Cheater's Paradise

by Keith Trimm

  “Did you check to see if Chad was dead?”

  “He looked dead, I’m no doctor, I wasn’t going to give him a physical.”

  The truck sped down the driveway onto the main road and headed west. Bob was on an adrenaline high and Cindy was scared but relieved she was no longer tied up and held captive. “Where are you going?” Cindy asked.

  “No fucking clue, away from that place for sure.”

  For the next hour Bob and Cindy drove aimlessly down the road until they saw a town up ahead. It wasn’t big, but it was a place to find food and shelter. Pulling up to a local hotel, Bob looked around to see if he could find a place to park that was out of the way and wouldn’t attract attention. He parked in the back by a dumpster and sat for a moment thinking.

  “I got about eight hundred dollars left, I’m assuming you have nothing.”

  Cindy smiled, she was still dressed in her panties. “Yeah, I left my bag at home.”

  “Ok, here’s my plan, I’m going in and getting us a room. When I get back, We’ll find a way to get you to the room without you being seen. I’ll take a shower and order pizza to be delivered to the room. How does that sound?”

  “I’m hot, dirty and starving, sounds great,” Cindy replied.

  Bob got out of the truck and headed to the hotel office while Cindy sat in the truck waiting. Ten minutes later Bob returned with a key card and got in the truck. “Our room is on the ground floor on the other side of the hotel,” he said.

  Once inside their room, Cindy cranked up the air conditioning and crashed on the bed. It was a single king sized bed, and was cheaper to lie to the clerk and tell him it was a room for one. Bob got in the shower and washed off the dirt, grime and sweat from the day. He didn’t know if the hotel had a laundry and he wasn’t willing to go out and find a Laundromat so he put his clothes in the tub and scrubbed them out. It was a long shower, but a relieving shower and made Bob feel much better.

  When he was done, he hung his clothes to dry on the clothing rack next to the sink. “It’s all yours” he said standing naked in the doorway.

  Cindy got up and took her shower and washed her panties. “Can you do me a favor?” she yelled from the bathroom.

  “What?” Bob yelled.

  “Can you find a store and get me some more clothes later?”

  “Yeah, no problem,” Bob said and laid back on the bed by the cool air. He closed his eyes and listened to the shower. It was relaxing.

  When Cindy was done, she hung up her one pair of panties, now clean, on the rack and sat on the bed next to Bob. “I don’t have a hair brush,” she said looking in the mirror and running her fingers through her hair. “Can you run down to the office and get me a brush?” she asked.

  “I’m naked,” Bob said.

  “So am I.”

  “Then you have to wait until our clothes dry.”

  “By then it will be a tangled mess.”

  “You can wet it down again, geez this isn’t rocket science.”

  “Fine,” Cindy said and pushed herself back and laid next to Bob. She wrapped her arm around his chest and put her leg on his. She felt safe with Bob and was happy he didn’t roll over or push her away. Instead, he put his arm around her and pulled her close. Then he started to snore and she knew he was sleeping. It was a long night and she was exhausted as well. She closed her eyes and fell asleep in his arms.

  Chapter 18

  Pizza time

  Later that evening, pizza was delivered to the hotel room and both Bob and Cindy sat down to eat.

  “What is your obsession with cheaters anyway?” Cindy asked munching on some pizza.

  “My mom,” Bob said. “She cheated on my dad constantly.”

  “What was her problem?”

  “Fuck I don’t know, low self-esteem or some bullshit like that.”

  “Did your dad beat your mom?”

  “My dad is awesome, I never saw him lay a finger on that bitch once,” Bob replied.

  “I take it you still harbor a grudge against your mother?”

  “Yeah, she’s sixty six now and still a fucking whore.”

  “Are they still married?”

  “Yes, I don’t know why my dad puts up with her shit.”

  “Have you ever confronted her about it?”

  “All the fucking time, what a God damn embarrassment she is.”

  “I bet, did you get a lot of shit in school because of her?” Cindy asked.

