by Shara Lanel
The couple had not noticed the opening and closing of the door, as involved as they were at the moment. Jason debated aiming towards the sound and doing the job before they even knew he was in the room, but instead he felt for the light switch. He needed to make sure his aim was accurate and he wanted to see Kerry’s face as she died. Or maybe he should prolong his pleasure by fucking his lovely fiancée in front of the foolish asshole who’d tried to keep her from him. Then he could shoot them both in the head. Hmm… That idea had its merits. He flipped the switch.
“Hijo de Dios!” Rodriguez breathed. The couple on the bed in the doggy position was not Kerry and her companion. It was two men.
“What the hell! Who are you? Get the hell out of here!”
“An abomination,” Jason murmured wanting to shoot the two just to rid the Earth of its scum, but he refrained, quickly slipping the gun into his jacket and gesturing for the others to do the same. “Pardon us. We obviously have the wrong room.”
“I’ll say you do.” The darker of the two men let loose a string of obscenities as the intruders backed out of the room. Once in the hall, they walked quickly to the stairwell.
“Dammit!” Jason barked. “Are you sure that was the right room?”
“Yes. I checked with the front desk.”
“Well, Stephan, you go down and check again. Act like a friend of theirs.”
All of the men jogged down the stairs to the lobby. Stephan consulted with the desk clerk then returned to Jason to report. “He says they checked out. He says they called in and asked if the manager would mind storing their bags until someone could come by for them. I guess the manager agreed, and then he re-rented the room.”
Rodriguez spoke as the desk clerk looked their way, a phone to his ear. “Boss, I think we should leave now.”
“Ah, yes, I suppose the new guests are calling to complain. Fuck. All right. Meet me at the hotel. We must come up with a new plan.”
* * * *
Rick glanced at the Audi’s gas gauge. The needle pointed squarely at the E. “Well, our next stop is a gas station.”
“Simple enough. There’s one at the front of this shopping center.”
Rick noticed that Kerry stared out the window as she spoke. He felt her slipping away from him. He reminded himself that she had a lot to contend with and didn’t need the complication of love. He didn’t need that complication either. Love meant more to lose. He certainly knew that from experience. A smile crept to his lips as he drove through the busy parking lot. This was truly his first experience with romantic love. He’d felt puppy love in his youth, of course, and he might have had feelings for Inela that he’d never admitted to himself and could never have acted upon. His feelings for Kerry were not only different but stronger, more intense. He supposed part of it was lust, but then wasn’t lust always an element of romance?
Giving up on reaching any conclusions at the moment, Rick concentrated on avoiding pedestrians and cars as he zipped into the gas station and the nearest pump. He stepped out of the car and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. It wasn’t there. That was odd. He opened the driver-side door and glanced at the seat and console, then at Kerry. “Do you see my wallet anywhere?”
Her eyes widened. She reached under both seats and lifted up the few items on the floor. She reached into the crack between the upper and lower cushions, then checked the glove compartment. Rick opened the rear door and peeked under both seats, moving law books out of the way. He tried his pockets again and glanced on the ground near the pump.
“It’s not here,” Kerry said, her voice a squeak. “When did you last have it?”
“At McDonald’s. I pulled it out to pay for the food.”
“That’s right, so you must’ve left it on the counter.”
Rick hopped in the car and wove his way back through the parking lot to the McDonald’s. “Stay here while I check.” Kerry nodded.
Once inside, Rick checked the area around their former table. Nothing, so he went to the counter and spoke to the cashier who had served them their food. If he’d left it on the counter, why had they not returned it to him while they were eating?
“Excuse me. Do you happen to have my wallet? I seem to have left it here.”
“I don’t have it,” the girl said.
“Well, can you please check behind the counter and ask some of the other employees?”
Rick watched as she spoke to a man in a tidier uniform, who he guessed to be a manager. He strode over to Rick. “Can I help you, sir?”
