Chapter 8: Found

MAX:

A sigh of relief escaped me as I dropped onto Chloe's warm, soft bed.

It had been a long day at school, but it had returned to normality more or less. As normal as it could've possibly been following the conviction of Mr. Jefferson, a well liked teacher.

Chloe lay beside me, equally exhausted, "So...how was school?"

I shrugged in bed, "It was meh. I'm just glad my flashbacks didn't act up."

Looking over at her, I noticed her tired eyes gazing back, "How was your day?"

She chuckled, "Crazy, Max. Hella crazy."

I propped myself up on my elbows, "Really? What happened?"

She put her arms behind her head and rested on them, looking up at the ceiling, "I think I have a vague idea of where Rachel is."

My mouth was agape, "No shit, really?"

"Yeah, I'm almost positive she went to L.A."

Chloe cleared her throat, "Your journal...said that Rachel cheated on me with Frank."

Anxiety shot through my body, feeling like pins and needles, "Uh...I…"

"I'm not angry, Max. Matter of fact, I'm glad I know it now."

I relaxed my tensed body, "You are?"

She scratched her nose, "Yeah, because that provided me with a vital clue. I talked to Frank, and he told me Rachel is in California."

"You said she might be in Los Angeles?"

"Yeah, might be or is."

"Well, that narrows it down quite a bit."

She sighed, "Yeah, but not enough. Finding her will require some crazy fucking luck."

A large smile spread across my face, "Chloe, you and I are some of the luckiest people alive. We'll find her."

She smiled right back with a toothy grin, "Hell yes, Max. I love your optimism."

"So...how do you think Rachel would make ends meet in a city like that?"

She answered immediately, "She'd be selling drugs for sure, Frank told me that he had a stash go missing not long before Rachel disappeared."

That didn't leave a good feeling inside of me, dread's cold fingers tugged at my heart, "You don't think she could've been arrested, do you?"

Chloe stirred up out of bed wide eyed, "Holy shit, Max! That hadn't even occurred to me."

She grinned, "I think you just gave me an idea."

After a few moments, the infinite database that was the world wide web sat at our disposal.

Chloe's fingers flew across the keyboard, leaving a typoed mess in the search bar:

Califormia raxjel amber mugshit

We both giggled simultaneously at it. I teased, "Slow down there, Cholé."

She shook with laughter, "Cholé? That shit better not stick."

I smirked, "Olé, Cholé."

A smug grin came over her face, "Whatever, Maxi-pad."

"Ugh, you're never going to stop calling me that, are you?"

"It'll be our little joke. You can call me weird nicknames too, you know."

"Good, I'm going to start writing a list of every single one I come up with."

She stuck her tongue out at me, and started typing again, sans typos this time.

A single mouse-click on the image bar caused us to nearly shit ourselves.

There she was. Rachel in a mugshot, smiling and photogenic. Hazel eyes staring back at us.

Chloe stared up at me, mouth agape, "That's...that's her."

I squinted as I read the caption beneath it, "Young woman's mugshot earns...It cuts off right there."

She clicked on the link beneath the image, and a story came up.

Young woman's mugshot earns her the nickname 'Prison Bae'

Chloe's shoulders dropped, "Holy fuck...She's a fucking meme?"

I kept reading the webpage, "Rachel Amber's mugshot in Madera County, California garners an unexpected social media following."

She wriggled in her seat, hardly able to still, "Where- Where's Madera County?"

I shrugged, "You're the one sitting at the computer, not me."

Her hands flew again as she pulled up an online map, searching for Madera County.

She almost typed 'Madera Cunty' but corrected herself with a chuckle.

The map appeared, showing a large highlighted area stretching from Fresno to Yosemite National Park.

I cleared my throat, "Look up women's prisons in Madera County."

She did, and a good result came up.

Central California Women's Facility

"Hey just to be sure, I'm going to try one of those inmate locator fuck-a-majigs."

She pulled up the CDCR's website (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation), and found the inmate locator.

Rachel's last, first, and middle name (in that order) filled the search bar.

Sure enough, it told us she was at that women's facility.

Chloe jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight, "Max, you little fucking genius, you!"

I strained, "I...can't...breathe…"

She released me, "Shit, sorry. I'm just so fucking happy right now!"

A smile appeared on my face, "I'm glad, Chloe. I'm glad."

"When do you get off for Thanksgiving break?" She jumped up and down.

"Uh, I get out on the 22nd. Why?"

She put her hands on my shoulders, staring into my eyes, "Because, Max. You're going to California with me."

CHLOE:

The day I'd so eagerly waited for finally came.

Max had gotten out on Thanksgiving break and we were about to go to California together.

It didn't matter to me that the weather wasn't exactly ideal, there was a severe thunderstorm warning and it was raining steadily. But we were leaving that day, and waiting any longer would've probably made me lose my shit. Max was just as eager to go.

Tiny droplets of rain tickled my face as I stepped outside my house, grey sky overhead.

The light rain had coated everything in a thin layer of moisture. Light reflected off of small puddles and other wet objects.

