Dead or Alive (9 page)

The cop climbed out of his cruiser with a pair of aviator shades shielding his serious face.  As he slammed the door to his car closed and covered his gun holster with his hand, he looked directly into the windshield of the white truck, then turned his head towards the bathrooms. His shaded gaze landed on Violet just as she leaned all of her weight on the door, realizing, much to her horror, that Remy was trying to open it from the other side. She tried with all her might to keep it closed while smiling at the officer, but it was no use.  Remy was too strong for her, and soon she was sliding forward under the strength of his push, her boots crackling against the rocks and gravel on the ground just as Remy squeezed through the small crack he’d managed to make in the door.

“What the hell are you doing, Chamb--”

Violet stepped away from the door and turned to Remy just as he said her name, covering his lips with hers while shielding his face from the cop completely.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the officer was now making his way to the doors of the market, still watching them, so she kept her lips on Remy’s, placing her hand on top of his hat when the brim of hers almost pushed it off of his head.

A soft gasp jumped to her throat when Remy jolted then, almost instantly, softened.  He pulled her body closer, tugging her in for more, and she continuing to block his face as the officer pulled open the door of the store.  White-hot relief washed through her veins when, shockingly, the officer tilted his hat towards them before stepping into the door with a laugh and shake of his head.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, looking to Remy, shocked when she saw nothing but blind need blazing across his eyes.

Taking her words as a heartfelt response to their kiss, blue eyes deep with desire, Remy took the back of her head gently, and pulled her lips back to his.  His tongue tasted her bottom lip gingerly, and something moved inside him.  His mouth opened over hers hungrily, and he moaned from deep in his throat, a guttural sound that screamed sex.

Soon, Violet was gone, finding her own tongue dipping out and meeting his between their moving lips.

His heart felt like it was ready to explode right from his chest, she could feel it from where he kept her pressed tightly against him.  When she realized he’d become aroused, her own body responded in kind.

At the familiar feeling of her nipples hardening, and the dangerous impulse to rub them against him, she had to remind herself that there was a cop mere feet away, seconds from discovering who they were.  She pulled her lips from his and, with his hands still buried in the hair at her neck, she peeked through the window of the store from the corner of her eye.

“Oh god,” she gasped, looking back to Remy.  “Oh god, Archibald… we have to go.  Stay right here, and I’m going to pull the car around.  A cop just walked passed us and we can’t risk him seeing you limping back to the car.  It would make him suspicious.”

She didn’t miss the confusion on his face, but she wasn’t foolish enough to hang around and explain herself further.  There would be plenty of time to explain, they just needed to get the hell out of there.

She raced to the car, removed the gas pump and climbed in, circling around to Remy.  She leaned over to push the passenger door open, barely giving Remy the chance to climb in and close the door before she was racing out of the lot and down the beaten road.

She drove off, keeping a steady pace that moved them quickly away without drawing attention.  She watched the store grow smaller in the rearview mirror until it was out of sight, and only then did she allow herself to breathe, once more.

“Remy, I’m sorry I had to do that, but…” The sight that met her struck her silent.

Remy was out cold, once more.

Violet was surprised at the feeling of her heart dropping to her feet.  He was still high on those meds.  He couldn’t even keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes at a time.

That kiss had curled her toes, but he probably wouldn’t even remember it when he finally came to.

She swallowed back the lump that was rising in her throat, and mumbled softly to herself.  “Get a grip, Chambers.”  With a deep sigh, she threw his sleeping face one last glance before starting the truck and speeding off.

6

Remy went in and out of consciousness as they drove, each time just long enough to give Violet directions to a woodland area of Santa Cruz.  She drove obediently, never asking him just where he was leading them, not even as the truck pulled slowly up a winding gravely road that lead to a cabin in the middle of nowhere.  Violet put the car in park, leaning over the steering wheel to look up at the sky.  The rain pattered softly against the truck, but she knew it would be storming soon.