Rick sighed. “As I told your employee, I am looking for my wallet. I last had it out when I was paying for my meal. I’ve already checked the table where we ate.”
“Just a moment, sir.” The manager checked several places beneath the counter, then he asked the other cashiers if they had seen it. They each shook their head and looked perplexed except for one lanky boy who kept his eyes on the floor.
“I’m sorry, sir. No one here has seen it. Have you checked your car?”
“Of course, I have.” Exasperation had crept into his voice. He tried to stay calm. “Could you ask that boy to come here so that I may ask him personally?”
“Sir, I can’t allow you to harass my employees.”
“I will not harass. I simply wish to ask him personally.”
“Sam, come over here.”
Sam came over to the counter continuing to look down. The manager stood a pace behind him and two customers had paused near the soda machines to listen in.
“Hello, Sam. I wondered if you have seen my wallet. I’m from out of town and need my driver’s license and credit cards. I’m really stuck without it, so can you help me out?”
Sam shook his head.
“Answer the man, Sam, so we can all get back to work.”
“I don’t have no wallet … sir.”
Rick kept his eyes on the boy’s shaggy head.
The manager stepped in front of him. “You heard his answer.”
“As did you.”
The manager’s face flushed. “Look, we’ve been as helpful as we can be. You’ve obviously lost it somewhere else, and unless you have some reason to accuse one of my employees, they have done all they can for you.” He gave Sam a little shove in the direction of the grill, then turned his back and walked away. The other employees stared at Rick as if he’d sprouted an extra appendage. What else could he do?
A woman near the soda fountain nudged him. “He’s lying.”
Rick sighed. “Yes, he is.”
He rechecked the floors and tables as he left the restaurant, but he knew the wallet had disappeared into the atmosphere or Sam’s pockets. Either way, he doubted he could get it back. He couldn’t say for sure the boy had taken it; he couldn’t say for sure whether he hadn’t dropped it near the table or on the way to the car. Some other customer could have swooped it up. Rick vainly hoped that if it had been found, someone would call or mail it back to him. Of course, that did them little good at the moment.
* * * *
Kerry bit her lip and tapped her fingers on the dash as he opened the car door. “Did you find it?”
Rick sat in the driver’s seat and put his head on the steering wheel.
“You didn’t find it?”
“No.” He tried not to snap. They’d have to return to Richmond straightaway so he could report the missing items and retrieve his checkbook. They couldn’t very well escape without any money. He lifted his head, put the car in reverse, and pulled out.
“You asked the cashiers?”
“Yes, Kerry, I spoke to the cashiers and the manager and checked the tables and floors. It’s just gone. I’ll report it and get everything replaced. A headache, but no big deal. So we’re heading back to Richmond.”
They turned back onto the highway.
“You’ve been wanting to go back anyway,” she said shortly.
“Yes.” He would not argue, though her tone was asking for it. They had no choice now.
The r
ed gas light came on just as they passed the Rest Area sign. Rick didn’t know whether to swear or pray.
“Should we stop?” Kerry asked.
“I don’t think that would help. If there’s approximately a gallon left in the tank, and if this car gets thirty miles to the gallon, that means we can get thirty miles closer to Richmond.”
“But not all the way to Richmond?”
“No, but it will make it easier for Lydia or Evan to come get us.”
Kerry nodded. “But we don’t trust Evan.”
“Maybe if I explained…” His voice trailed off. It hurt to know that Evan had betrayed him like that. Perhaps his cousin didn’t see hurting Kerry as hurting him, but that didn’t lessen the wrong. Plus Evan had betrayed Lydia’s confidence, lied to her. That was a fully aware choice, a very bad one.
One by one, vehicles turned on their headlights as the sky turned from orange to purple, then finally to black. The darkness made the red warning light all the more noticeable. “Should we take this exit? I think I saw a gas station sign. We can call from there.”
The car hiccupped. “Okay,” Rick said, guiding the car to the exit, then onto the dark street.
