Trifecta

by Pam Richter

  They rode on for what seemed like hours. Julia became numbed to the bumpy vibration which traveled throughout her body. It felt like they had been riding for days or even weeks. Her arms were clamped so tightly around Robin that she could hardly feel them any more, but the worse thing was that her hands were so exposed to the cold wind that they felt like they had frozen. Her feet, in her flat leather pumps, were also freezing.

  When she looked around, mountains appeared in the distance. They had passed small towns, but riding the freeways it became more clear than ever that the whole Los Angeles basin had at one time been a desert. The land had a dry and barren feel; one could see the flat land forever in the distance, and the wind was harsh, dry and cold. She could feel her skin becoming desiccated as a hungry vampire.

  Robin turned on a less traveled freeway toward the peaks ahead, and suddenly they were on a road that was winding up into the mountains that had appeared so distant. Julia enjoyed being off the freeway for only a little while, because the temperature dropped alarmingly as they rose higher and she was sure her hands and feet would be useless when she finally got off the bike. Except for the leather jacket, she was dressed for the summer, in linen slacks and a matching blouse. She now felt paralyzed with the cold.

  The other unnerving aspect of the mountain ride was that they were on a two lane highway that had a sharp drop on the right side as they ascended in the outside lane. There was a small guard rail, but the whole valley was spread dizzyingly below them, when Julia got the nerve to look down. In a car it would have been beautiful, but on the motorcycle it was frightening because the road twisted and turned. Julia's imagination had them slipping over the edge dozens of times on the hairpin curves. They had left the desert for a cold winter landscape in just a couple of hours.

  The clumps of white on the side of the road were actually snow, and there were large pine trees blocking out the sunshine on a smaller road that Robin had taken. Julia shivered impatiently and wondered where they were going. Was he going to hide her in some remote mountain town where she would be totally isolated from civilization?

  Finally they reached a quaint looking village with a sign proclaiming they had entered Lake Arrowhead. Robin drove up what must have been the main road and stopped the bike in a parking area in front of Joe's Restaurant.

  He took off his helmet and rolled his head around. It must have been exhausting driving all that way, at such reckless speeds, but he looked at her with bright energy, smiling with dimple power. "Are you hungry?"

  "Starved," Julia said.

  "Lets go." He couldn't get off the bike until she did.

  "I can't." Julia was embarrassed that she was still holding on to him.

  Robin gazed down at her hands, which were still locked together, hugging him tightly. "You can't?"

  "I've tried. My hands seem to be frozen." She was so tired she felt like crying. She wanted to go to sleep right now. Just forget the food and lean against his back and snooze.

  "You poor thing," Robin said, surprising her. She had expected him to laugh and treat the fact as insignificant, since he was male and probably thought frozen hands a minor discomfort, but he took off his gloves and covered her hands with his own. "Why didn't I think of gloves for you? They feel like ice."

  "Red, icy claws, by now," Julia said, smiling a little at her predicament. She really couldn't make them move of her own volition, it was too painful.

  "No. They're a pretty shade of blue," Robin answered soothingly. He was rubbing them gently, and squeezing, trying to help get the circulation back, warming them for some time. "Now we're just going to try and get the fingers apart. One at a time." He started working on each finger, talking as he went along. "First the little finger...there, it moved. Now for the next one. Two fingers free! Now to the middle finger. Ah...that's a hard one. It won't budge. We have to squeeze it a little bit, get the blood in, there...fine, it moves too. Now for the last one...." All the time he was manipulating her fingers he was talking to each one. Squeezing gently and prying them apart.

  "Robin!"

  "What?"

  "You sound like you're talking to a tiny baby," Julia said, laughing.

  "Well, these poor little hands are frozen stiff." He went back to the finger manipulation and baby talk. She had a surprising flash that he would make a wonderful father.

  "That's nothing." Her hands, finally getting circulation, were tingling in a painful fashion. "My feet are even worse."

  Robin turned around and looked at her. He had each of her hands now in one of his and he was still squeezing gently and rhythmically. He smiled broadly, "I'm even better with toes."

  Julia snatched her hands away. "No way, Robin." She shook her head, but couldn't help laughing.

  "Each toe will need it's very own proper massage." Robin nodded his head judiciously, looking very serious.

  "No one touches my feet," Julia protested.

  "Can you walk?"

  "Sure," Julia said, not at all sure she could. "I wasn't clinging on with my toes. They should be movable."

  "Squeeze back a bit so I can get off."

  Julia wiggled back to give him room.

  "You just wait here a minute." He put the bike stand down and went into the restaurant.

  Julia frantically tried to move her numb feet. She didn't want him playing with them on a public street. She took them off the pedals, dangling them and rotated her ankles. They started that awful pin-pricking sensation that begins when circulation starts up again.

  "Put your frozen fingers around this," Robin said, handing her a mug of coffee. "I'll see to your feet." He hunkered by the side of the bike and took off her left shoe, and Julia didn't care. The cup was warm and felt wonderful in her hands. Robin held her foot in both his warm hands and rubbed it.