I threw our things in the back of my truck and covered them with a tarp. I'd made a little money from Frank, after running a few 'errands' for him.

My preparation was done, so I went inside and looked for Max.

She was sitting on the couch dressed in a gray coat and ready to go, watching the weather reports as I came up beside her.

A single blue streak of hair stood out in her signature bangs. It was actually her idea to do it, but I did the dyeing for her. She seemed to like it, and it suited her well.

"Ready, Max?" I asked as I sat next to her.

She glanced over at me before returning her gaze to the TV screen, "Yeah, just looking at the forecast. It's supposed to rain harder later."

"You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah."

My mom had already made us breakfast, so we were good to go as far as food went.

I grabbed a blue umbrella that sat on the coffee table in front of us, getting up as I did so.

"Hey, mom! We're leaving," I called upstairs.

She came down the stairs, grabbing me in a big ol' hug, "Be careful out there, Chloe."

David was still in bed, but I didn't care.

She whispered in my ear, "And take good care of Max, will you?"

I whispered back, "She's in good hands, mom."

Max came over and they hugged each other, "Thank you, Joyce. You've been very kind to me."

Joyce smiled from ear to ear, "Of course! In my eyes, you're family."

They released each other and Max met me by the door.

"Love you, Mom. We'll call you in a few hours."

"Okay, be safe and have fun, girls!"

I hadn't told my mom the whole truth about why we were going to California, she didn't know we'd found Rachel.

I turned to Max, "Do you think you'll be able do it?"

Her neck moved visibly as she gulped, "I think so."

Rain still really bothered Max, triggering memories of the storm she'd experienced. I guess I'd experienced it too, a different me. I wondered what she would've been doing at that time.

"I'll be helping you, don't worry."

She grasped my hand as I opened the door, putting the umbrella above our heads.

Her hand squeezed mine tighter and went a little clammy, I made sure to hurry so she didn't get too uncomfortable.

I opened her door and she got in first; I closed the umbrella as I got in second.

We had a long drive ahead of us, around 800 miles.

The truck rumbled to life and we set off, Max opened a book and began to read it.

I glanced over at her book, "Whatcha reading?"

"Huh? Oh, The Outsiders."

"Nice...stay gold, ponyboy."

She tilted her head, "What's that?"

"Oh, you haven't gotten to that part yet."

"No, I literally started reading it. Like, just now."

I grinned, "I won't spoil it for you."

The windshield wipers squelched as they went back and forth, clearing the rain.

It was starting to pick up now, my windshield wipers went at full speed.

Max cleared her throat, "I heard that the author was only 15 when she started writing this book."

"Yeah...I'll let you in on a little secret, but you cannot tell anybody."

She closed the book for a moment, saving her spot with her thumb, "I won't, I promise. What is it?"

I stared straight ahead at the road, rain pelting the windshield, "A few years ago I had a fanfiction phase, and I tried to write some."

Surprise rang throughout her voice, "Holy shit, really? You don't seem much like the fanfiction 'type.'"

I chuckled, "Oh, believe me. I found that out hella quick. I wrote some cringy shit."

"Now you have to show it to me, all of it."

"Don't push your luck, Maxi-pad."

She shook her head with a chuckle and went back to reading.

Max wasn't really the super talkative type, and neither was I.

She alternated between reading her book and staring out her window.

The rain had died down to sprinkling, to her relief.

We'd been on the move for a little over an hour, and we were passing through a little town called Happy Hollow.

You could hardly call it a town, it seemed more like a village.

My truck guzzled the shit out gas, so we needed to stop for some.

I had no idea where the fuck we were because my phone had no signal. It was some middle of nowhere truck stop with some seedy looking motherfuckers hanging around it.

Max stayed in the truck as I went in and payed the attendant. These guys, who looked like they hung around at crackhouses, catcalled the hell out of me.

I ignored them as I pumped gas, but they did not cease staring at me. One of them began to approach me as I got in my truck. I don't think I've ever moved that fast in my life; I jammed the accelerator and we were out of there.

"Woah, Chloe. What was that about?"

My heart was still pounding, "I think I just evaded getting kidnapped or something."

She didn't say anything.

"Oh shit, sorry. I know you don't like that word."

"What, kidnapped? It doesn't exactly evoke good memories, no."

She sighed, "Sorry for being such a fucking downer, I still haven't learned to forget yet."

I changed gears, pushing the clutch in as I sang a tune, "Don't youuuu...forget about me..."

I had always liked Max's laughter, it was the kind of laughter that could bring you out of the darkest places.

We both laughed and sang that tune together.

We crossed over into California, stopping in a little town called Weed.

Max and I had a good, long laugh about that one.

We weren't making as much progress as I would've liked to, since we were stopping a lot and for long periods of time. It was worth it though, Max and I were growing even closer, and she was talking more.

We cracked a lot of jokes, and when she came out of her shell, she was just a complete bundle of fun. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think of Rachel...I wanted to see her, but I was furious at her simultaneously.

It was late, and dark. So I found us a cheap, yet fairly nice motel to stay the night in.

There were two beds in there, but one of them remained un-slept in that night.