Reckless (Wrecked) (16 page)

Kevin stood on the sidewalk absently watching the dogs goof around and the early-morning traffic using the road.  A police car cruising by slowly caught his attention, the cop behind the wheel staring at him for a few long seconds.  It made Kevin wish he’d stayed inside the room.  He tried to turn to the side casually so he wouldn’t be so recognizable.  After waiting for the car to pass, he walked over and stuck his head inside the door to the room.  “Let’s go,” he said loudly, seeing only Candi standing in between the beds, brushing her teeth.  “There are cops cruising around, and one of them just looked at me.”

Less than a minute later they were all piling into the car in a panic, the dogs jumping in along with them.  “Are we going to the IHOP?” Candi asked from the driver’s seat, scooting it forward so she could reach the pedals.

Sarah groaned.

“No.  Go to a McDs or something, the drive-through.  We can’t afford to sit around where we’ll be seen,” said Kevin.  Seeing that cop staring at him had freaked him out.  He just wanted to get to that cabin and settle in, and the first thing he was going to do was train the big dog to kick some ass.  Hopefully that assbag owner who’d had her before hadn’t beaten her protective instincts out of her along with everything else.

“Should we go through with all of us in the car?” asked Candi.

“Yes, I think we’ll be okay, said Jonathan.  “Fast food establishments are usually staffed by teenagers, and that’s the age group with the fewest amount of viewers of the news.  I think we should just get to the cabin as soon as possible.”

Kevin held up his fist for a bump which Jonathan returned in confusion.

Candi pulled out onto the road and went two blocks before locating their breakfast stop.  They asked for a few extra empty sacks which Sarah ended up using as barf bags in response to the smells from the greasy food.  Candi gulped down her breakfast burritos as fast as she could.

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” said Jonathan.  “When we stop for lunch, we’ll eat outside the car.”

Kevin glanced back to see her waving weakly at them from her spot in the passenger seat, her head resting on the open window frame.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’m feeling better.  I just wish I had a cracker or something.”

“Fry?” asked Kevin, holding up a limp strip of potato in between the front seats.

Sarah took it out of his hand and ate it.  “Thanks.  That’s good.”

“If you can’t keep food down we’re going to have to bring you to a hospital,” Jonathan said worriedly.

“I’ll be fine.  It’s just really bad in the morning.  The problem is I feel like I’m sick because I have an empty stomach, but at the same time, all that food just smells so disgusting I can’t imagine eating it.”

“So you’re basically screwed,” said Kevin.  “If you can eat fries, though, we can get more.”

“She needs a balanced diet,” said Jonathan.

“Yeah, but if all she can eat is fries, I’m buying her fries.  It won’t kill her for a few weeks to be on a potato diet.”

“We don’t need to figure this out now,” said Candi, diplomatically.  “We just need to get settled.  I’ll bet once we have a routine and a normal bed to sleep in, everything will be just fine.  I bought a recipe book, so we’re all set with home-cooked meals.”

“Assuming someone knows how to use the thing,” said Sarah, the wind out the window taking away some of the volume from her words.

“I know how to cook.  My mom’s been teaching me and Jonathan for years.”

“Good.  Maybe you can teach me.”

“Yeah,” said Kevin in a soft voice.  “Please.  Or she may do the Russian guy’s job for him by poisoning us all.”  Kevin hunched over, leaning forward to try and escape the punishment he knew was coming.

Sarah pulled her head in the window and reached forward to flick her brother on the back of the ear, missing and hitting just air.  “I’m nauseous, not deaf, idiot.”  She sat back, putting her face to the window again.

Kevin stayed leaning forward for the next five minutes until they were back on the highway and Sarah was asleep.  He never could tell when she was going to start feeling better again, and she never forgot a missed ear flick.  He was safer staying out of reach while she was conscious.

***

“I’m totally starving,” said Sarah.

“I thought you were sick,” said Candi, looking at her in the rearview mirror.

“Whatever morning sickness I had before has now been replaced with a gigantic hole in my stomach that needs food in it, stat.  Pull into that rest stop, Sugar Lump.”

“But Kevin said no rest stops before.”

“I don’t give flying fudge brownie what Kevin said, I have to get some food.  I’ll go in and out really quick - like lightning fast, I promise.”

