"Well fuck me," Watson muttered as she left the latest building. She'd stopped at every servo and convenience store she passed, figuring her prey had to fill up eventually and also eat, but none had recognised the women she was after, which likely meant she was on the wrong trail.
"Fuck," she muttered again. So much for her confidence in knowing her prey. Did this mean they were going the opposite to what she'd expected? Or were they just stealing cars instead of filling up. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she cursed with every step back to her car. Trying to think like that could lose her a lot of time and get her nowhere, as would having to backtrack the way she'd just come, especially if she still had no idea which way to go from there. She needed something. Then she thought of it. Smiling, she reached for her phone. Perfect timing, her friend would have just started her night shift.
"Steph, it's Georgie, I need a favour," Watson said when a voice answered.
"Sure, what is it?"
"I need you to check on stolen car reports for the last day for me."
"What for?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Official or off the books?"
"Off."
"In that case Georgie Girl, you'll owe me after this."
"I promise to take you to the swankiest restaurant in town and make love to you for two solid days."
"I'll settle for you picking up the tab for me and my new girl."
"New girl, huh?"
"Yeah, I finally found a woman who didn't just have sex with me for favours."
"Hey, the sex was always hot between us and that wasn't the only favours we exchanged," Watson said. "I'm betting your new girl is very appreciative of two of those favours I helped you get."
"True, but then you also enjoyed the benefits of getting me bigger tits," said Steph and they both shared a chuckled. They'd been lovers on and off for long enough to know where they stood with each other. "So, you getting the tab or not?"
"Done."
"Ok then, where am I looking?"
Watson told her the areas to search in, then hung up. She'd already figured that her prey wouldn't have stuck around in the city. It was just far too dangerous to stay there in this day and age. Some had made that mistake in the past, believing they could hide amongst all those people amidst all of the buildings, yet they always forgot the cameras and other ways to track them. They were everywhere, from ATM, to traffic, to their phone accounts and such and for those who could gain access to that information, it always made their job so much easier. Going into hiding really was an artform these days, one few mastered successfully, because it was so easy to overlook something small and that would later prove to be that one, fatal mistake. That was what Watson was now relying on. Her prey making a mistake.
"Would you stop banging on the door?" Charlie said. "Clearly there is no one here to answer it."
"It says right on that sign, open 24/7 and it's only 9pm," Joey replied. When she'd managed to get the car to the bowser on nothing but fumes, she'd thought they were finally having some luck, that was, until it became obvious this 24/7 didn't actually stay open 24/7. Shit, she thought. "Maybe they had to go to the bathroom," she said lamely.
"And they turned the lights down to do that?" Charlie smirkingly said. "Anyway, it's so obvious that they shut this place due to a family emergency."
"How the fuck could you possibly know that?"
With a huge smile, Charlie pointed to another sign in the window which Joey had failed to see. "Sorry for the inconvenience, we have closed due to a family emergency," Charlie helpfully read out to her.
"Shit," muttered Joey.
"Why don't we just move on?"
"We need petrol."
"Except we can't get the petrol out of the bowsers until someone hits that button behind the counter," Charlie pointed out. "And there's no one here to do that."
Joey cupped her hands around her eyes as she peered in the window. The lights from the refrigerators lining the back of the store offered enough light to make out the counter and general layout of the place. "Think I can probably get to that."
"We are not stealing petrol," Charlie said.
"We'll leave money on the counter."
"We're not stealing petrol," she repeated, though less forcibly as arguing with this woman was proving to be a waste of time.
"Just my luck to be stuck with the one honest cop in the Force," Joey muttered under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." She turned to her companion. "Look Charlie, we're out of petrol and we can't stay here for much longer, because the bad guys will catch up with us, so we either break in here and hit that button so we can get the petrol or we can go and find another nice little old car to steal."
Charlie was really disliking this woman right now. "Fine, but leave the money on the counter."
"I'll get the button, you leave the money."
Shaking her head, Charlie followed behind her. "I knew you'd stiff me with the bill," she murmured.
Joey took her jumper off, wrapped it around her hand and punched the window. "Fuck," she winced when it didn't give.
"I could have told you that wouldn't work," Charlie smugly told her. "It's reinforced glass to discourage people like you from doing just that."
"You could have warned me."
"You didn't ask."
Joey glared at her. "Just think of a way in there."
"There's probably an adjoining door between the garage and the store," Charlie said. "And that door on the garage looks easier to pick than trying to break in through the window here." She turned her nose up at Joey. "I'm sure you know how to pick a lock."
"Of course, every girl scout learns breaking and entering in between selling cookies," she sarcastically replied.
"God you're annoying."
"And you complain too much."
"Oh shut up."
"Ooh, touchy."
"Are we going to do this or just stand around bitching all night?"
"You almost sound eager to do this now."
"I just want to get out of here."
"Then quit bitching and let's do this."
"We're going the wrong way," Brodie sang out for the 100th time.
"Shut the fuck up," Pee Wee snapped.
"I'm telling ya, this is the wrong way."