  “Let’s say my childhood in general was less than desirable. I don’t think I had any friends in school, my mom was too busy fucking all their dads.”

  Cindy took a sip of her drink. “I can’t relate, my parents were like the Cleavers, you know? June and whatever the dad’s name was. I don’t think I ever saw them fight let alone cheat.”

  “I really don’t like talking about this, it makes me very uncomfortable.”

  “I understand, we can talk about something else if you like, or you can run to the store and pick me up some clothes.”

  “I just want to rest tonight, I can go shopping in the morning.”

  “Really? When I get out of the shower, I want to put on some clothes. I’m tired of being naked all the time.”

  “Maybe later, let me finish my pizza first.” Bob said “So how about you? You ever cheat on a boyfriend?”

  “No, I’ve only had two and I’ve never even thought about it.”

  “Ever been cheated on?”

  “Now that’s a different story, yes, my first boyfriend cheated on me twice with the same girl.”

  “How did that make you feel?” Bob asked.

  “How do you think it made me feel? Betrayed and worthless.”

  “Do you have any contact with him anymore?”

  “No, it ended that night and I never went back,” Cindy replied. “How about you?”

  “Once, and it never happened again.”

  “Why do I have the feeling she’s buried in a shallow grave somewhere?”

  Bob was silent and chewed on his pizza. It was obvious she touched on a sensitive topic and maybe was hitting too close to the truth.

  “Hello?” Cindy asked.

  “It didn’t end well for her,” Bob said looking away.

  “Didn’t end well how?”

  “Let’s say those three at the hotel weren’t my first.”

  “First what?”

  “I’m not going to make a hotel confession to you over pizza,”

  “I’m already in this pretty deep. You left three people dead back there, how much worse can it get? Did you kill her or not?”

  “I didn’t kill her, the lake water did, I just put them in the same spot at the same time.”

  “You drown her?”

  “They never found her body, or the car, so I officially I don’t know.”

  “How long ago was this?” Cindy asked.

  “I was twenty two, so it’s been a while,” Bob replied. “I’m forty five now.”

  Cindy slid back against the headboard of the bed. “What happened?”

  “Oh, the usual, I came home from work early and caught her fucking a guy from work. Almost cliché.”

  “Then what?”

  “He took off running, she and I fought for hours and I left. When I got back all of a sudden she wanted to talk, so we went for a car ride. I came back, she and the car ended up in a river.”

  “How did you explain her disappearance?”

  “I told the cops she was fucking someone on the side and that she probably took my car and left me for him. They never found her body or the car so over time it faded away.”

  Cindy sat and stared at Bob. She felt sorry for him, and was feeling more than just that towards him in general. They had been together for a few days and Cindy was the type to fall in love quickly. Now she felt it was her place to defend him. “She deserved it, fucking whore. You did the right thing.”

  Bob perked up and looked at the large naked woman on the bed. “Thanks, I’m glad someone agrees
with me.”

  “Nobody knows what commitment means anymore. Was she your wife?”

  “No, just a girlfriend.”

  “Still, she should have known better, you need a woman who can make a commitment and stick to it.”

  “Like you?” Bob asked with a smile.

  “Yes, like me,” Cindy replied.

  “I will have to say that I have become fond of you since we’ve met, you’re funny and haven’t complained a lot about being naked most of the time.”

  “I like sex, you know that.”

  “I do.”

  “I hope you’re planning on fucking me tonight yet,” Cindy said with a grin.

  “Sure, what else do I have to do?” Bob said joking.

  Cindy slid her massive frame to the edge of the bed and grabbed Bob by his arm. She pulled him onto the bed and positioned him next to her. She put him on his back and went in for a kiss. For the next twenty minutes the couple made out in the silence of the room.

