He would have to get rid of the car. It wouldn't be too hard; they could just hide out until dark, then go to a car lot he knew and steal an old junk car.
He also needed to do something with the woman. Her long blonde hair was way too conspicuous. If he was going to keep her, something would have to be done about that hair. Those clothes too; they would look too high-class for a woman riding in an old beat-up car. He figured that buying hair dye and getting ratty old clothes would be easy enough. He'd just have to find some way to keep her locked up while he went and bought the stuff.
The part of town that he was now driving through looked pretty poor and rough. He pulled the car behind an abandoned building and turned off the engine. The woman looked over and bit her lip, like she wanted to say something but didn't dare. He realized that he didn't know her name. Wordlessly he reached over and pulled her purse from her lap. She didn't protest.
He held the gun pointed at her with one hand, and with the other he rifled through the bag until he found her wallet. He opened it and looked over her driver's license. Kirsten Cohen, it read. He flipped the wallet shut and dropped it into the purse, which he tossed at her. She flinched then glared at him.
"Well, Kirsten, you might want to get used to being with me. Because you're stuck with me now."
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Summer, at first, had been totally confused. She'd seen Kirsten come over and hold out the car keys to the guy. Next thing she knew, the world was blurring past her as she fell to the ground. She'd held out her hands to break the fall, and had ended up badly scraping her palms and the side of her face. There was the distant sound of an engine revving, and when Summer had finally gotten her bearings back, she'd looked up to see that the car, the man, and Kirsten had all disappeared.
She had stood, trembling, and started ambling back to the mall, to find a security guard or something. There was one standing right near the entrance, and upon seeing Summer his eyes widened and he stepped over to her.
"Are you alright, miss?"
"Idon'tknowwhattodohejustcameoutofnowhereandnowIcan'tfindKirstenan-" Her rambling was stopped when she noticed that tears were running down her face and that the security guard was looking at her oddly. He took her gently by the arm.
"Come on."
He led her to a security desk, where another guard was sitting, chewing bubble gum and snapping it loudly.
"What happened to her?" he said when he saw Summer.
The first guard shrugged. "I don't know. She's incoherent."
The other man nodded then stood and went around the desk. He took Summer by her other arm. The first guard let go and walked away. The second guard said, "Let's get you something to drink, okay?"
He led her through a door behind the desk and into an austere room. The walls were plain and white, and a table and a couple of chairs were in the center of the room. There was one of those water-jug thingies, and the guard let go of Summer, grabbed a little paper cup, and filled it with cold water. Summer took it and sat. The guard watched her drink, then said, "Now, can you tell me what happened?"
Summer bit her lip and nodded. She stared into her empty cup while she talked. "I was in the parking lot and some guy came up to me with a gun and told me to give him the keys to the car but I didn't have the car keys and I tried to tell him that..." She sniffled loudly, and the guard said, "A car-jacking, then? I can put in a call to the police station and they'll have your car back in no time."
"But it might be too late by then!" Summer wailed, wringing her hands and crumpling the flimsy cup.
The guard looked surprised. "You're car will be fine." There was a hint of annoyance in his voice, much to Summer's disbelief. She stood quickly and narrowed her eyes at him.
"I don't care about the freakin' car! I'm worried about my friend. I think the guy took her with him when he stole the car, because she was standing right in front of me and then the guy pushed me to the ground and when I looked up she was gone."
The guard rubbed his forehead, frustrated, then turned and started toward the door. He muttered, "Well, this changes everything" then turned to Summer and said in his normal voice "I'm going to call the police. Just wait here, it won't take long." He shut the door behind him, leaving Summer completely alone.
Summer tapped her fingers on the tabletop, wondering how the Cohen men would take the news. What if they blamed her? Her insides turned cold at the thought. It's not my fault...is it?
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Kirsten was both very bored and very terrified. They'd been sitting in the car for hours, doing nothing. Maybe the man was waiting for someone? She desperately hoped not.
Dusk had fallen, and the man's attention seemed to pique. He was sitting very still. Abruptly he moved forward and revved the engine. He didn't turn the headlights on before backing slowly out from behind the building. I hope he crashes because he's not using the headlights.
Luck, however, seemed to be on his side; they did not crash. This was probably due to the fact that there were hardly any cars on the road at all. At least he seemed to know where they were headed.
Kirsten wondered where they were going, why they had waited until nightfall. The darkness and silence made her even more frightened, and she gripped the edge of her seat hard. She was completely unfamiliar with this part of town, though it did remind her slightly of Chino.
She twisted her wedding rings as he drove, until they were on the outskirts of the town. The darkness revealed a lot full of old trashy cars and broken car parts. The metal gleamed faintly in the moonlight. The man parked her car but left the keys in the ignition. Kirsten felt him tug hard on her hair; he had opened his door and was pulling her out after him.
"Leave your purse in the car." He whispered, closing the door quietly behind her. He started to walk around the lot, still pulling her by her hair. She kept stumbling because he was walking so fast.
He stopped in front of a few cars, but finally reached through the windowless door of a rusty old car that looked in relatively good shape compared to others in the lot. She didn't know why he had stopped, but when he pulled his hand out, she saw metal sparkling in his hand. Keys. Why the hell did someone leave the keys to this piece of junk? The man was grinning, and Kirsten felt him pull on her hair harder. He pushed her into the passenger seat and climbed into the driver's side.
He tried the keys. The car ground to life, much to Kirsten's amazement.
He steered the car jerkily over to her Lexus, stopping right next to its open window. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box of matches. Striking one, he tossed the burning match into her car, setting the seat aflame. He did it again.
Kirsten stared in shock, her mouth open. He's burning my car!
The man resumed his unsteady driving. As they left the lot, Kirsten twisted back in her seat to watch the rising flame that used to be her car.
Now she had almost nothing left to remind her of her family and her home. She had only her wedding ring and her nice clothes left and her name left, but little did she know that those would soon be taken from her as well.