Chapter Nine: De Temps en Temps
Take me away
We'll jump in the car
Drive til the gas runs out and then walk so far
That we can't see this place anymore
Take a day off
Give it a rest
So I can forget about this mess
If I lighten up a little bit
Then I will be
Over it.
-Annaliese Van Der Pol "Over It"
(This chapter is for my dear cousin Heather, who if she ever reads it will be sure to kill me later)
(Also, a side note: We have two fish in French class. As in actual, living fish. Their names are Sara and De temps en temps. French II named them, not us...)
Ulrich eased the Escalade into the parking lot ajacent to his buiding and killed the engine. The lot wasn't very full, just a few cars that were scattered about in random order. Yumi and Ulrich climbed out and she started to walk five spaces away, all of which were empty, to a car that Ulrich had failed to notice before. The bounty hunter's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
In the parking spot was a midnight black 70 Boss Mustang. It was the exact same car that Ulrich had yearned for during his junior high days just before Yumi had moved. Even three spaces away it took his breath away.
Yumi has stopped to see the reaction on his face, and was smirking in satisfaction. "Don't start drooling," she teased.
Both were so intent on the car that they missed what happened next. (Teresina Dragonwagon knows what's coming I bet...) Right before their eyes a small object flew down from the building and hit the mustang. The car burst into flames on contact.
Yumi stared for a moment. She and Ulrich we both far enough away not to have been caught in the initial blast, so her immobility came from shock.
Ulrich lunged forward and grapped her wrist. "We have to get out of here," he shouted over the roar of the flames. Without waiting for an answer he hauled her away and ducked down behind an ancient Crown Vic owned by one of his neighbors.
Yumi and Ulrich peered around the car as the mustang's engine caught. There was another burst of fire fueled by the gasoline and it lit up the parking lot around them. Yumi's eyes were fixed on the burning vehicle, but Ulrich was looking around. The bomb must have come from above, so....
He worst fears were confirmed as he surveyed the apartment building. A window on the fourth floor was open, and Ulrich recognized it as his own. Whoever had torched Yumi's car had been in his apartment.
His had very little time to dwell on this fact though, as Yumi had rushed forward with a strangled cry. The fire had used up it's fuel source quickly and had died down to a low crackling sound. "Easy, Yumi," he called after her. She didn't seem to be playing any attentiona to him though.
Ulrich trotted up behind Yumi and joined her vigil beside the car. She seemed to be waiting for something, but it wasn't until the blue and white pulled up that he realized she was simply waiting for the cops.
The car pulled in, sirens blazing. Ulrich thought grimly that this wouldn't be healthy for his neighbors' sleep cycle, and that he would probably be hearing the complaints for the next year.
The cops jumped up and sprinted towards them. "What happened here," one asked as they approached.
"The car blew up," Ulrich told him simply.
"Your car," the cop asked, raising a thick eyebrow at the bounty hunter. Ulrich shook his head, gesturing towards the thief to his left.
"Actually, it's hers," he confessed. The cop's partner shifted his attention to Yumi and tapped her gently on the shoulder.
"Um, miss? I don't suppose you have you license and registration?" Yumi turned and smiled at him.
"Well, I have my license, but the paperwork was in the car, and as you can see...." She trailed off, letting the scene speak for itself. She reached into her back pocket and whipped out a driver's license, handing it to the cop with the air of authority.
Ulroch was stunned at her lack of nervousness. Had he been a thief in the presence of a police officer he would have at least been sweating. But Yumi was acting cool and professional.
The cop looked up at her. "Yumi Ishiyama? Is that really you?" he gasped and looked more closely at Ulrich. "No way! Ulrich?"
Yumi looked confused. The other cop was equally shocked. "Oh my gosh! We haven't see you in forever!"
"It's us, Herb and Nicolas," the other exclaimed. Urich really looked at him for the first time, and identified him as the formerly acne-ridden boy of Sissy's gang. Herb had aged well and no longer appeared to be the puberty-stricken boy he once had been.
