Road Rage
Chapter seven
Campsite
"Well I guess you're one of us bro." Miller said handing Van a beer who accepted it then painfully limped over to a rock and sat down.
"Thanks." He said as he gulped down the beer, thankful for something to quench his thirst. As the liquid hit his stomach he bent over as a searing pain shot through him.
"Man, you really are hurting dude." Milller was actually beginning to feel bad for the man sitting in front of him.
Blake looked over at Woodward.
"Hey, if this guy had a load of drugs in his car…"
Blake didn't need to continue his statement, Woodward knew what he was thinking.
"I'm right with you buddy."
"The dude's not going to be any help finding the car." Blake looked over at Van who was still doubled over in pain. "Hell he isn't even sure what happened to him."
"What are we going to do with him?"
Blake gave a little laugh.
"That boy ain't going nowhere in the condition he's in. He looks pretty busted up inside. I say we leave him and go find his stash."
"Sounds good."
A short time later back at the Candy Store
Billie dialed Deaq's cell.
"Deaq?"
"Yeah Billie, you got anything?"
"They spotted Van's car. Where are you?"
Deaq looked around; he could understand why Van had gotten lost. Everything looked the same.
"I really have no idea Billie."
"Okay, just head to the east side of the canyon. You'll eventually see the flashing lights. I'll meet you there."
Forty five minutes later
Deaq finally found his way through the winding roads and pulled up behind one of the many police cars that littered the roadside. There was hardly any indication of an accident and looking over the side of the canyon wall Deaq understood why it took so long to find Van's car. It lay hidden behind a large boulder, only a hint of yellow could be seen. He slid down the steep side of the canyon and walked over to Billie who was standing next to the jeep.
Deaq winced when he looked in the car and saw all the blood smeared on the shattered glass. He found Van's torn and bloody jacket at the side of the car and picked it up. He gripped it tightly in his hand as he looked out over the canyon; it was all he had of his partner.
"We got to find him soon Billie. He's all mixed up; he doesn't know who he is or what happened."
"We will Deaq." Billie said hoping she was right. At least they now had found the car and had a place to begin their search.
"We might have another problem." A member of the search and rescue team said walking over, his search dog anxiously pulling on his leash. "Your friend walked out of here, but someone's trailing him." He said as he pointed to two sets of bloody footprints.
"Maybe someone came across the wreckage and is following him in order to help him." One of the officers at the scene said as he walked over.
"I doubt that. The odds of someone accidentally wandering across this wreckage is almost zero. It's too hidden from the road." Billie said looking off in the direction the footprints were headed.
"You're thinking the person that ran Van off the road maybe came back to finish the job?" Deaq said.
"Could be."
"Oh that's just great." Deaq said angrily as he followed Billie's gaze. "Not only does Van have to deal with the drug dealers he's with, but now he might have the jerk that ran him off the road stalking him."
"Oh it gets worse then that." The search and rescue member said. "These tracks are hard enough to follow as it is on the hard ground and if it rains…" He pointed to the sky which had suddenly darkened as rain clouds moved into the area.
"This is getting better and better." Deaq said sarcastically as he picked up a stone and tossed it angrily at a rock in the distance. "Van's injured and could be bleeding to death, one of the dealers that found him now has his phone so we can't even get in touch with him, and now he has some psycho following him. He has three strikes against him already."
TBC