Some angel must’ve been sitting on their shoulder.  As soon as it started raining, it would be all but impossible for police choppers to spot this car overhead.  For the first time in her life Violet, an avid hater of all things rain, hope it rained all day, and kept raining, until she and Remy were able to clear his name.

She looked to him, passed out in the passenger’s seat.  “Remy.  We’re here.  This is it, right?”

Remy sluggishly awoke, looking about on the verge of death, and looked out to the house in front of them.  He climbed out of the car without answering.

Violet watched him move, closing the door behind him as he hobbled up to the front door of the house.  She climbed out just as the home’s door opened, and a handsome man about Remy’s age stepped out.  He was average height and build, but had the face of an angel.  With slicked blonde hair, blue eyes, and full lips, he reminded her of James Dean.  He also favored Remy, but with a softer edge, so much so that she wondered if perhaps this was Remy’s younger brother.  Then she remembered Remy saying he didn’t have any siblings.

She closed the driver’s side door and made her way up to the porch with her hands in her pockets.  She felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment as Remy launched himself at the man and wrapped him in a ferocious hug, groaning happily in the process.  The man slapped Remy’s back with the rough intensity only a man could, while tucking his teary face into his neck with a laugh. She tilted her head away and side eyed them.

Perhaps this was the reason Remy had so easily passed out after the kiss they’d shared at the gas station.  Was it her severe lack of a penis that had left him so cold? Was this his homosexual lover? His life partner?

“I was hoping you’d be here, Jason,” Remy said.

“Where else would I be?”

After embracing for a questionable period of time, the two men finally turned to Violet and, upon realizing she was still standing there, both of their smiles immediately fell.

Violet smiled tightly in response, raising a quiet hand of greeting.

“Tell me this isn’t the girl you snatched from the courthouse,” the handsome man, who Violet now knew as “Jason” said.  “Please tell me this isn’t Violet Chambers.”

“Guilty as charged.”  She shrugged.

“I can’t get rid of her,” Remy grumbled, before looking away from them both.

“Wait, let me get this straight.  You’re sticking around on your own accord? For this shmuck?”  Jason laughed heartily.  “Baby, I hate to be the one to break it to you… but you chose the wrong guy.  This one isn’t going to fulfill whatever Stockholm Syndrome, Fifty Shades hostage fantasies you’ve got rolling around in that head of yours.  This one’s dull as dirt.”

“Yeah, I already know that.” She nodded.

Remy finally looked at her, offense clouding his eyes.

“I realized he was dull as dirt right around the moment he made me jump out of a moving helicopter and into the Pacific Ocean. Or was it when we hijacked that sweet man’s boat and left him stranded in the water? Or maybe when we choked that crazy old lady to death? Gosh I don’t know, Remy, it’s all so very dull.”

“I thought you told me that you
didn’t
choke Barbara to death?”

“I didn’t,” she cried, exasperated by his perpetual bleeding heart.  “I told you, she’s fine.  I just said ‘we choked her to death’ for dramatic effect.”

“
We
did not choke Barbara. 
You
choked Barbara.”

Jason’s head flew back and forth between them.

“I’ve already been convicted of murder, Chambers, I don’t need you adding any more colorful felonies to my already extensive list.”

Violet turned to Jason, having quickly grown bored.  “Look, I know Remy is innocent, and it looks like you do, too.”

“He
is
innocent,” Jason said, calmly.

“I agree with you, and that’s why I’m here.  He’d cut off his left nut before ever admitting it… but Remy is going to need me to help clear his name.”

“And you’re going to need me to make a name for yourself at the news station,” Remy added. “Your real goal is the be the next Barbara Walters, even if achieving that goal means cavorting around town with a convicted killer.  Isn’t that right?”

Jason suddenly snapped his fingers. “Dammit, I knew I recognized you.  ‘This is Violet Chambers, over and out,’ ” Jason sang, in a high pitched voice while throwing a dainty, two-fingered salute off of his forehead.

