herself, but she didn't really want to know the answer.
Steve turned slightly so he was looking away from her, and she had to struggle to catch his words. "Yes, I enjoyed it, so did she. She pulled me towards her, and we kissed again."
This time Jo had to move away. She stood up and headed towards the shoreline. She knew they had kissed, but it hadn't occurred to her that maybe it had happened more than once. She wrapped her arms around herself, she was suddenly cold, and the chill reached to her heart.
Steve looked over to where Jo stood with the water lapping round her feet. He wanted to go over and stand with her, to wrap his arms around her and take away all the hurt and resentment he could see emanating from her, but to his anger and embarrassment he couldn't even get up. The sand moved beneath him and he couldn't get a purchase in it. He wasn't able to put any weight on his hands so he was stuck there until Jo came back and helped him.
As he sat his mind went back to that evening in Rae's apartment. When he thought about it now it made him feel so guilty. They had, in a moment or two of recklessness, almost destroyed two relationships, no three, theirs too. And he also knew without a doubt that if they had taken it further, they would have discovered that there was no future in it. They had already found the partners they wanted to spend their lives with; they had no business jeopardizing that.
Steve looked back over to where Jo was. She had moved a little further down the beach and was looking out towards the horizon. He would have given anything to be able to move over and hold her, and almost as much to know what she was thinking. As he moved slightly so that he could see her better he got a cramp in his calf and cried out involuntarily. She turned and was back at his side in an instant.
"Steve, honey, what is it?"
Through gritted teeth he began to speak. "Cramp. Jeez, left calf. Arghhh!" He so wanted to clench his fists, the whole area was knotted up and he was in agony. He leant back into the sand dune and shut his eyes. "Oh, God, Jo, please do something to ease it." He felt her warm hands on his skin and she slowly began to massage the area.
"Shhh, it's ok, Honey, relax, I know it's not easy, but if you can it will make it go away quicker. Breathe deeply an' just concentrate on that, an' I will have this gone in no time." She couldn't believe how tight his muscles felt. But they also felt wonderful underneath her fingers. Once again the telling of the tale had been interrupted. This time because she couldn't take it all in one go. She knew Steve was up tight about it, and she guessed that this was the result. She kept kneading her fingers into his muscles, and slowly they began to soften under her ministrations.
"Oohhh, thank you, it's going away now." He looked at her. "Jo, it's you I love, you I want to spend the rest of my life with. I hope I can make you believe me."
"Shhh, I said to shhh. I don't need to hear any more tonight. We have to go an' get some dinner, although I guess it will be supper now, an' get you to bed… alone, Lieutenant, before you say anythin'. I have an appointment with the bed in the spare room tonight. Better?"
"Much. Can you help me up?"
"Sure, Honey. Let me take your arm an' then you lean into me, an' push yourself up." Slowly Steve did as he was told. The pain in his chest told him that his ribs hadn't enjoyed sitting watching the ocean as much as the rest of him, and his calf ached in the way that only happened after an attack of the cramp.
The walk up to the house was a slow affair. Jo took great comfort in the feeling of him leaning into her, and could feel his strength even though he was dependent on her.
Steve watched the house get closer and closer. It had never seemed a long journey before. But now it seemed like miles. He knew that he couldn't have made it without Jo, and for the time being it gave him great comfort that she was there.
Jo headed for the stairs, but felt Steve pause. "No, Honey, we can go straight into my apartment. I don't think I can make the stairs at the moment. I hate getting a cramp." Jo nodded. "The key is in the pocket of my shorts." Jo put her hand in the pocket, and before she picked out the key, he felt her move her fingers around a little bit and he began to respond to her. "No, Jo, don't, Honey, I can't, I want to so much, but I just can't."
Jo picked up the key in her fingers, and removed her hand. "Steve, I'm sorry, I didn't think."
"It's ok, it was nice, but not yet, we will have to wait a while."
"Of course. Now come on let's get you inside."
The next morning Phil Levington stood in the grounds of the prison, a bucket in one hand and a small fork in the other. He looked at the other men in his group. There were four of them altogether. Two of them had transferred with him, the other one; well, he had no idea about him. He listened intently to what the guard was saying, this was where his next stage started and he didn't want to miss a thing.
"Right, today we are going to just work together. That's all. You will notice that two of you have implements, the other two don't. I want you to hold the bucket and then fork through the sand and put it in the bucket. Ok, go." The guard took a step back and waited. His face was completely impassive, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be watching everything that went on.
Phil looked at the man he knew nothing about. "Here." He handed him the fork. The man took it without a word and looked at it. Phil resisted the temptation to raise his eyes to the heavens or even better brain him with the bucket and crouched down. "If you dig it over I will lay the bucket down and you can shovel it in with the fork."
"Ok." The man crouched down too. When their faces were turned from the guard he smiled. "Hi. My name is Warren. I know who you are."