The first thing Kerry noticed was that all except one of the streetlights were out, then she saw the boarded up windows and the obscene graffiti painted across one of the walls.
The car sputtered. Rick eased off the gas. Soon the Audi was rolling along the curb next to an uneven sidewalk and a drain filled with empty beer bottles. The vehicle coughed once more and then died.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The sudden silence was unnerving. The gas light still glowed, so Rick turned the key and took it out of the ignition. Kerry listened to his even breathing and felt her own rising heartbeat.
“Rick?”
He turned towards her, his head backlit by the lighter night sky. “Yes?”
Kerry didn’t know what she wanted to say. “Thank you” seemed inadequate. “I’m sorry for this mess” seemed useless. “I love you” crossed her mind, but she still shied away from that feeling. Instead of speaking, she reached her hand through the dark and touched his cheek. It was rough with a day’s growth of beard. She smoothed her thumb over his lips. She moved as close as the bucket seats would allow. Her other arm ran along his to his solid shoulder to his contoured chest. His heart raced against her palm through the soft fabric of his shirt. Still, he didn’t touch her as she wove her hand through his hair and along his neck. She pulled him close enough to kiss, light kisses along his lips and cheeks and eyelids. His breathing grew more ragged, but he remained still under Kerry’s caresses, letting her lead the way.
The warm night air seeped into the car, as did the chirps of the cicadas. An occasional car passed by, bass booming from rear speakers, but most of the traffic sounds were distant, probably from the nearby highway. Kerry ignored the ominous buildings outside, forcing her thoughts away from the fact that Richmond’s East End was known for its gun crime rather than its Neighborhood Watch. To her, the small automobile seemed a cocoon in time and space, a safe haven where they could relinquish thought for a while.
Rick seemed unhappy with his passive role. With a groan, he deepened the kiss, tongue to tongue. He pulled Kerry half onto his lap. The steering wheel pressed into her side but she ignored it under the torrent of sensations. He was stiff under her thighs. She loosened his shirt buttons, feeling the soft curls on his chest. His hand cupped her breast while his other hand remained wrapped around her back, holding her to him. The gentle stroking of his thumb across her nipple caused it to harden and brought cream between her legs. She longed for closer contact and fewer clothes.
“We’re in a damn car,” Rick muttered as he strove for a better position without losing Kerry’s lips. She giggled and helped him lift her shirt and unhook her bra. “Ah, better.”
“Oh, much better.” Kerry concentrated on the texture of Rick’s fingers, the pressure they exerted on her nipples, the sensations of pleasure that shot from each breast to the center of her.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
Rick’s laugh tingled against her ear. “Yes, indeed.”
“Wait, the passenger side is better.” She moved back over and pulled the lever that lowered the seat back to the reclining position.
Rick scrambled to her side and positioned himself on top of her, kissing her face, neck, cheeks, and eyelids. Kerry busied her hands, unsnapping and unzipping his pants. She worked his underwear out of the way so that his rod jutted free. Then she smoothed her thumb over the tip, pre-come wetting it as she did so. He undid her pants, and she lifted her butt to help him pull them down. They managed to get them off one leg. Her shirt was only half undone, but her breasts were accessible, which was all that seemed to matter to Rick. She laughed as she tried to reach his dick to suck it. A bit too awkward in this position, she decided.
“I give up. Just fuck me, okay?” She patted his butt.
He grinned. “Are you sure you want to give up?”
“Oh, poor baby. Fuck me, will yah? Do you have a condom?” She reached around him, trying to get to his pants’ pockets. Rick nearly tipped over as he tried to help her. Further contortions allowed her fingertips to snag his pants and inside the back pocket she found the treasure she desired.
Rick smiled as he accepted the packet, opened it, and rolled the condom on expertly. He repositioned his body so that the tip of his penis pressed against her vulva. He pushed and her body gave, inch by inch, stretching, accepting. He moved more rapidly. Her hands gripped the muscles of his back under his shirt, urging him on.
