by Mary Abshire
Andrew flipped the switch and the hatch dropped. Napkins semi-covered the gun she kept with her for protection. Troy had said he’d done business with Raymond once before and didn’t have any issues. But Troy didn’t trust people, except her. As always, he’d advised her to be on guard. She reached for the weapon.
“Is that loaded?” Andrew asked.
“The safety is on,” she said as she dropped it into her purse. She wondered if he knew how to use one.
She dug into the envelope and searched for the registrations. Finding them, she withdrew the one for her Honda then tossed the envelope onto the backseat.
“I’ll come with you.” He pushed the door open before she could protest.
She cut the ignition before she left the confines of her car. Purse, keys, and document in hand, she stopped a few feet from the stranger. Andrew stood beside her. His jeans fit loosely, but the shirt fit a little snug and revealed the curves of the muscles in his upper arms. She tried not to stare at his hard nipples.
“You Emily?” the man asked. He was a few inches taller than her, but shorter than Andrew.
“Are you Raymond?”
His gaze shifted to Andrew. “Who’s he?”
“I’m her crazy boyfriend,” Andrew said.
She looked at him and he lifted a shoulder.
“Troy said you would be alone,” Raymond said.
“It’s fine. He doesn’t know anything,” she said before she handed him the registration. “You’ll need this. Troy already gave me the one for the car.”
Raymond snatched the paper from her hand. He glanced at it before he shoved it into the pocket of his leather jacket.
“It’s an extra five hundred since you brought company,” he said.
“No fucking way,” she said, outraged. “You already got paid. I’m not giving you anymore money.”
He snickered at her and took a step back. “Then you don’t get the car.”
She tightened her grip on the straps of her purse as fear and anger rushed through her. She couldn’t lose her chance to get the vehicle, but she also didn’t want the scumbag to scam her out of more money.
“Why don’t you give her the keys so we can go?” Andrew said. “If you don’t, she’ll have to use the gun she has in her purse. Trust me, you don’t want to piss off my girlfriend.”
Raymond’s smirk died in a flash as he veered his gaze to her. “Yes, I have a gun and I won’t hesitate to use it. And you can be sure I will tell Troy about all this. We’re good friends, so I don’t think he will be pleased with what I tell him.”
Raymond glared at both of them. Emily didn’t want to bring violence into the mix, but she would if she had to. She wasn’t about to let the asshole change the terms of their deal. Finally, he withdrew a set of keys from his pocket. He tossed them to her. Andrew reached and snatched them before she could.
“Good catch,” Raymond said in a sarcastic tone.
“I need a few minutes to get my belongings out of the car,” she said.
“Hurry up. I need to get home,” Raymond said.
She back stepped and turned to Andrew. He followed beside her.
“Will you get the stuff in the backseat?” she asked. “I’ve got bags in the trunk I need to move.”
“Sure,” Andrew said.
Emily strode past him to the trunk. She unlocked it, grabbed her computer case, and then hurried to put the strap across her body. With the lid up, she couldn’t see Raymond. After the stunt he’d pulled, she didn’t trust him. For another matter, she was glad Andrew had tactfully brought a tense situation under control. With the strap secured over her shoulder, she hefted the other two bags from the trunk.
Raymond stared down at his phone as she strode toward the Prius. Andrew was half inside the back of the small car with his rear sticking out. He backed out when she reached the trunk.
“Can you open this for me?” she asked him.
He walked around her to the back of the car.
“Thanks for helping,” she said as he unlocked the trunk.
He peeked at Raymond before he met her gaze. “Glad to help.” He lifted her bags and set them inside the back as she removed the strap from her shoulder.
Andrew’s calmness and willingness to help impressed her. He couldn’t be a mental escapee. He was too smart, focused, and quick. So if he wasn’t a loony man, an alien, or a drunk, who was he? After she set the computer bag with the others in the trunk, she shut the lid.
“I’ll get the remaining bags,” he said.
She followed him to the passenger side. While he collected the items from the back, she ducked inside the front to gather her compact discs and phone charger. When she backed out with her hands full, she found Andrew waiting behind her holding several grocery bags.
“Is that it?” she asked.
“I believe so.”
She checked the backseat through the window to make sure. She didn’t see anything. “Great. Let’s go.”
Andrew led the way to the Prius. Raymond watched her as she walked toward her new car. His gaze gave her a creepy vibe. She couldn’t wait to get away from him. She passed Andrew and stopped at the front passenger seat. Careful not to drop anything, she opened the door then stuffed the discs and charger into the glove compartment.
With nothing left to move, she strode around the back of the Toyota. Raymond ambled close by with his eyes on her.
She threw the keys to him. “She’s all yours.”
He caught them and gave her a heated glare. Clenching her fist, she fought the temptation to flip him the bird. She didn’t need any more trouble.
After she set her purse behind Andrew’s seat, she adjusted all her mirrors and prepared for driving.
“This has a TV?” he asked, pointing at the screen.
“No, it’s probably for GPS,” she said as she started the engine.
“What’s that?”
“Global positioning system? It provides directions.”
“Oh, right,” he said, sounding amazed.