"Quiet. I said nothing about talking." The guard moved over towards them and the two men began to work. Phil looked over at the other pair. They had the one man holding the bucket and the fork while the other one scooped handfuls of sand into the bucket as they were dug. He had a feeling that wasn't what the guard wanted.
After five minutes the guard spoke again. "Right. That is enough. Stand up and move over to the wall." Phil noticed that there was nothing said that wasn't necessary. No extra words. The guard walked with them and indicated that the two groups should stand apart. They did. "Ok, you both got a bucket of sand. However, the main thing about working fire watch is that you have to trust each other, and co-operate. Otherwise you can put yourself and others in danger, and the fires can spread. So the two who split up the tools did the better …"
Suddenly the air was split by an alarm ringing across the yard. "Right. That is the fire alert. I want you four to stay with me. We will go and observe. If it becomes clear that the men are in need of assistance you will help, otherwise you will stay with me at all times. Is that clear?" There were mumbled replies. "Is that clear? Yes, Sir, is what I expect to hear."
"Yes, Sir." The four men all replied at once and headed off behind the guard as he walked towards the group of inmates Levington could see gathering at the side of the exercise yard.
The men were split up into teams in the yard and then they were put into vans. Phil had noticed that most of the men had ankle bracelets on. He knew that he would be getting one too. So today seemed to be the day.
They arrived at the fire line about twenty minutes later, and Phil moved over to stand next to Warren, but he was assessing the area the whole time. "You said you knew me, you have the advantage."
"You were the guy who terrorised that lady cop." Warren looked at him with a glint in his eye. "I don't like cops either."
Levington wanted to correct him, but he had a feeling that it might be handy to have him on his side. "Yeah, she got what she deserved." Well, she will soon.
"I read about you. You nearly killed that doctor, so how come you ended up here?"
"Let's just say that I had a very nice councillor on the victim support programme!" Levington smiled as he remembered Mrs Hewitt.
"You were looking around, you are planning to be leaving real soon I guess." Warren moved a little closer, keeping an eye open for the guard the whole time. "We will be bagged and tagged by tomorrow, if we are gonna do this it has to be now."
"Hey, Joe, here, a minute I need a hand with this guy." An opportunity rose up in front of them as a prisoner collapsed close to the fire line. Their guard moved off at a run and Warren and Phil did the same thing in the opposite direction.
The two prisoners from Phil's old jail watched as the two men disappeared into the scrub. They had no intention of pointing out that the guard had just lost fifty percent of his team, but neither of them was planning to join them either. They moved further away from where they were standing and tried to look busy.
It was another ten minutes before the guard returned to where he thought he had been standing with his team, but they weren't there. He looked anxiously around and caught sight of two of them a little further up the hill they had been standing on. He shrugged his shoulders and moved over towards them. "Hey you, where are the other two?"
"Watchin' further up the line I guess." The taller of the two prisoners shouted back. He had only six months of his sentence left to serve. He didn't want to get involved.
"Oh, right." The guard moved further up, scanning the area the whole time.
By the time he had ascertained that the two prisoners, Philip Levington and Warren Daines were no longer with him they had a half-hour start.
As darkness fell they moved out towards the road. They watched the traffic as it headed towards Los Angeles. They had worked out that the best thing to do would be to hitch lifts separately. Levington had discovered that Daines was in for the kidnapping and torture of his ex-wife. He had picked his brains all afternoon; to find out all he could about the most effective ways to get a captive to obey his or her abductor. Now they were parting company. Daines had said that he was going to head for Baja, but Levington hadn't actually told his companion where he planned to go.
The darkness was broken by a set of headlights. A small camper van came into view through the gloom and Phil put his thumb out once again. To his relief he saw the brake lights come on and he ran up and waited.
"Hey, man where you going?" The driver was a young man of about twenty-seven years. He looked out through the glass at the man looking in.
"Los Angeles, as close to the middle as you can get me."
"Hey no problem. I can do that." The door opened and Phil got in. The young man smiled at him and extended his hand. "My name is Samuel, Samuel Middleton."
The door shut and the van pulled back into traffic. Phil looked around him as his eyes got used to the light inside the vehicle.
"I guess this is kinda fun to drive, huh?" He smiled across.
"Oh, yeah. You know all those programmes from the sixties and seventies, when you would see these vans painted in bright swirly patterns; well I always wanted one of these so that I could do that to it. I just picked this up an hour ago. It only cost me $400 and it goes!"
Despite himself Phil found that he was smiling at this guy. "Yeah, I remember. I tell you, Sammy, this is a great van."
"Thanks, man." Samuel began to whistle as he drove along.
They slipped into silence then, and Phil shut his eyes. He wanted his driver to think that he was asleep, and he obviously did, because gradually the whistling got softer and then stopped altogether. Phil had noticed that there was no radio in the van, so he knew that any details of his escape wouldn't be broadcast in his own little space. His mind began to fill with pictures of his Rae. Soon he would find her and own and control her once again. Soon my sweet, soon you will be mine.