Candi looked at the sleeping forms of her brother and boyfriend, deciding that she could deal with their anger if she had to.  If Sarah didn’t eat some real food and fast she was probably going to get sick all over again, and
that
wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“Okay,” said Candi, putting on the turn signal.  “I’m going to park way over here behind this big truck.  You put your hair in a pony tail, and put that hat on and these sunglasses.”  She took the FBI-issue pair off her face and handed them back to Sarah.  “Don’t talk to anyone, and don’t make eye contact.  Keep your head down and hurry up.  If I see anyone like a cop taking you out in handcuffs or whatever, I’m going to leave you behind, you got it?”

Sarah nodded, looking like she wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cry at Candi’s orders.  But she put on her brave face and nodded, apparently deciding doing neither was her best option.  She got out of the car wearing the disguise Candi had suggested, walking with her head down to the rest stop building entrance.

True to her word, Sarah got back much faster than Candi expected, and no one was leading her out in handcuffs.  Candi watched her through the windshield of the truck next to them, just barely able to make out her slim form as she made her way back past the smashed bugs and other gross stuff on the glass that stood between them.  Sarah had a fast-food bag in her hand and kept her head down all the way back to the car.  She opened the door and got in, slamming it shut quickly behind her.  “Let’s go,” she said breathlessly.

“What’d you get?” asked Kevin, waking up from his nap.

“Fries.”

“Jonathan’s going to be pissed.”

“Too bad.”  Sarah dove her hand into the bag and came out with three fries, cramming them all in her mouth at the same time.  “Heeve buff gonna haffa beal wiff it.”

“What are we doing?  Where are we?” asked Jonathan.

Candi put the car into reverse and began backing out of their spot.  “We had to make an emergency stop.  Sorry.”

“Wait!  Don’t go yet!” said Jonathan.

Candi stopped.  “What?”

“Pull back in!” he said, gripping Candi’s headrest and yelling right in her ear.

“Chill, Jonathan, geez,” she said, shifting the car into drive and going forward.  “What’s the big deal?”

“Sorry for yelling.  What I’m thinking is that they won’t have cameras out this far, and the way you’ve parked - good job by the way - isn’t visible from up there.  So if there’s a longer wait between when they see her leave, they’ll assume she’s in another car that goes by, not this one.”

“I don’t get it,” said Candi.

“I do,” said Kevin.  “If the camera caught Sarah, and the cops want to know what car she got into, they’ll guess that it would be the next car coming by or one coming by in the next couple minutes.  So we need to wait here for longer than that.”

“How much longer?” asked Candi, swallowing the lump in her throat as a police car cruised by behind them.  The officers inside weren’t looking at the Camry, but just seeing them nearby was making her feel sick.

“Ten minutes.”

“But … lots of people go to a rest stop and sit in their cars, just to relax or take a quick nap,” said Candi, worried she’d really blown it by listening to Sarah and coming in here.

“Not kids on the run.  Not kids who have alternate drivers who can take over when the other one is tired,” said Jonathan.

Candi shut off the engine.

“I can’t believe you thought all that out,” said Kevin, shaking his head slowly.  “You were asleep when she started to leave.”

“Don’t be too impressed.  I thought of all this before, when the girls wanted to go into a rest stop earlier.  It just stuck in my head as I played out the various scenarios.”

“You play out scenarios in your head?” asked Kevin.  “For real, dude?”

“Oh, yeah.  All the time.  I learned from playing chess.  You always need to try and predict what the other player is going to do several moves ahead.”

Kevin smiled vaguely.  “That’s an expression … I’m several moves ahead of you.”

“Exactly.  It comes from chess.  We need to stay at least three moves ahead of law enforcement in order to stay safe until the trial.  If they get within one move of us, we will lose. They have too many resources at their disposal for us to succeed at remaining invisible in that situation.”

“So how do we stay three moves ahead?” asked Sarah.