  The next morning Bob woke to the sound of a news report on the television. Cindy was in the shower and had turned it on before getting in. The reporter said, “Police are on the lookout for two people suspected in the murder of an elderly Mesa man and his son yesterday. Another unidentified man has been found at the scene dead but a lone survivor has confirmed that a woman and a man who were at the house are responsible for these crimes. The couple fled in a stolen grey 2006 F-150 pickup yesterday afternoon. The man is described as middle aged, brown hair, about one hundred eighty pounds, in a white t shirt and jeans, the female is around five three, two hundred and twenty pounds, dark shoulder length hair and dressed only in white panties. If you have information about these suspects, call 911 or crime stoppers.”

  Bob jumped out of bed and ran into the shower room. “We need to go! Now!” he shouted, we’re on the news!”

  Cindy turned off the shower and stepped out onto a towel on the floor. “Give me a minute, I’ll be right out,” she yelled back.

  Bob returned to the bathroom and tossed Cindy her clean panties. “You have ten minutes, I’m going to get the truck and pull up to the door.”

  Cindy tried her best to dry her hair. She never got her hair brush so she had to do her best to run her fingers through her hair and untangle it. Once dry, she grabbed a top sheet from the bed, wrapped it around her and headed out the front door to the awaiting truck. “Do we need gas?” she asked.

  “Yes, fuck!” Bob said, “Last thing I need now is to have to pull up to a gas station with a woman dressed in a sheet. Everyone's looking for this truck.”

  “How much gas is in it?” Cindy asked.

  “About an eighth of a tank,” Bob replied.

  “How far will that get us?”

  “Ten, maybe twenty miles, into the fucking hot desert!” Bob said slamming his hands on the wheel.”

  “You realize we had no plans for escape when we did the hotel job that was our first mistake.”

  “I planned to either get caught or get killed, I didn’t have an option three.”

  “If that’s the case, turn yourself in,” Cindy said.

  Bob looked at her like she was an idiot. “No, I’ll think of something, give me a minute. Do you have any relatives around here?”

  “I live a thousand miles from here, no I don’t have any relatives in New Mexico.”

  “I could go back inside and bribe one of the housekeepers to help us,” Bob said.

  “Five hundred? That might work.”

  “If that did work, I’d be broke again.”

  “You’re going to be broke soon enough anyway, that money won’t last forever and you don’t have any more coming in. In just a matter of time before we either give up or find someone willing to take us in.”

  Bob pulled out slow and onto the street. “I’m getting gas first, I can think while I’m driving. I can get three hundred miles away and maybe come up with a plan.” Bob drove down the street and found a gas station. He pulled up to the pump and got out. “Stay here,” he said, and then realized how stupid that sounded.

  While Bob was filling the truck with gas, Cindy took the opportunity to scrounge around the back and see what she could find. Laying on the floor behind her seat were three guns, a rifle and two shotguns. Spilled all around them were shotgun shells from an open box and several full boxes lying about. She also noticed a pouch attached to the seat cushion and dug around inside. She found cash, and lots of it. Her first quick count was a couple thousand dollars.

  Bob stuck his head in the door and asked, “You want anything?”

  “I’ll take a diet Coke and a Snickers bar,” she said and handed Bob a hundred dollar bill.

  “Where did that come from?” he asked.

  “In the back, there is all sorts of shit back here, I think this guy was some sort of survivalist. He had enough guns and ammo to ward off a small army, and enough cash to last him for a while.”

  Bob took the money and left to pay for the gas and get some snacks. Cindy continued to rifle through the truck looking for any goodies she could find. The next place she looked was the console between the seats. She expected to find some music cd’s but instead found a cell phone, a power cord and a pack of double A batteries. If the truck wasn’t stolen, she thought, it would be a perfect getaway vehicle.

  Once Bob returned, Cindy filled him in on what she found. It was kind of like Christmas Bob felt. Only it was eighty five degrees outside. They pulled back out into the street and headed out of town keeping an eye out for the police.

  “Where do you want to go?” Cindy asked.

  “I’m thinking Arizona,” Bob replied.

  “Why Arizona?”