The other, it was reasonable to conclude, was Nicolas. He took of his cap to reveal the familiar hair. He had lost the hunch he had worn all through high school but still had a slightly blank stare on his face.
"Nicolas and Herb," Yumi repeated. "Wow, this is a shock!" As if her car blowing up wasn't enough, Ulrich thought sourly. "I had no idea you two went into law enforcement!"
"Yeah.." Herb sais sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head. "This is weird, seeing each other again after all these years, huh? So, I guess you two are..." He trailed off and looked at them expectantly.
The pair jumped away from each other slightly and blushed. "Married? Us? No, just friends."
Nicolas and Herb looked at them as though confused by the answer. Ulrich realized it had been the general opinion during their school days that he and Yumi would end up together. Seeing them together must have led the cops to think that he and Yumi.... The thought was an interesting one.
Herb laughed nervously. "Oh...Sorry...Um, anyway, what about the car? Did you see what happened?" Ulrich was about to tell the cop about the window, but chose not to. Telling Nicolas and Herb about the window would lead to more questions that they couldn't answer.
Yumi shook her head. "It just caught on fire, so we ran."
Herb gave them a look that stated clearly that he wasn't born yesterday. "Spontaneous combustion of a motor vehicle is not something we normally deal with."
Yumi obviously had no response to that, so Ulrich stepped in. "She's been having quite a bit of trouble with it lately," he explained. "I kept telling her there was something wrong with it, but you know who it is. Women." He caught the look Yumi was giving him, but Ulrich continued to expand upon the lie.
"She probably had something caught up in the engine, and kapow!" He claped his hands for emphasis. "Pop goes the mustang!"
Nicolas chuckled slightly. Herb still didn't look convinced, but sighed loudly. "All right then. Just an accident, nothing to report here. We'll be on our way. Try to be more careful with your car next time, Yumi. We'll send someone over to haul this thing away for you."
She waited until Herb and Nicolas had wandered off to the squad car and driven out of the lot before turning to Ulrich. "Spontaneous combustion of a motor vehicle? I doubt there was anything random about it!"
"There wasn't." Ulrich point upwards. "Check out the window to my apartment. Wide open."
"So someone-"
"Entered my apartment illegally." He flipped out a key chain and singled out the key he was looking for. "We have to go up."
The elevator up was a long, tense, silent ride. Ulrich pulled out his gun just as the elevator dinged to a halt and the doors slid open. Yumi followed suit and they cautiously exited the elevator.
The corridor was long and empty. Ulrich approached the door and pushed on it gently. It was locked. He slid the key in and turned it.
The door swung open to reveal his apartment exactly as they had left it. Not so much as a pillow on the floor or a footprint to hint at a break-in.
"You take the living room and kitchen. I got the back rooms." Yumi nodded and slunk away, gun drawn and ready to shoot any hidden enemy. Ulrich performed a quick search of the bedroom and bathroom, and upon finding no boogymen hiding under the bed or behind the shower curtain concluded that the apartment was empty. He closed the open window solemly.
Yumi had collasped limply onto the couch when he came back out. "My car was just blown up," she said as though realizing it for the first time. "Somebody took a bomb to my car." She sat up and looked at the bounty hunter, eyes wild. "I could have been killed! We could have been killed!"
Ulrich shook his head. "That was a warning. We're digging into thing we shouldn't be messing with and someone wants us to stop."
"That's one way of doing it," she spat. "Scare tactics are good."
"Don't tell me the great thief is actually rattled by this."
She stood and stared him down. "Is this some kind of game to you," she demanded.
"This is business," he said with a shrug. "Welcome to my world. You're in for one wild ride."
"I hadn't noticed." Yumi sank back down onto the couch, seeming to dissappear into it's cushions."
He sat down beside her. "So you do get scared."
"De temps en temps."
"From time to time," he translated. "You can stay here on the couch tonight if it would make you feel safer." Yumi nodded vigorously." "I'll get you a spare blanket and pillow."
