Chapter Eight

"Come on," Vince said as he climbed out of his car.

Jocelyn followed him. They both got on the hood of the car and leaned against the windshield.

"So...what kind of car do you want?" he asked.

Jocelyn looked over at him. She smiled slightly. "Now that I'm down here, I'd like to get a black Toyota Celica."

"Why one of those?" Vince asked,

Jocelyn shrugged and looked out at the scenery Vince had taken her to a deserted beach.

"I don't know," she said after a while. "I saw one the other day and it looked pretty cool. I haven't raced in a while, so I don't really know what's out there."

Vince nodded.

"So where are we?" she asked.

"It's a place my mom used to take me when my dad came home drunk and smelling like cheap women."

"I'm sorry," Jocelyn whispered.

"Don't be. Besides, my mom's in a better place now and my dad's in jail."

The two sat in silence, just staring out at the ocean.

"Could we stay here? I really don't want to go home and face Letty," Jocelyn asked. after a couple of minutes.

Vince chuckled. "If you want. Do you guys fight often?"

"No, but when we do, it hurts like a bitch. She's just overprotective of me because I'm the younger one and the one that has made the most mistakes."

"We all make mistakes," Vince reasoned.

"Yeah, try telling that to her. She thinks that because I've tried to kill myself once that I'm suicidal and my every thought is about death."

Vince looked over at her. "You tried to kill yourself?"

Jocelyn nodded slowly.

"Yeah. It was shortly after Carter's death. I was miserable as hell and didn't see a point in going any further. So one day, I went in the bathroom and slit my wrists. I had forgotten that my step-mom was stopping by. She came in and got an ambulance. I then went to a psychiatrist and he put me on happy pills, but they made me feel weird. I felt like the medicine was making act like someone else. I was completely different and I didn't like it. So I went off the meds about a week after they were prescribed, but you can't tell anybody."

Jocelyn looked over at Vince. He watched her intently.

"I won't," he promised. "Do you like it here in LA?"

Jocelyn smiled. At that moment, she loved Vince. He was intentionally trying to divert the subject from anything that would upset her.

"Yeah, it's all right. Not ATL of course, but it's cool. I'mma have to get used to this heat though," she said as she pulled the dress away from her chest.

Vince's eyes raked hungrily over her. He suddenly felt a burst of passion. He leaned over and kissed Jocelyn.

Jocelyn was shocked when she felt Vince's lips on hers. His beard rubbed against her chin, tickling her slightly. She pushed him back.

"What?" he asked. He looked into her eyes.

Jocelyn wanted to stare into his eyes forever.

"It's just...not yet," she replied.

Vince nodded and said, "I see."

He sat back and leaned against the windshield. Jocelyn felt like she couldn't breathe. She wanted his gaze back on her.

"So what kind of car did you have back in Atlanta?" he asked.

Jocelyn laughed.

Several feet down the beach sat a parked car. The driver sat in the car taking pictures of the two. With each picture he took, he thought of different ways that he could kill Jocelyn. An evil grin crossed his face when he realized that he knew exactly how he wanted to kill her.