  "Umm. This is wonderful." She was so cold she could feel the liquid progress down her throat, warming her with each sip.

  "The foot?"

  "Yes. That feels good. The coffee is excellent," Julia said as he went around the bike and took her other foot in his hand.

  After a couple of minutes she handed him the coffee and tried to get off the bike. She was clumsy and awkward. It felt strange standing on her own two feet, and she staggered a bit.

  "You lost your land legs," Robin said. "When you're on a motorcycle for a long time, it's like being on dry land after riding a ship at sea. I could carry you?"

  Julia shook her head. She did exercises religiously, so being almost unable to walk was disconcerting. She didn't like losing control, either of her physical body or of her life. Robin had taken her from the clutches of the bad guys, and she was grateful, but it almost felt like he had taken over her life as well.

  The other thing she was annoyed about was that Robin was constantly surprising her. She enjoyed being with him so much that it worried her. She wanted to spend time with him and get to know him better. On the other hand, she didn't want to need him and she didn't want to be in this god-forsaken town; beautiful, old fashioned and cute though it was, with it's all-wooden buildings and signs, picturesquely piled with snow. She knew she was tired and irritable. "I can walk."

  Robin held her arm, but she stumbled on the wooden steps up to the restaurant, anyway. She was glad he didn't say anything as she staggered into the restaurant like a drunk and almost fell into a booth.

  Julia desperately needed to go to the restroom, but knew she couldn't make it on her own, all the way across the whole place. She sat and drank coffee, which made the problem worse, while Robin rushed off to make phone calls.

  The restaurant was empty after the noon trade and Julia finally decided there was no one to see her but a lone waitress, if she fell on her butt. Just as she was getting up to try and make her feet take her where she so desperately needed to go, Robin returned.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I need to go to the restroom," Julia said with dignity, holding on to the table.

  He nodded, went over to her and bent down, putting an
arm under her knees. The other arm was around her shoulders. She didn't say anything as he started striding across the restaurant, holding her like a feather.

  The waitress had just come out of the kitchen and she stood there, transfixed. They were close enough to the kitchen to talk to her, so Robin said, "My friend got frost bite. Is a hamburger all right with you?" he asked, gazing down at her.

  Julia nodded. "And I want french fries and a chocolate coke."

  Robin went to the women's room, deposited her outside the door, and she stumbled inside. She hobbled into one of the stalls. When she came out she started doing stretching exercises, holding on to a sink for support. She ran in place for a minute and felt almost normal.

  When she got back to the table, the food had arrived but Robin was not eating. She decided he had been watching like a hawk to see if she would have to be carried back to the table.

  "I have good news and bad news," Robin said.

  "Bad first," Julia said, biting into a juicy hamburger.

  "The bad news is that your clothes and cameras aren't going to be delivered any time soon. Jay thought he was being followed, because the police he was using are definitely corrupt. Pawns of Quijada. So he led them on a wild goose chase, to San Francisco. That's where all your things are now."

  "That's okay. I can always replace what I need."

  "Jay bought a plane ticket from San Francisco to Boston in your name. The good news is, I think we're safe. For the moment, anyway. As soon as I finish, I'll make sure the cabin is secure."

  "What cabin?"

  "My friend who owns the house in Beverly Hills. His cabin."

  "Oh." Julia said. She knew it was impossible to go back to Los Angeles now. She was wondering about the beneficent friend, but decided to try to be a little more circuitous in her search for information.

  "How did you learn to be a mechanic, Robin? Did you go to a trade school or something?"

  "No. My father always had old cars. He let me work on them." Each vehicle was worth hundreds of thousands, but Robin did not mention that small fact.

  "You didn't go to a mechanic school?"

  Robin shook his head. "I did go to high school." And college and law school, but he didn't tell her that. He knew he was deceiving her, but now that they would have some time alone together he wanted to keep up the charade. "I'm a damn good mechanic. That motorcycle outside was sounding a little rough."

  "Really?"

  "Pistons need work. And you know, it's much more strenuous and tiring riding on the back of a Harley than driving one. I'll teach you how, if you like."

  "Okay," Julia said, thinking it might be fun.

  Robin grinned at her. "First we have to get you some warm clothes, and boots." He had finished his hamburger, reached in his pocket and came out with some cash. "I don't want you to use your credit cards. They might be checking credit card sales, if they're using the police to track us. I want them to believe you left San Francisco this afternoon, for Boston."

  Julia reluctantly took the money.

  "You go shopping while I check out the cabin," Robin said as he got up.

  "What about you, Robin?" Julia asked, as she watched him preparing to leave.

  "I just took my good friend, Julia, to San Francisco. She returned what was missing. They can't do anything overt to me."

  "They'll murder you. Just for revenge," Julia said, angry that he was making light of the situation. "You know they will. You have to stay here with me until this whole thing is over with."

  "Don't worry about it."

  "Wait a minute," Julia said, really losing her temper, but trying to keep her voice down. "They murdered my own brother because of the information we now possess. Do you think they're just going to let it go because Quijada has his precious books and videos back? Are you planning to plant me in a cabin here, and then leave?"