"How the fuck would you know?"
"Well, we haven't seen them yet, have we?"
"They have a head start, it's going to take time to catch up."
"'specially if we're going the wrong way."
"We don't know if this is the wrong way," Pee Wee hissed at him.
"Just like we don't know it's the right way."
"We're going this way, so just shut the fuck up."
"Well don't blame me if this turns out to be the wrong way."
It would be so easy to get his gun out and just blow this annoying shits brains all over the car, but not only was Brodie a mate, Pee Wee had a feeling he might be right. They were chasing exhaust fumes thanks to Watson's failures. If that dumb bitch had done her job, this would be all over and he could be back home getting his cock sucked off by his old lady, instead of being stuck in this car with Brodie. He was sick of driving around the city. Were the women even still here? Their people had been sent in all directions after those women, yet he had no idea if any of them were on the right track and pretty soon, the cops may actually get a clue and become an unwelcome complication. Heath had called earlier to let them know their guy had said the cops still had no idea their witness was in the wind. No surprise there, those morons couldn't find their own dicks at a urinal, Pee Wee thought, but it would still be best for all if they found those women before the cops even started looking.
He pulled his phone out and dialled. His anger grew with each unanswered ring tone.
"Fuck that cunt," he muttered. Watson had to be deliberating ignoring his calls. If she kept this up, he might just forget Heath's prior warning and take out his frustration on her.
"We should try the coast," Brodie reasoned. "It's always nice along there this time of year."
Pee Wee sighed. Until they got some more info to go on, it was better than nothing. Up or down the coast. He tossed the coin. Heads up, tails down. Down it was.
Watson looked at her map. She'd marked off the motel and the road she'd taken, then she'd added the locations of the stolen cars Steph had sent through to her. They were more sporadic outside the city limits, but two in particular stood out to her, as they followed along a road that lead straight from the Sunset Motel.
"Fuck," she muttered, when she realised she should have taken that left earlier in the day, instead of the right, because now she was hours from the road they were likely on and she'd fall even further behind if she had to backtrack to that road. Watson trailed her finger along the map. Between here and where the last stolen car was taken from, she noticed some smaller roads that wound around a bit, yet eventually connected to that same road along the coast. Watson tapped on the map in thought. By the time she reached that road, her prey would be long gone, but she would have saved herself hours in not having to backtrack further than half an hour and she could probably shave even more time off if she drove non-stop. She'd had plenty of night shifts, including doubles, so she was confident she could navigate and stay alert without sleep as she drove through the night. She just hoped there were places open along the way that made strong coffee.
"You better be on that road," she said. It was a flimsy guess at best and there really was no guarantee they'd keep to that road, but until she had something more concrete, it was all she had to go on. Watson glanced at her phone as it blared to life once more. She knew who it was by the ringtone she'd programmed into it.
"Sorry boys, I didn't hear my phone so please leave a message," she chuckled as she imagined the look on Pee Wee's face when she failed to pick up.
"Nice work," Charlie commented after they had gained entry into the garage, but her tone told Joey it wasn't a compliment.
"I'm very good at my job," she replied, regardless of Charlie's attitude. She was relieved to see that Charlie had been right about the adjoining door. She turned the handle and smiled. "Not even locked," she tutted. Joey opened the door and peered into the store. "Careful of the cameras," she told her, pointing them out to Charlie. "Wouldn't want your pretty little mug to show up on security footage and letting everyone know where we were."
Charlie paused for a moment to weigh up her options. She could let herself be seen on camera and risk the wrong cops finding them or she could keep to the shadows like a common thief. Considering she wasn't sure how many crooked cops were after them or whom she could even trust, she chose to do the latter.
"And don't touch anything with your bare hands," Joey warned her. "We don't want our fingerprints placing us here."
"You really have done this before, haven't you?"
"Actually, this is a new one for me because I've never needed to break into a service station to steal petrol before." Joey grinned at her in the dim light, "It's always been far easier to just steal another car."
"I can't believe I'm doing this," muttered Charlie.
Now inside the store, the fridge lights offered an eerie illumination to the otherwise darkened area and every footstep sounded like a herd of elephants to Charlie. She was nervous and uncomfortable with this whole thing, even though this did appear their only option.
Joey reached behind the counter, hit the button and started to make her way back the way they'd just come. "Wait til I signal you the tank is full, then you can be a good little girl scout and leave the right money for them," she said. "Oh and grab some food on your way out."
Charlie poked her tongue out at her companions retreating back. God she really was coming to dislike that woman and her cocky, sarcastic manner.
"Brodie and Pee Wee are now heading down the coast," Hayley informed her girlfriend as she hung up on Pee Wee. "You reckon we should do the same?"
"Nah, if they're covering that, we'll keep in this direction," Tegan replied. As yet another sign post flashed by the window, she slammed her palm on the steering wheel. "This is fucking ridiculous," she muttered. "We need some idea where the fuck they are or we'll just be driving and not getting anywhere near them."