Remy gave Jason a
you have no idea what you’ve just done
shake of his head just as Violet lost it.

“Excuse me, sir? I do not say ‘over and out.’  I have never in my life said ‘over and out.’ ”

Jason and Remy both looked to each other and shrugged.

“Anyway…” Violet rolled her shoulders, cracking her neck in the process before nodding toward Jason. “Yeah, that’s me.  And that would make you…?”

The two men looked at each other once more, but neither answered.  With blank faces, they looked back to Violet.

Their silence was all the answer she needed.  “So how long have you two been together?”

Remy cocked his head. “Together?”

“Yeah, I mean… you’re obviously lovers.”

“What?” Remy cringed.

Violet held her hands out in mock apology. “Oh, excuse me… ‘life partners,’” she corrected with finger quotes. “Didn’t realize this was the politically correct crowd tonight.”

The blank stares continued.

Violet balked at their stunned faces before reacting. “Well the two of you haven’t been able to keep your paws off each other since the moment you were reunited. And this one…”  She motioned to Jason.  “Just made a Fifty Shades of Grey reference.  With a straight face. I mean, honestly.” She held her arms out at her sides after she’d made her point, her mouth tilting ever so slightly as she grinned at them.  “If that’s not a homosexual, then I just don’t know what is.”

“Not a homosexual,” Jason immediately countered, calmly, hands placed squarely on his hips.

“Not gay,” Remy reiterated.

“At all,” Jason shook his head.

“Not even a little bit.”

“Nope. Not gay.”

“Kay.” Violet finally had to hold up a hand to silence them.  They were clearly ready to go on all day denying their homosexuality, so she decided to put them out of their misery.  She had to admit, she was a little embarrassed about how relieved she was that Remy wasn’t gay.  It meant that she hadn’t imagined whatever had been happening between them since the moment they’d met. “Okay, don’t get your panties in a wad ladies.” She nodded her head to Jason.  “So what’s the plan?”

“The plan was to give my man here a hot shower and a place to stay for the night.  Maybe help him stitch up that leg, but it looks like he’s got that all covered.”

“
I’ve
got that all covered,” she corrected. “Remy wouldn’t have any of those things if it weren’t for me.  I’m the one who got us into Barbara’s house to begin with.”

“Who is this Barbara you both keep referring to?”

“One of Remy’s many adoring fans,” Violet answered.

“This shmuck has fans?”

“Who needs celebrities when you’ve got a convicted murderer and kidnapper? You know escaped convicts are all the rage these days.”

“Really?  Maybe I should rob a couple of banks and see where that takes me.  I gotta say, I wouldn’t mind a pretty young thing like you knocking down my door.”

Violet motioned to Jason while eyeing Remy.  “This is the second man today who has referred to me as a pretty young thing.  I don’t understand why I can’t just be a woman.  A capable woman.” Violet’s eyes flew back to Jason.  “And I’m not banging down Remy’s door.  Like I said, I believe him and I’m here to help him.”

“And help yourself,” Remy, refusing to be silenced, reminded her once more.

Violet threw a look at him, but she didn’t respond.  “You know, Jason, it’s nice that you’re looking to help Remy, but we really can’t stop.  The woman who we stole this truck from has almost certainly gotten in contact with the authorities by now.  We can’t stop moving.”

“At least come in and let me give you something for that leg, it looks pretty bad.  I have some food for the road, too. Five minutes.”

Violet’s eyes widened, and Remy saw it as it happened.  Jason had just said her magic word.

Food.

***

“This is so good.” Having grown up with unusually strict parents, Violet had never been one to talk with her mouth full.  One bite of Jason’s homemade roast beef sandwich on rye, however, had her throwing all manners out of the window.

Jason grinned down at her.  “Glad you like it.  My specialty.”