  "I'll have to go back pretty soon," Robin said, trying to sound reasonable. "I have work to do. But lets talk about it later. I won't leave until I'm sure you're safe. I promise."

  "Gee, thanks. Then all I have to worry about is you. And you take absolutely insane chances with your own life."

  Robin leaned forward on the table. "What are you talking about?"

  "You took drugs just last night. Or are you forgetting the little overdose?" Julia was whispering. "That could have killed you. I should have fired you, right then. Left you under the boardwalk to rot."

  "Then you wouldn't have the damn books and videos," Robin said smiling at her. It wasn't a nice smile. "Or if you did, they would have killed you by now."

  Julia took a deep breath. "Listen, I got you into this mess. It's my fault. And I have to admit my plan was a little rash. But neither of us expected Quijada would have police informers, and come back unexpectedly. Now I have to accept responsibility. You're in a dangerous position and you can't go back to Los Angeles. I'm scared you're going to get hurt or killed."

  When Robin looked at Julia he could see she wasn't angry any more. He looked closely and thought she had tears in her eyes. "I do believe you like me."

  "Of course, I am very concerned for you," Julia said with composure. "You must admit, after last night, I have a right to be. We've both done some reckless things."

  "And we're both tired, now," Robin said, sighing. "We'll talk about it when we're settled at the cabin."

  That was another thing. She was staying at some rustic cabin, alone with Robin, evidently. "Maybe it would be better if I stayed at a hotel."

  "Unless you have a lot of cash with you, it's going to be expensive. Anyway, whatever, I'm staying at the cabin. I wish you would trust me."

  Julia looked down. "I do trust you Robin. And I want to thank you for everything. It's really been above and beyond..."

  "Save it," he interrupted. "Go shopping. We'll warm up in the cabin and decide what to do."

  "I hate shopping."

  Robin finally looked exasperated. "Will you just go get some warm clothes?"

  Julia nodded. She watched through the window as he kicked the starter pedal on the bike and took off. Then she got up and went outside. It was mid-afternoon and cold. She could see her breath in the air as she walked quickly into the first women's apparel store she found. Then she found a wonderful camera shop and couldn't resist buying some things. Without a few cameras she felt naked. This town was gorgeous and she wanted to take pictures. She spent all the money Robin had given her, along with most of her own cash.

  Robin found her window shopping in antique shops and smiled in appreciation. She looked like a little snow angel in a fitted ski suit, parka and boots.

  Julia got back on the bike and Robin took her out of town, toward the lake. Then he stopped on a deserted logging road and took off his goggles. "You need to put the leather jacket on again, Julia."

  "I'm fine. The parka is warm."

  "Don't you want to learn to drive a Harley?" Robin asked, handing her the goggles.

  "Oh. Now's the time?"

  Robin nodded.

  Julia was still protesting that she really was comfortable with the parka, so Robin explained that the leather would protect her if she fell off.

  "I'm going to solo? On my first lesson?"

  "I'll ride with you for a while, but yes, I want you to be able to drive it by yourself."

  This was their only means of transportation for the next couple of days, and if anything happened to him, Robin wanted her to be able to get away. When Quijada learned that Julia was not in Boston, he would start searching for her. Robin thought he might be suspicious enough to check out places he owned. He wished he'd had time to get to a cash machine before they left Los Angeles, so they could have the option to stay at a hotel if they needed to. But most hotels wanted credit card identification and a drivers license, even if they did take cash. Hotel workers could be bribed to give up that kind of information. It was safer to keep Julia at his cabin.

  Robin's dad had several places around the state where they could have stayed also, in
Carmel, Palm Springs and San Francisco, but he didn't want his father involved. There was a chance that Quijada would bring charges against Julia for theft. If that happened he didn't want his father to be in the position of harboring a fugitive.

  Snuggled against Robin, Julia felt wonderfully safe as she learned how to work the Harley's controls. It was a easy for her to grasp the fact that the faster she went, the more control she actually had, because the bike was too heavy for her to use a leg to steady it when it wobbled too far over when she was moving slowly. If she actually fell it would crush her, so Robin taught Julia how to bail off, if she was sure the big machine was going to tip over.

  Julia ended her solo with a gigantic smile. "This is so much fun! I want to go really fast."

  "Next you'll be wearing black leather, sporting chains and whips," Robin said, grinning.

  "You forgot the tattoos," Julia said. "I'll need at least one to prove I'm a real bike moll. And I want some pictures."

  She took out her new cameras, loaded the film and taught Robin how to frame and find the correct focus. Then Julia posed, taking off the helmet and tousling her hair so it would look messed up in the wind. She had been on many fashion photography shoots and she burlesqued the typical actions of the models. She had Robin in hysterics as she tried out dashing and risque postures astride the bike. Then she used the camera's timer and they both posed. He was surprised when she mugged for the camera, put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

  "I'll want a copy of that one," Robin said.

  By that time it was getting chilly. The sun was going down. Julia wanted to ride the Harley some more, but Robin shook his head. He was convinced she had mastered the controls. She was too tired for a really thorough testing of her expertise, so he ended the lesson and drove her to the cabin.