Within minutes, she was back on the road and heading to the interstate. Relief trickled through her now that she’d completed the exchange. If the cops were searching for her and had put an APB on the Honda, they wouldn’t find her with it. She had more freedom to travel now. All she had left to do was destroy her old identification and start adapting to her new identity. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to explain her situation to Andrew.
“Thanks for helping me back there,” she said as she drove on the main road, heading back to the interstate.
“He had, I mean, he looked shady,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, I can’t believe he pulled that shit.”
“Who’s Troy?”
“A good friend of mine. We grew up together.”
“And he’s friends with that guy?” He pointed his thumb behind them.
“Well, not really. They’ve done…” She glanced at him. He was watching and listening to her intently. “They’ve done business together in the past.”
He tilted his head back as if he were going to nod. “Ah, I see.”
“Yeah, I’m going to fill him in about what happened. I suspect he may not do business with him anymore.”
Andrew turned his gaze to his side window. “Are we heading to Pittsburgh now?”
She took a deep breath. “We’re going to find somewhere to stay for the night. We’ll head to Pittsburgh in the morning.”
He shifted his attention to her. “Let me know if you need me to drive.”
She gave him a nod while she focused on the road. Exhaustion was pressing down upon her and the ache in her head was growing too. She needed rest, but part of her feared what Andrew might do if she fell asleep. Would he take her gun, money, and car? She wanted to believe she was safe with him. He seemed to be a good person. But his fictional story about being angel bothered her. Given her high level of fatigue, she decided not to overthink the matter. If she didn’t get some sleep soon, she might end up crashing h
er new car and she couldn’t allow that. For now, she’d have to trust he wouldn’t run off with her belongings. And if he did, at least she had a good idea where to find him.
Chapter Five
Andrew waited in the car while he watched Emily walk slowly into the Hampton Inn with her purse tucked under her arm. She appeared to be on the edge of collapsing with her lethargic steps. While she’d been driving, he’d kept glancing at her. He’d noticed her eyelids had dropped several times. They hadn’t made it an hour before he’d insisted she find a hotel. She’d conceded and had taken the first exit. They were in a town called Batesville and the only businesses with lights on were the hotel and the McDonalds they’d passed near the interstate.
He lowered his gaze to the dashboard of the vehicle. The sleek interior impressed him. He’d never seen anything like it. And the GPS feature captivated him. She’d used it to get directions and it had worked. Technology had greatly improved since he’d died. He wondered what other advancements there’d been.
His thoughts returned to Emily and he shifted his attention to the window. She’d been more than generous to him, having bought him clothes and snacks. She was a smart young woman to carry a gun with her. He wondered if she knew how to use it. If so, he wanted to ask if she could show him. He needed to figure out a way to get rid of the demon named on his forearm. A gun would be easier to use and would avoid the mess of a knife. First, he had to accept the idea he had to kill a human. He’d never killed anything other than bugs. Killing a person would be a big challenge. The guard had said his first kill would probably be the most difficult. He had a feeling she would be right.
The doors swished to the sides before Emily strolled out. He smiled as he gazed at her. When she’d bent over to gather her belongings from the Honda, he couldn’t help but stare at her ass. She had a nice round one, perfect for squeezing. Given any opportunity, he would look at it more.
She opened the door before she fell into her seat. She handed him two cards and a piece of paper. “We’re sharing a room.”
“Works for me.” He wouldn’t complain. Spending time in a room with her would allow him more chances to appraise her beauty.
She drove to a parking spot on the side of the building. The lot was half full with a variety of cars, mostly vans. A glass door led inside the hotel.
“I need to get a couple bags from the back,” she said as she withdrew the key from the ignition.
He slid his seatbelt away. “I’ll help.”
Before she could say another word, he exited the vehicle. Her red eyes indicated she needed rest soon. He stopped at the trunk and waited for her. She’d snatched an envelope and a few store bags from the back.
“I can come back for the other stuff if you want,” he offered.
“That’s okay.” She unlocked the trunk and it snapped.
He pushed the lid up. “Which ones do you need?”
She pointed and he collected them for her. He put the long strap for a rectangular case over his shoulder. The bag seemed heavier compared to the one in his hand. She shut the lid and it thumped.
Together they headed for the entrance to the hotel. A sign reading ‘no smoking’ clung to the glass. Near the door, a round stand housed a collection of cigarette butts. Strange, he thought, since people could smoke anywhere they wanted when he’d been alive. Of course, nobody smoked in heaven. From talking to the ones who had been smokers on Earth he learned they no longer felt the desire to puff.
Showing his gentleman qualities to her, he opened the door and held it. She passed him and continued down the green-carpeted hall. He followed behind her as she scanned over the numbers. She came to a halt in front of a door marked 1110 and looked at him. Unfamiliar with the device attached to the handle, he handed the cards to her. He watched as she slid one in and out of the slot. After a green light flashed rapidly, she pushed on the handle.
He followed her inside, passing a bathroom on the left before stopping in the main room. She switched on the light from the nightstand. The hotel looked like others he’d stayed in but with bolder colors and cleaner air. He couldn’t smell any traces of a cigarette. There were two double beds, a round table in the corner near the window, and a dresser facing the beds. But it was the large flat screen that captured his attention.
