As soon as we hopped in the car Carlos gunned on the gas, muttering in Spanish. "Carlos, what else do you know about Alejandro?" I asked, looking at the address that Gwen had gave us. It wouldn't take long to get there, possibly only ten or twenty minutes-probably five by the way Carlos drove. "Would he go back to talk with Bridget if he got caught?"
"Si. Alejandro was always thorough about everything he did. Since him and José were always competing in everything Alejandro started to become more thorough until it became a habit. So it would make sense for him to go see Bridget and tell her to keep quiet even though he's probably already did it before they moved." Carlos replied, tapping his finger on the steering wheel. "He's being overly cautious. If he threatened Bridget the first time then came back to do it again, he was probably expecting someone to finally wise up about him. What I don't get though is that no one knew about Bridget or the other girl and it was only a coincidence that Duncan would know Gwen who knew Bridget so why would he take the extra precaution to tell Bridget to keep quiet again?" That was a good question that I had no answer for. Alejandro was a thorough person but no one knew about Bridget, we wouldn't either if we hadn't found the pictures.
"Wait, do you think he remembered he had left the pictures and that was the reason for the extra precautions?" I asked and Carlos' eyes widen.
"Of course. If the police had found the pictures instead of me they would probably find out who the girls were and question them. That's why he went back," He said and nodded. "I have to learn not to underestimate my hermanito."
"It's alright. He's smarter than we gave him credit for," I told him, glancing the paper in my hand and looked out the window. "Slow down, I think we're coming to the street," I said, looking at the addresses on the houses.
Bridget didn't live in the suburbs like Gwen, but on a more localized street. I noticed a few people stopping to admire the nice car, even a few kids following after it to look in the dark tinted windows. We stopped at the address and got out, about to go up the walkway when one the kids noticed Carlos.
"I know him!" He said, jumping up and down. "He plays soccer! He's on TV all the time!" Three of the children ran up on poor Carlos, assaulting him with questions.
"Um...I'll catch up." Carlos called giving me an apologetic look. I sighed and looked to Duncan who just shrugged and continued on towards Bridget's house.
"If he's not back in five I'll get him," Duncan said and knocked on the door. Bridget immediately answered the door, wide eyed and fearful.
"Are you Gwen's friends?" She asked, glancing to Carlos who was still being ambushed by the little kids.
"Yeah. I'm Courtney and this is Duncan. Are you Bridget?" I asked and she nodded, opening the door to let us in. She closed the door afterward and brought us to a living room that smelled of sea salt. I looked around and took in the décor, noting the surfboard propped up against the wall, still dripping with water.
"You can sit if you want," Bridget said quietly, taking a seat herself on the couch. She looked uncomfortable in her skin, fidgeting with her fingers and her eyes kept flicking back and forth. I sat down but Duncan continued to stand, glancing at the clock on the wall, probably counting down to when he had to get Carlos.
The silence dragged on for a moment before Bridget sighed. "So...you know about Alejandro?" she muttered, looking at her fingers in her lap.
"Yes," I replied quietly. I knew exactly how Bridget was feeling at the moment; fear, unease, paranoid. Alejandro had the power to bring these emotions to the surface whether he knew it or not.
"But how...?" She asked, looking up at me. "Alejandro's too clever to get caught and he would never let anything slip." she said.
"I know exactly what you mean," I said and she gasped, eyes widening.
"You mean...?" I nodded and she closed her eyes and frowned. "Monster..." she whispered so quietly I wasn't sure I heard her correctly.
"But Bridget," I said and she looked up at me with incredibly sad eyes. "We need your help. A friend of mine tried stopping him a few months ago but he got away. We found your picture in his room," I took out the picture and showed it to her. "Duncan recognized you and we figured that you might know something about Alejandro." She looked back to her hands again.
"I don't know much about him," She admitted. "He was really sweet in the beginning. We used to go surfing, to the zoo, we'd talk on the phone for hours. But he changed after a few weeks. He got more aggressive. I ignored it at first but it got to the point where I couldn't ignore it anymore. We were at my house and we started arguing. I don't normally argue but his behavior lately had been over the top. I don't remember exactly how it started but I remember how it ended." She touched her face softly and I remembered the bruise that Alejandro had left on me as well. "He hit me then dragged me to my room. My mom wasn't home and there was no one to stop him." Tears clouded her eyes. "It was more than once...and I won't get into detail but he didn't stop for a long time." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "He told me that if-if I told anyone...he'd find me and...he'd kill me." she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.
