Reckless (Wrecked) (26 page)

“Like what kind of cases?” she asked, shooting for distain and arrogance in her tone, but not sure if she’d pulled it off or not.  Mostly she just felt terrified.

“Well, if you’re a minor and you’re supposed to be in school, that’s a problem.  If you’re a runaway, that’s also a problem.”

She snorted. 
“Pfft. 
Yeah, right.  Whatever.  Just … whatever.  Leave me alone.  I’m busy, and I’m not doing anything wrong.  I’m an American citizen, and I have a right to do what I want and not be bothered with a million questions.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but the roar of a nearby motorcycle cut him off.  

Candi didn’t know whether to cry with joy or fall into hysterics with the fear that overcame her when Sarah pulled up alongside them riding a big, black, and very loud motorcycle.  If it hadn’t been for her friend’s ridiculous Wal-Mart shorts, Candi wouldn’t have even recognized her with that helmet on.  She looked like a giant, skinny bug.

“Ready to go?!” yelled Sarah, flipping up her visor and then reaching behind her to wrestle the other helmet off the back.

Candi nodded, feeling numb to the bone.  She decided neither crying nor hysterics were going to work now.  She just had to go into robo-mode and block out all ideas of fear or pain until they were far, far away.  She’d fall apart completely when it was safe to do it.

She took the helmet from Sarah and pulled it down over her head, her shaking fingers unable to get the buckle under her chin right.  She gave up trying to fix it and adjusted the duffle bag on her back so it was as centered as possible.  Steadying herself on one leg, she swung the other over, climbing onto the back of the bike and sliding forward until she was pressed up against Sarah’s back.  She wrapped her arms around Sarah’s middle, put her foot up on the pegs Sarah had pulled down with her toes, and nodded.  “Let’s go.”

Sarah looked at the police officer who was still standing on the sidewalk, now with a slightly stunned look on his face.  “See ya later, Officer Feel Good.”  She smacked her visor down and roared away from the curb.  The bike swayed enough to elicit a scream of terror from Candi’s mouth before it finally straightened out.  Sarah weaved it smoothly through the lanes of parked cars to the road that awaited just beyond the plaza.

“Is he following us?” screeched Candi, her hands in fists as they squeezed Sarah’s shirt for all they were worth.

“He can try,” said Sarah, twisting her right hand backwards and sending the bike lurching out into traffic.  She was headed in the opposite direction they needed to be going in to get back to the cabin.  “But he won’t be able to catch us.”

Candi squeezed her eyes shut and gripped Sarah’s abdomen as tight as she could without taking her friend’s breath away.  The wind was buffeting her body, and the constant roaring of the engine filled her ears, but the only thing she could think to do was pray.  Words she hadn’t spoken since the second grade in Sunday school came flooding into her mind: 
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name …

***

Jonathan heard the drone of a motor off in the distance.  He was working with the dogs on basic obedience commands, learning in pretty short order that Xena was highly-trained and that James really wasn’t at all.  He’d spent over an hour trying to get James to focus on the commands for sit and stay.  Jonathan hadn’t done this kind of work in a long time, but he didn’t recall it being this difficult before.

As soon as James realized Jonathan’s attention was diverted by the approaching engine, he took off running towards the sound, barking.

Jonathan sighed. 
So much for stealth.

Kevin came walking out of the woods, holding a bow and a quiver of arrows.  He’d been practicing for hours, working on just hitting the target at all.  Archery was a lot more difficult than it seemed in the movies.  Jonathan had tried but eventually gave up in favor of training the dogs.

“That them, you think?” he asked.

“Yeah.  But I only hear the motorcycle and not the car.  Maybe Candi pulled ahead.”

The vision of the girls appeared from around the corner.   “Or maybe there is no car anymore,” said Kevin, watching as the black motorcycle with two riders entered the weed-filled yard that surrounded the house and eventually came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.  The driver shut off the engine and pulled off her helmet, letting it dangle from her fingers at her side.  The passenger climbed off the bike and then fell down in the weeds at her feet, unmoving.  The duffle bag sat on her back, looking as if it had just tackled her and taken her out.

Kevin leaped down the stairs in one huge step, Jonathan right on his heels.