“Is this a TV?” he asked as she set the bags in his hands on the bed closest to the bathroom.
“Yeah.”
She tugged her shoes off at the end of the bed. Curious about the television, he tilted to see the back of it. The rectangular screen wasn’t more than a few inches thick. Distracted by the TV, she surprised him when she took the strap off his shoulder.
“Oh, sorry,” he said as she carried the case to her claimed bed.
“Thanks,” she said before she propped the pillows against the headboard.
“Do you need help unpacking anything?”
She sat, brought her legs up, and then leaned back. Following a deep sigh, she said, “This is better.”
After he closed the shades over the window, he sat on the bed and kicked his sneakers off. They were a bit snug, but he didn’t want to complain to her since he had no way of paying her back for anything.
“You can watch TV. It won’t bother me,” she said as she dug inside one of the plastic bags.
He headed toward the dresser. A remote sat on it in front of the screen. He pointed it at the television while holding the power button. When an image appeared, he returned to his bed.
“Do you want me to get anything else out of the car?” he asked.
“No. This is fine.”
She tugged open a container with a small black device. It fell on her lap. Curious to know what the rectangular device was, he watched her every move. She took a cord from her purse and plugged it into the wall. After she hooked the other end into the device in her hand, the screen lit up. She touched it, then a new screen appeared and it had numbers on it. She pressed different digits before she raised the device to her ear.
“Is that a cell phone?” he asked.
“Yeah. Don’t say anything.” A few seconds later she said into the device, “Troy, I got the car. Raymond was an ass and tried to get more money from me. I didn’t pay him. Anyway, I’m at a hotel for the night. Don’t call me back. I’ll contact you sometime later. Take care, brother.” She lowered the phone and set it on the nightstand separating their beds.
“Wow. I can’t believe how much things have changed,” he said.
She rubbed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“That cell phone is so different. It’s so thin. Like the TV.”
“Yeah.” She leaned her head back and stared at him.
“Can I look at it?”
“What?”
“The phone.”
“Uh … sure.”
He set the remote on the nightstand before he lifted the cell. It was light and smooth, completely different from the ones in the 1980s. There were small buttons on each side and one at the bottom under the screen. He pressed it and a scenic picture appeared. The time showed at the top and there were tiny images underneath. The device reminded him of the computers he’d seen in heaven, but in a miniature version.
“Amazing,” he said.
He shifted his attention to Emily. She was lying on her side, facing him, and struggling to keep her eyelids up. The woman clearly needed sleep, but he sensed she might be unsure of him. He’d promised he wouldn’t hurt her and he’d meant it. If anything, he wanted to help her as much as he could, including undressing her, bathing her, kissing those cute little pink lips… He swallowed and looked away. Sex was not option.
The woman remained a mystery to him. She’d agreed to help him even after he’d told her he was an angel. If he’d been in her shoes and had come across a naked man with such a far-fetched tale, he would’ve left the man behind. She hadn’t. Why? He also was curious to know why she was so far away from home. Why did she exchange her car for the Toyota? It was a better vehicle, but still
… From her appearance, he guessed she was in her early to mid-twenties. Did she have a job? Was she married? Did she have a boyfriend? And what about her family? Were they still in Chicago? She hadn’t said much about herself. She seemed more interested in learning about him. But then, he couldn’t blame her after what he’d told her. He wanted to know more about her, but he didn’t want to anger her.
“What’s it like?” she asked softly.
“Hmm? What?”
“Heaven.”
She was fighting to stay awake. He figured it was because she didn’t trust him. He had no intention of stealing from her. Even though her soul had color, she seemed to have a kind and generous heart. He couldn’t fathom causing her any more distress than he already had.
He set the phone on the nightstand and then scooted down and lifted his legs onto the bed. “It’s nice, peaceful, orderly…” He threaded his fingers behind his head.
“It sounds boring.”
“There’s plenty to do and places to go. People still work, but there’s no money. Everyone’s pretty much happy.”
“Were you?”
He thought over the question. He had his family and had made friends in heaven. He’d met plenty of women. He didn’t have any obligations. What was there not to like? “I guess so.”
“So why were you sent back?”
He pondered his answer. If he gave her the full details, he feared she would ditch him. The fact she continued to ask questions indicated she didn’t believe everything he’d told her.
“They need people to kill demons,” he said, which wasn’t exactly a lie.
There was a moment of silence. Her eyelids closed.
“I don’t believe in God, or heaven or hell.” Her words were a little slurred.
He stared at her for the longest time, wondering why she’d formed such a belief. Clear to him now, she didn’t believe he was an angel.
“You need to rest,” he said.
He rose from the bed and tugged the blankets off his mattress. The temperature in the room was warm enough for him, maybe a little too cozy, but he wouldn’t mess with the heating and cooling unit. He decided she might need the covers and didn’t want to move her since she was falling asleep. Carefully, he lowered the blankets over her. She didn’t stir at all. He resisted the temptation to kiss her cheek. Knowing his luck, he’d startle her and she’d smack him. He hoped he’d get a chance to press his lips upon her another time.