“For one, we cannot be careless, like you were by coming here.  And we can all change our appearances.  Or those who can, should.  Candi already did that, so she’s helping us.  People are looking for a blonde girl with dreadlocks, not Shirley Temple.  Kevin, you could make your hair dark, and you’d blend better.  My hair won’t go blonde without looking fake, so I’m afraid I’m stuck how I am.  Sarah, you could cut your hair, but using dye isn’t a good idea when you’re pregnant.  I’ve read some documentation that suggests that it could be unhealthy, all those chemicals, and I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

“I’m not dying my hair anyway,” said Sarah.  “I had it highlighted before I knew I was pregnant, and I’m not going to ruin that on the very slight, off-chance that it might help.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant,” said Candi.  “You’ll sacrifice our lives for your hair.  Nice.”

“Shut up, Shirley!  I didn’t say I wouldn’t do
anything
.  I don’t mind cutting it.  A little.”  She looked at the guys one at a time, pointing with her thumb at Candi.  “But I’m not going as short as Shirley, here.”

“Stop calling me Shirley!”  Candi couldn’t believe Sarah was being so casual about the whole thing.  They were hiding from the law - the law that could be trying to kill them right along with some Russian mafia guy - and Sarah was worried about her stupid hair.

“Girls, girls … no fighting,” said Kevin in a calming voice.  “I know hair is a sensitive subject, so let’s just drop it.  Move on to the next thing, Jon.  What else can we do?”

“Leave false trails elsewhere, create distractions, stay off the radar, keep to ourselves, be vigilant, have an escape plan in case anyone gets close.  There’s a lot we can do.  They have eyes everywhere, thanks to the public that always wants to help find kids.  We have to always be aware that someone looking at us could be the one who turns us in.”

Candi slouched down in her seat, noticing a man in a track suit nearby, gazing off into the distance. 
Maybe he’s just trying to seem casual or something.
  She looked to her right and noticed a lady sitting in her car a few rows down. 
Is she looking at us?  She’s on her phone!  Is she calling the police?!
  Candi started the car again.

“What are you doing?  It’s not time to go yet,” said Jonathan.

“I’m going.  That lady’s on the phone, and she’s making me nervous.”  Candi looked behind her as they started to reverse out of the parking spot and had to slam on the brakes to keep from hitting the car that was barreling past.  It was a police car with its lights on.

The car rocked with the sudden stop.  Candi thought she was going to barf in her lap, she was so freaked out.  For a split-second, she was sure the cop car was just going to stop and block her in, but it continued on, allowing her to breathe again.

“Time to go,” said Jonathan.  “Go, Candi.  And don’t speed.  Sarah, lie down - put your head in my lap.”

Candi watched Sarah’s head go by the rearview mirror as Candi backed out of the space, very carefully now since she was completely freaked out about getting into a traffic accident.  One wrong move and they’d be done.

As they pulled out of the parking lot and back onto the highway, Candi tried not to look at the three police cars that had converged on a dark SUV, not unlike the one they’d abandoned before taking the Camry.  Candi swallowed the bile that rose up to burn her throat. 
Just keep going and don’t stop until you’re at a cabin in the woods, surrounded by trees and wind and nothing else.

***

The french fries Sarah had eaten did the trick.  She didn’t feel sick for the first time in days.  She watched the scenery go by, smiling at all the beautiful trees and lush landscape that appeared as they got closer to their destination.

“What are you so happy about?” grouched Candi from the front seat.

Kevin had taken over the driving again, while the poor Shirley Temple wannabe was looking at her pitiful hair in the small mirror on the back of her visor.  She was using the reflection to give Sarah the evil-eye.

“I was just thinking that it’s really pretty out here.  I could get used to this.”

Candi sighed, pushing the visor back up before looking around.  “It is nice.  I just wish we were here for a real vacation and not running from someone trying to kill us.”  James thumped his tail rhythmically on the emergency brake handle, happy with whatever Candi was doing to his head.  She looked down with a smile, giggling when he jumped up to lick her chin.  Her expression quickly went back to one of concern.

Sarah stroked the giant head of Xena, pit bull doggie warrior.  The dog’s butt was half on the seat and half on Jonathan.  “Yeah.  The murderous villains part sucks, but the rest of the trip has been pretty decent.  I mean, you even got a new hairdo.”  She smiled, thrilled at being able to tease Candi and be out of her reach at the same time.

“This dog is a space hog,” said Jonathan, trying once more to nudge Xena over.  She ignored his efforts, merely twitching an eyebrow and snuffling a couple times before going back to sleep.  Sarah’s touch seemed to mesmerize her.  She’d been quiet the entire ride so far.