  “Why not? I have no plans, nowhere I have to be.”

  “We should think of a plan and not drive aimlessly till our gas is gone,” Cindy said.

  “That’s fine, what do you think?”

  “We should head for the ocean, some place with a beach.”

  “Why? That will just increase our chances of getting caught,” Bob said.

  “It’s called hiding in plain sight,”

  “It’s called having more eyes on you than we need. I think we should find a small town where I can pick up a job that pays cash.”

  “Then what? Make a career out of it?” Cindy asked.

  “No, just till things die down.”

  “Things will never die down, you will always be a fugitive on the run.”

  “The way I see it, I don’t have much choice. It’s either prison or find a way to blend in. I chose blending.”

  The edge of town came and went and they were cruising at seventy five miles an hour on the open highway. The sun was out and there was nothing to stop them, until they saw a line of cars up ahead. “Fuck, it’s a checkpoint!” Bob yelled.

  “No it’s not, it’s a funeral procession,” Cindy said. “I can see the hearse on the curve.”

  “That’s one fucking long funeral procession,” Bob said. “Must be two miles long. Are you sure you can see a hearse?”

  “Yeah, and another, looks like a funeral for two,” Cindy said.

  “Great, now we get to sit in the fucking heat for hours waiting for these fucks to clear the highway.”

  “Calm down, that’s someone’s loved ones, not some inconvenience.”

  Bob approached the end of the procession and pulled up behind the last vehicle. He was now going twenty five miles an hour and pissed as hell. “I got to find a side road, I can’t drive like this all day.”

  “You’ll get us lost,” Cindy said.

  “I have my gps, we’ll be fine,” Bob replied.

  When the first side road came up, Bob took a right and headed north. The desert went on forever in all directions and he needed to find a way to get around this long line of vehicles blocking his way. He figured a mile north, a mile west and then a mile south would get him to the front of the line, but he would have to haul ass to get there.

  It was then he noticed the semi behind him closin
g in fast. It was a dark brooding truck kicking up dust and filling the air. “What the fuck?” Bob said looking in his rear view mirror.”

  “What is it?” Cindy asked.

  “A semi, behind us. I think it’s trying to catch up with us.”

  “Why?” Cindy asked.

  “Who the fuck knows,” Bob replied and then saw a tow truck come from behind the semi and drive around passing it at over ninety miles an hour. In a second the tow truck was around Bob’s truck and pulled in front of him slowing down. Bob hit the brakes and in a flash was trapped between the semi behind him and the tow truck in front.

  From ninety miles an hour, the tow truck slowed to fifty, then twenty and eventually stopped in the center of the gravel road. The semi pulled up from behind and tapped Bob’s Ford pushing it forward into the tow truck pinning it in good.

  Once sandwiched in, a man got out of the tow truck and walked back towards the driver’s door of Bob’s truck. The man was dressed in a white button up shirt and cowboy hat. He wore dark sunglasses and had a dark tan on his hairy arms. Once at the door to the Ford, the man tapped on the window and motioned for Bob to put down the window. Instead Bob flipped the guy off and yelled for him to back the fuck up. This didn’t bode well for the man with the sunglasses as it pissed him off.

  The man tried to open Bob’s door to no avail. His second attempt used the back end of a pair of pliers to smash against the door glass. Three good whacks and the glass shattered into hundreds of little shards glued together with a polyurethane coating on the glass. Now Bob was fucked.

  Twenty minutes later, and after a minor struggle, Bob and Cindy sat in the back of the tow truck tied to the seats and to each other. The truck they were driving was now loaded in the back of the semi and they were heading off to who knows where. The driver of the tow truck was a dirty unshaven guy with a cigarette hanging from his lip. He wore a trucker’s hat and his work clothes were stained with oil.

  “Where are you taking us?” Bob asked.

  The man turned and looked at Bob over his shoulder. “Momma ain’t happy, she wants to see you again.”

  “Momma?” Bob said.