“Take me,” Kerry screamed. And he did, giving her everything he had, driving his shaft into her hard and deep. Her vagina muscles clenched, shook.
“I’m coming.” He panted. His back stiffened, then he thrust deep one last time. His body jerked as the orgasm swept over him. Kerry dug her nails into his buttocks to keep him inside her until she felt her own body’s release and the ensuing flood of liquid warmth between their joined bodies.
* * * *
Jason’s new plan was so simple that he wished he’d thought of it sooner. They would simply offer to exchange ever-so-helpful Evan for Kerry. Kerry’s male friend was Evan’s cousin after all, and blood ran thicker than lust. Well, perhaps not always, but he felt certain that in this case it did. Besides Kerry was a goody-goody at heart. He doubted she would keep running when someone else was in danger, which is why he should have thought of this sooner. He should have simply taken the boyfriend hostage at the outset and saved himself the fiasco of the past twenty-four hours. “Ah, well.”
“What was that, boss?” Rodriguez asked.
“Nothing. Turn here and park. Make sure you have your weapons out in case this good ol’ boy has a shotgun in his office.”
“What if he isn’t here?”
“Then we’ll hunt him down.” Jason noticed another interesting item in the towing company’s parking lot, a black BMW. “Isn’t that the boyfriend’s car?” He hated saying boyfriend, since Kerry was his fiancée and had absolutely no right to be with another man, but she would be dead soon, so he supposed semantics didn’t really matter.
“Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Perhaps we’ll have our prize quicker than we thought.”
* * * *
Evan had chickened out. Instead of talking to Lydia about the help he needed, he had kissed her, and now they were sprawled on the office couch, legs entwined, shirts on the floor. Outside, the parking lot lights created an orange haze and obliterated the stars. The night made it easier to keep on touching Lydia. It felt so right. He’d missed her so.
But they still hadn’t heard from Rick.
That thought was a dash of ice water to his throbbing body. He rolled off of Lydia and landed with a thud on the floor. Giggling, Lydia followed and kissed his cheek and chin. The lace of her bra grazed across his nipples and he groaned. For a moment more, he melted under her kisses then he steeled himself. “Darlin
’, this really isn’t the time or place.”
Her easy smile turned to a frown. She sat back on her knees, which gave Evan enough mobility to reach for her shirt and thrust it at her chest before he could give in and suck each of her lace-covered breasts.
Lydia, still sitting atop him, slid an arm into the sleeve of her blouse, opening her mouth to speak just as the office door opened.
“Oh, shit!” Just what he needed—a potential customer seeing him half-naked on the floor of his office. Real professional. Then he remembered the late hour. The office was closed, though he had yet to turn the lock, so who the hell was at the door?
Lydia scrambled to her feet pulling on the other sleeve, cheeks crimson, as Evan grabbed his shirt and stood. This gave him his first glimpse of the man in the doorway. Setron. Dammit.
“I see I’ve arrived at an inopportune moment.”
“What do you want, Sentron?”
Lydia gasped at the name. Evan stepped forward so that she was a bit behind him.
“My goal is the same as it ever was. I wish the return of my fiancée.”
“I gave you all the information I had. Didn’t you go to the coffee place?”
“My associate missed them unfortunately. They also seem to have checked out of their hotel room. This leads me to believe they were somehow warned of our presence.”
“If Kerry is your fiancée why would she avoid you once she heard you were here?”
“Love is a complicated thing.” Another man stepped into the doorway behind Sentron and snorted. Sentron turned to glare at him.
“That man has a gun,” Lydia whispered.
Sentron turned and leered at her. “Yes, he does.” He stepped further into the room, allowing both of his men to enter, each holding a semi-automatic.
Now that Evan knew what was going on between Kerry and Sentron, he didn’t know how to play it, appear friendly with Sentron or accuse him outright.
“Is this your lawyer friend?” Sentron brushed a hand down Lydia’s sleeve causing her to flinch.
