Six Times a Charm

by Deanna Chase

  “I’m so confused. I don’t know what to do. Please tell me you don’t see a crazed werewolf behind the wheel. I don’t think I can deal with that like you can. I can’t handle it.”

  “No, I don’t think so. Of course I can’t see all that well. The windows are tinted almost black. If only I could get a better look.”

  “What do we do? Where do I go?” Jennifer bit on her lower lip.

  “What else? Lose them.” I pointed toward the road in front of us. “Punch it.”

  “What? What the hell? How am I supposed to lose them? We’re not freakin’ Cagney and Lacey. We’re on a very crowded street. I got cars on every side.”

  A flash of us with guns and badges ran through my head. I giggled.

  “This is not funny,” she snapped.

  “Would you rather pull over and invite them to dinner? We can do that if you’d like. If not, I say lose the suckers.”

  “Smartass. I knew I should have made you drive. I’m not equipped to handle pressure like this. I cave under extremes such as this.” Pressure didn’t suit me, either, but did she hear me complaining?

  “Listen, just calm down. Make a left at the next light and see if they really are following us. Maybe they just happened to be traveling the same path as us and they suck at driving. You know, road rage and all,” I said. My gaze remained glued to the mirror.

  “Oh, good idea. I bet they’re just going to the mall too.”

  A strange vibe hit me that that wasn’t the case, but I didn’t tell Jennifer.

  I peered in the mirror again and let out a gasp. My fear became reality. Up ahead the light switched to red. Dear God, please don’t let this be the end.

  “What? What happened?”

  “Okay, don’t panic, but they have a gun.”

  “A gun?” Jennifer screeched.

  The weapon poked out from the window, only showing a small portion of the black steel. We waited for the light to change to green.

  “Try to act calm. We won’t let on that we saw it. Take deep breaths.”

  “I might pass out. How do you know it was a gun?”

  “The person shoved it out the window just for a second, but I saw it. They’re trying to scare us.”

  “It’s working. Oh, Rylie. I don’t want to die today. I want to be married first.”

  “We have to remain calm. Breathe in. Breathe out.”

  “What do they want? It’s you they want, you know.” Before I answered she continued. “You’re the one with people busting her door down.”

  Neither one of us turned our heads, though I couldn’t help but glance in the mirror a few more times. All right, every second.

  “If Lily is in that car, I swear I’m going to kick her skinny, furry butt. She’ll be sorry for messing with me. She’s really trying to push my buttons. I don’t care if she does have a gun. All right, I do care, but I’m still furious.”

  When the signal turned green, Jennifer punched the accelerator and cut the steering wheel. For a brief period, I think we might have been on only two tires. Seriously, I’m not kidding. A teenager on the sidewalk had been happily scooting along on his skateboard when we turned the corner and came through in a blast. By the look on his face, he needed to change his underwear after that. Poor kid—he was minding his own business, and now he had dirty underpants. He held his skateboard to his chest, a look of terror flickering in his eyes.

  “How much gas do you have in this thing? We could always drive to the police station. They would never follow us there.”

  Jennifer swerved in and out of traffic like a lunatic. “I’m trying to lose them. You told me to. That’s what you said, lose them. Remember?” Her eyes were wide. I’d never seen her quite so determined.

  She was right, though. I had told her to ditch the car behind us, but I didn’t want to die in the process.

  “What the hell? If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that too? Do you do everything you’re told?” I grasped the dashboard, trying to hold on. Buildings swooshed by in a blur.

  “I wouldn’t jump from a bridge, silly.”

  “How did you learn to drive like this?” I asked.

  The car followed still. There were no doubts—the vehicle was definitely tailing us.

  “I took a defensive driving course once. It was a long time ago, but worth every penny, don’t you think?” She panted while sharply turning the wheel again.

  “What was the final exam, jumping your car over fifty other vehicles?” I huffed. “It must have been one hell of a course. If you don’t slow down we’re going to crash. The police will probably arrest us for reckless driving. Someone probably already called them.”