I sighed and let her hug me, patting her back as she cried on my shoulder. "It'll be alright," I whispered to her. Bridget had had it worse than I did, I didn't know how she could keep this to herself. I only had to deal with Alejandro for a few days she had months. She had no one to cry to, no one to listen to her story. "Don't worry, Bridget. We'll find him." I told her.
"Please do, Courtney." She whispered, looking at me with sorrowful eyes. "He came back a while ago and told me that if anyone questioned me I wasn't supposed to say anything. He said he was always watching. I'm scared, Courtney. I told you...and I'm afraid of what he'll do."
"He won't do anything, Bridget. I'll make sure of it." I said and looked to where Duncan was supposed to be. Probably went to get Carlos.
"Courtney, come here!" I heard his voice call. Bridget and I stood, rushing to the door and looked out.
"What's wrong, Duncan?" I asked. The kids had left Carlos who was examining his car.
"Someone slashed our fucking tires!" Duncan growled, grabbing my hand and dragged me to the car. I bent down to look and ran my finger on the slash marks. "Damn it!" I looked to Carlos who didn't seem to half as upset as Duncan.
"Courtney," I flinched as Bridget grabbed onto my arm, digging her nails into my skin. "He was right. He is watching." I involuntarily looked around then to Bridget.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright." I told her, removing her nails from my skin. "Apparently we're going to be here for a while so he won't be able to do anything." I told her. I glanced at Carlos and he was already on the phone, probably calling for a tow.
"But what about when you leave? My mom won't be home for another few hours." She asked, fear making her voice shake.
"Well is there anyone that you can call to come over until then?" I asked as we walked back to the house.
"Well there is Geoff," Bridget said and smiled a little, sniffling. "I'm pretty sure he wouldn't mind keeping me company."
"Good," I looked to Duncan as he came back, a scowl on his lips. "How long's it going to take?"
"The tow will be here in about ten minutes but then afterward we have to go and get new tires." He said, sitting on the couch. "Those damn kids set us up. They distracted Carlos so someone could slash the tires. How did he even know we'd be here?"
"Well, Carlos did say he was taking precautions." I said and sat next to him. It seemed like Alejandro was always one step ahead of us. We find the pictures and he's already warned Bridget. We go find Bridget and our tires get destroyed while we're here. It seemed like we couldn't surprise him. And not to mention that we had no idea who the other girl was. "Hey, Bridget. Do you know who this girl is?" I asked, and showed her the other picture. She studied it for a moment then shook her head.
"She looks familiar but I wouldn't be able to tell you her name," She replied. "I think I've seen her on the internet. Yeah, on Facenook. You could go ask my neighbor Sierra. She's always on the computer and could find her quickly. She's on the left." I nodded and glanced to Duncan.
"Hey, I got nothing better to do." He said with a shrug.
"I'll be right back," I said, leaving out the door once more.
Carlos was sitting on the porch, looking sadly to his car. "It'll be alright," I told him, ruffling his hair. He swatted my hand away but smiled.
"I know. But...you didn't see the other side." He said, narrowing his eyes for a moment then sighed. "They keyed my car. I love that car...and they keyed it." I rolled my eyes at him and bent down to be near his ear.
"You'll live. Your car will live. Stop looking like someone killed your best friend." I told him and stood up straight.
"I was going to give a new paint job anyways," He muttered, then looked up at me. "So did you come out here to watch me mope over my car or did you find out something?"
"I'm going next door. There's a girl there that might know who the other person in the picture is." I told him going down the stairs.
"Well, I'll be here if you need me." Carlos said, still staring at his car. I'll never understand guys and cars.
"You do know guys with nice cars are normally compensating for something." I said as I went next door.
"Hey!" He called, obviously offended. "I have nothing to compensate for!"
A/N: Of course you don't, Carlos. I couldn't help my self with those last few lines, this story is so somber it needed a bit of humor. And yes Facenook! It's like a thousand times better than Facebook! xD I'm sorry for putting it up kind of late, I nearly forgot about this thing since I don't update this everyday like I do with my other stories. I'm still at a loss for ideas but I'll think of something. I always do. Anyways, don't forget to comment!