“Sarah!” Jonathan shouted at his girlfriend, who sat straddling the machine with a big smile on her face.  She hooked the helmet strap over the handle bar and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Candi, what’s wrong?” asked Kevin, concern making him sound angry.  He reached her side and gently rolled her over onto her back, pushing the duffle bag off to the ground nearby.  She was shuddering on the ground, as if having small seizures.  “What’d you do?” he growled at his sister before pulling Candi up by the armpits to get her to stand.

“I didn’t do anything.  She’s just having a panic attack or something.”  Sarah swung her leg off the bike and pushed the kickstand down.  She held onto the handles and tested the strength of the stand a little before letting go.  When she seemed assured it wouldn’t fall, she released her grip and turned to face Jonathan, her face practically glowing with happiness.

“Where’s the car?” asked Jonathan, stunned to say the least.  He wasn’t able to compute exactly what was happening yet; he needed more facts.

“The car is in the grocery store parking lot where it probably needs to stay.  We had to outrun a cop to get back here un-arrested.”

“What?” asked Jonathan, his voice going up a higher level than normal.

Kevin was trying to get Candi’s helmet off, but she wasn’t helping so it seemed to be stuck.

“I
said
we had to outrun a cop.  It was no big deal, though.  He totally ate our dust.”

“Help me get this off of her,” said Kevin, speaking loudly to be heard over Candi’s weird moaning.

Before Jonathan could comply, Sarah walked over with her finger held out.  “All you have to do is press her release valve.”

Sarah hadn’t even closed half the distance between them before Candi had gripped the side of her helmet, pushed it off her head, and dropped it to the ground.  “Touch me with that finger, and I’ll punch your lights out!” screeched Candi, putting her fists up like she was ready to fight.

“Hey, hey, heeyyyy,” said Kevin, pulling her up against his body, “what’s going on here?”

Candi started bawling into his chest, her arms falling limply to her sides.

Sarah turned, smiling again.  “See?  I told you she was fine.”  She walked over to join Jonathan.

“She doesn’t look fine to me,” said Jonathan, frowning at his sister who was now being carried up the porch steps to the cabin.

Sarah took his hand and laced her fingers through his.  “Trust me.  She just had a little bit of a close-call with this nosy cop who made her tell like a hundred lies, and it finally just broke her.  I got there just in time to keep her from spilling the beans.”

Sarah walked, dragging him over to the bike.  “See what we got?  Nice, right?  Fifteen hundred bucks.  It’s worth at least twice that, maybe more.  The title and registration are in that bag there.”

Jonathan nodded, a little numb right now over the mixed-up facts zipping around in his brain trying to connect themselves to each other into a cohesive story.  Sarah let go of his hand to pick up the duffle bag.  She handed it to him, and he was surprised to see how heavy it was.

“Those are the groceries.  There’s some meat in there and there
were
some eggs, but they’re probably broken now thanks to Candi’s breakdown.”  Sarah sighed loudly.  “Total bummer, right?  I was so looking forward to an omelette.”

Jonathan followed her quietly into the cabin, trying to unzip the bag as they went.  “So what exactly happened with the car?  Did you get pulled over?”  When he reached the kitchen he set the groceries gently down on the counter.

“No.  It’s just parked in the lot; but the cop that was dogging us is probably going to figure out it’s ours and stolen before we can get back to it.  I’ll bet it’s the only one in the whole stupid lot with out-of-state plates on it.”

Jonathan didn’t know quite what to say, so he started unpacking the duffle bag.  Sarah helped him in companionable silence.  Jonathan examined each item as he put it down.  He saw nothing wrong with anything there; Sarah had done a good job with the budget as far as he was concerned.  “Lots of pasta and rice.  Good idea.”

“Thanks,” said Sarah, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.  “I did the list.  Candi stuck to the budget perfectly.”

“And you found a motorcycle that seems to run fine, for a great price.”  Jonathan nodded in respect.  “I guess the mission was mostly a success.”

“Yep.  We just kind of screwed up the car thing, but that’s better than not getting the motorcycle or getting arrested.”

“Sure.  Maybe.”

Sarah smacked him on the arm. “Hey!”