Remy smirked from the small couch nestled in the corner.  “Jason used to bring these sandwiches on all of our trips.  They were legendary. He brought them for all the flight attendants, too.  That’s how he got so much tail back in the day.”

Violet raised an eyebrow, swallowing back the huge bite she’d just taken.  “What? Flight attendants can’t afford their own sandwiches?”

“Not the new hires,” Jason said. “The new hires are always broke.”

“I assume the new ones are always young, as well?” Violet offered. “Young and hot?”

“Young and dumb,” Remy corrected.

Jason threw his hands out.  “I don’t like that word. Dumb.  I prefer… green. Perhaps unseasoned.  But dumb?” He looked back and forth between the two.  “Seems harsh.”

“Just because you’ve slept with all of them, doesn’t mean you’re obligated to defend them. You know that right?” Remy raised an amused eyebrow.

“That’s unfair,” Jason said.  “I’ve slept with most of them.  Not all.”

“You’ll get there one day.”

“Please believe it.”

Violet chewed around her smile, and motioned to him once more after swallowing.  “So that’s how you know Remy? You guys used to fly together?”

“I was the first officer to his captain from the moment I started flying with Virgin.  We bid trips together.  We never wanted to fly with anyone but each other.” Jason smiled across the room at Remy, who smiled back at him in return.

“Kay, this…” Violet motioned between them with her half eaten sandwich.  “Is why people assume you’re gay.  Kay?  This.  Right here.”

Jason nodded down at Violet.  “We knew each other way before Virgin.  We flew together in the military.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows shot up. So that’s why Remy was so good with that gun. “Marines?”

“Army.” Jason nodded, casting a proud look.  “Arch was an expert shooter, but he wanted to
fly
.” Jason waved his hands in a dramatic, jazz-hands manner. “And I worshipped the shit in his drawers, so I followed him.”

Violet was now shooting Remy an amused look of her own.  “Remy was a marksman?”

“An expert,” Jason corrected.  “Not a marksman.”

“What’s the difference?”

“A marksman couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.  Arch doesn’t miss his mark.  Not ever.  That’s the difference.”

“You should have told him that when he shot at me back on the roof.  He certainly missed his mark then.”

The look in Jason’s eyes sent Violet reeling, and she was unable to speak another word.

“Like I said,” Jason whispered.  “Arch never misses his mark.”

She looked to Remy, but he seemed to be making a concentrated effort to pretend he couldn’t hear a word they were saying.

Remy could feel Violet’s eyes on him, understanding what she’d been feeling after Jason had, irritatingly, given her such a dangerous piece of information.  Jason was right.  Remy never missed his mark.  But a woman who he’d been trying to get rid of for the last few hours didn’t need to know that he’d missed her on purpose.  She needed to fear him so much that she’d do anything to get away.  Now, looking at him, all he saw was blind adoration.  When he sensed he was casting the same look back, and hurting his own cause even more, he focused on his sandwich. It wobbled in his hands, reminding him of just how weak he’d become in a few short hours.

When various condiments began falling out of the sandwich under Remy’s trembling hold, Violet crossed the room, and tried to take it from him.

“Don’t.”  His voice had gone low and stern as his blue eyes flashed with impatience. Her small, helpful hands were as soft as they looked, and frustrated him to insane levels. “I can feed myself, damn it.”

“You don’t look good. Are you feeling okay?”

He felt badly about snapping at her.  But Violet was the last person on the planet he wanted feeling sorry for him.  His eyes fell helplessly to the neckline of her lose tank top, which was giving him a clear view of her black lace bra, and the ample breasts they barely contained.  If he wasn’t so weak and tired and drugged up, Remy was sure his cock would be standing at full attention.  At the moment, his was a bit stiff, which was still an impressive response to a woman he’d yet to touch. He wanted her to violate it, and him, in the worst way, and women didn’t sexually violate cripples, weaklings.  He refused to allow her to see him that way.