"Heath and Brax are calling in all their favours with their cop buddies and elsewhere," said Hayley. "Someone will have to have eyes on them soon," she said. She smiled and rubbed Tegan's knee. "And when they do, we'll be first to get to those rats and it will be glorious when you cut them open with your knife."
"Glorious," agreed Tegan. She grinned when her lover's hand moved. Tegan leant back in her seat to allow Hayley better access. Her eyes on the road, she groaned softly as Hayley's hand slid inside her knickers. She knew she was already wet and so Hayley slid along her sex with ease.
"Oh baby, I love you," she groaned as Hayley played with her clit. With great expertise, Tegan kept the car on the right side of the road while Hayley's fingers dipped and flicked her to orgasm. "Oh yes, yes," she cried. Yes, it was going to be glorious to slice those women up.
Angelo thanked the man and headed back to his car. He'd hit pay dirt. Watson had been identified and she was only a few hours ahead of him. He felt it was only a matter of time before he caught up with her, and then them. Yawning as he got into his car, he reached into the glove box for a small container and tapped a couple of pills into his hand. He swallowed them down with some strong coffee. That should help him drive through the night.
Casey rolled his eyes at his mate when Stu strutted into the hotel room where they'd pulled up for the night. At every stop, Stu had been the one to ask after his missing sister and her girlfriend, the story he'd concocted to explain his interest in finding those two women. And always, the women he'd ask would be smiling and more than happy to answer his questions. It didn't matter what age they were, Stu would flirt and charm them and they always fell for it. Unfortunately, their answers were always the same. No one had seen either woman. Casey smiled wryly. Unfortunate it maybe, but part of him was glad each time Stu's questions were answered in the negative. He knew they had a job to do, yet at the same time, this was one job he'd happily fail at. It might not be very Braxton of him to think like that, since these two women could destroy his family and everything they'd worked to build, but those women had done nothing wrong, except get between Brax and what he wanted. His brother wanted it all and he'd abide no one standing in his way. Casey had always admired his brother's desire to succeed, yet lately, he'd begun to wish his brother had desired to succeed in an honest business.
"Let me guess, another no?" Casey said when Stu headed to his bag and pulled out a jacket.
"Yep, another no, but another phone number," he said with a grin.
"Bet you could write a phonebook by the time we're done on this trip."
"I may even call some of them," Stu said. "Some of those women are so lonely, they could cry and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to cry more for me instead."
"You're a slut, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, but who cares," he said. "None of them ever complain and I'm certainly not."
"You have more in common with Heath, than I do."
"Except I have a brain," said Stu. "Look, I reckon we're on the wrong track following this road, so we should go back and take that next right when we start at first light tomorrow."
"What's at the next right?"
"Fucked if I know, I've never been out of the city in my life."
"Neither have I," said Casey. It was an adventure, it just wasn't one he wanted to enjoy. "Where are you going now?"
"To hear that nice cleaning woman crying out for more," he said and closed the door behind him.
Charlie stared at the figure sleeping on the next bed. She had found a map at the servo that had listed the location of hotels/motels/B&B/caravan parks in the surrounding areas and after getting everything they needed from the servo, Joey had chosen to drive to a small Bed and Breakfast that was off the main road they'd been travelling on by a good twenty minutes. At first Charlie had thought the landlady was going to deny them a room because of the late hour of their arrival, until Joey asked for twin beds and not a double. Guess that eased the old homophobe's mind, along with the story Joey had spun about how Charlie was her future sister-in-law and they were meant to be joining friends at a hen's night tomorrow, yet had gotten lost in the unfamiliar area and so needed somewhere to stay the night.
She sighed. So here she was, in some small B&B in the middle of nowhere, cuffed once more to a bed. She hadn't really objected to Joey's insistence that she had to have at least one hand cuffed to the bed, since the knowledge that Joey still had the gun gave her the upper hand. The other reason was, that she really didn't want to raise Joey's mistrust any further than it already was and so she was trying to be as cooperative as possible, without seeming too cooperative.
Thankfully for Charlie, her headache was now long gone as the last side effects of the drugs had finally left her system, which allowed her to think things through more clearly. Not that it really helped much. She was still unsure of what her next move should be. Joey's paranoia of mistrust had transferred to her and while she didn't exactly trust her new car buddy, she felt less trusting of those they'd left in their dust. Could Nick be trusted, she just didn't know anymore and the risk to them should they make even one mistake, could be incredibly costly.
Charlie sighed again at the situation she found herself in. The only thing she knew with any certainty, was that she had no intention of being yet another statistic in the Braxtons reign of intimidation and death, so until she figured things out, perhaps she and Joey should stick together and keep on the move, given their current lack of any other real alternative. That didn't mean she would have to start trusting Joey, because she didn't want that. Tonight's little capper, along with the ease in which Joey had lied to the landlady, had proven once more how little she knew of this woman, so she sure as hell couldn't trust her, but given their current plight, then right now, Joey was the lesser of evils, in that they both had the same goal in mind - to stay alive. It was a decision Charlie hoped she didn't live to regret.