Jonathan rubbed it to get the sting to go away.  “Well, I am a little concerned … not only with Candi’s obvious issues, but also with that car being left there.  I really think we need to go back and get it before the police officer figures out it’s stolen.  If he connects that car to you two, I really doubt that we’ll be able to live here for very long without being caught.”

Sarah frowned.  “He
was
overly persistent, actually.  The guy was a total donkey butt, following us around and asking all kinds of questions about where we were from and what we were doing there.”

“I need to talk to Kevin.  Will you put these things away for us?”

Sarah patted his cheek.  “Sure, babe.  No problem.”  As he walked away, he heard her opening a box of crackers that he knew she used to calm her stomach.  A glance back told him Xena was going to wait at her feet, hoping for some crumbs to drop.

Jonathan climbed the stairs to the loft bedroom, James at his heels.  He knocked lightly, waiting until Kevin told him to come in before entering.  He found Candi in bed with Kevin spooning her.  She sniffed when Jonathan walked over, but at least she wasn’t crying or moaning anymore.

“Hi,” Jonathan said, sitting down on the edge of the bed nearest his sister.  “How are you feeling?”

“Like crap, thank you very much.”

“Shhhh, you’re fine,” urged Kevin, “just a little freaked out, which is understandable.”  He squeezed her three times fast.  “Come on, babe, you’re fine.  You made it back here, mission accomplished, and you did it without our help.  You’re amazing.”

“No, we aren’t amazing.  We left the stupid car there and had to outrun a police officer who was suspicious of us from the minute he saw us.  He’s not going to give up until he finds us, and this town is too friggin small to hide in for longer than a couple days.”

Jonathan felt a small spark of fear over their situation. He had to do something to fix it so he could concentrate on other things.  “I’m not exactly sure what happened, but I’m thinking that Kevin and I need to go into town right now and see what we can do about getting the car back.”

“I agree,” said Kevin, sitting up.

Candi’s hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.  “Don’t leave me.”

Kevin leaned down and kissed her cheek.  “I’ll be back soon.  Just take a nap.  I think you’re exhausted.”

“I’m too sick to take a nap.  Sick to my stomach.”

“Jesus, I hope you’re not pregnant too,” said Kevin, stark fear flashing across his face.

Candi slapped him on the arm.  “I’m not pregnant, idiot.  I’m just freaked out, okay?”

Kevin put his hand on his chest.  “Thank all the holy things in this world.  One morning-sick chick is about all I can handle.”  He patted her leg before getting out of the bed.  “Rest until your stomach feels better, have some lunch, and by then we’ll be back.”

“Did you hide the hotwiring job we did when you parked the car?” asked Jonathan.

“Yes, of course I did.”

“Okay.  Don’t get offended, I was just asking.”

Candi sat up, her funny hair sticking out in all directions.  Jonathan schooled his features to look normal.  He knew if she looked at her hair right now or knew that it looked like this, she’d probably go right over the edge.

“The car is parked just a few spaces from the front door of the market.  I’m not sure if that cop will go back there or if he’s even still there.  It’s not like he chased us out of the lot or anything.  We left him standing on the sidewalk.  And Sarah did the smart thing - she left going in the wrong direction to throw him off.  She got back in the right direction by taking some side roads, so if he followed us at all, he’s probably going in the wrong direction.”

Jonathan nodded, proud of his girlfriend’s evasive maneuvers.  She was really good at thinking on her feet.  He hoped their child inherited whatever gene in her DNA sequence that was responsible for that type of brain development.  “Ready?” he asked Kevin, patting his sister’s arm a couple times before walking to the door.

“Yep.  I just gotta take a leak first.  Meet you outside.”

Jonathan nodded, walking down to the kitchen where he found all the food still out on the counter and Sarah happily munching away on crackers.  There were crumbs all over the counter.  He cleared his throat, wondering how he could say what he needed to without getting her mad.

“Don’t even open that mouth of yours,” she said, spraying some crumbs out of her mouth onto the table.  “I know exactly what you’re thinking.  Don’t worry about it.  I’ll clean up my mess before Sugar Lump gets out of bed.”

“Will you put away the groceries too?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” She waved him away.  “Go save our butts.  I’ll take care of the groceries and the shivering hunk of nerves in the other room.”

Jonathan walked over and kissed Sarah on the head.  “Be gentle with her, okay?  I think she’s really scared.”