  “Good, then they can arrest the person following us,” she barked.

  “I should start praying now.” My hand grasped the door. I held on for dear life.

  Jennifer yanked on the wheel again and made a sharp right.

  My pulse hammered. “If I wasn’t so scared I’d be mad at you for driving like a crazy woman.”

  The faster we drove, the faster the car behind us moved. Nudging us.

  “I don’t like to speed, but we really have no choice right now. I like to take my time and cruise around town. But, oh no, now we’re traveling at warp speed.”

  “Apparently this thug doesn’t enjoy going out for a joyride,” I said.

  Jennifer punched the accelerator again, but with the traffic, there was only so far we could go. In front of us was a delivery truck.

  “Hold on,” Jennifer snapped.

  “If I hold on any harder my hands will bleed.”

  “There’s just enough space for my car between that truck and the SUV in front of it. If I hurry, and the lunatic behind us doesn’t change speed, I think I can slip in between the two vehicles.”

  “Are you crazy? You’re going to kill us.”

  “I don’t have any other options. The person behind us is going to kill us if I don’t.”

  The driver behind us was in serious need of some meds.

  I glanced in the side mirror. The car followed so closely it felt as if we were on a racetrack. If it had been any nearer, they would have been in our backseat. I glanced at the speedometer. With the posted speed limit of twenty-five, Jennifer drove slightly over the limit. Okay, a lot over the limit.

  A car horn honked as Jennifer swerved to the left. She overcorrected and almost veered off the road and into a parked car.

  “Driving under pressure isn’t easy.” Her voice grew louder.

  She switched to the other lane. Thank goodness no oncoming traffic came our way. She sped up and in one swift move jerked the Bug over to the correct lane. The car practically moaned when she hit the accelerator. The truck behind us honked, but I figured even if we pissed him off it couldn’t be any worse than the nut chasing us.

  I glanced in the mirror again. The car was right behind the truck, swerving and looking for an opportunity to get behind us again. The burly guy in the truck seemed to notice them too. He pumped his fist out the window, then honked. If they didn’t ease off his ass, he’d probably take care of them for us and our problem would be solved. The SUV turned off and it looked as if we now had an open opportunity to get away. But alas, the truck turned off too, and the sedan was once again on our trail.

  Cars honked. Jennifer punched the gas. The sedan still tailed us, but had lost some momentum thanks to her insane driving ability.

  “Oh. My. God. You’re going to kill us. As sure as I’m a werewolf, we’re going to die this afternoon. That was a red light.”

  More honking. The black car attempted to run the light, but was forced to veer off to miss oncoming traffic. It narrowly escaped crashing with two vehicles before coming to rest on the sidewalk.

  “It did the trick, though. Look, we lost them.” She smirked and her mouth curved at the sides, exposing her bright white teeth.

  “I think I might have peed my pants a little.”

  She chortled, then let out a snort. “Me too. I
think you enjoyed that just a little, even though you probably would never admit it.” A totally new side to her had emerged.

  “Good thing we’re headed to the mall so I can buy new underwear,” I grumbled.

  Was there any other person in the world who got into a car chase while on their way to Victoria’s Secret? Leave it to me.

  After our near-death experience, if I didn’t calm down, I’d surely sprout a furry tail. And I’d have to ask the sales consultants if they had panties to accommodate it. Thankfully, the rest of the drive was smooth sailing—although we were on high alert.

  “I think you should contact the police, Rylie. If you don’t,” she paused, “I’m afraid I can’t drive you anywhere else. Hell, I’m afraid to be your roommate.” One little car chase and she was up in arms, sheesh. Granted, they did have a firearm.

  “I don’t know what you’re grumbling about. You seemed to handle it quite well. As a matter-of-fact, I think you enjoyed it.”

  Jennifer rolled her eyes at my comment. “Rylie, they had a gun.”

  “Well…it looked like a gun.”

  “So was it a gun or not?” Jennifer asked.

  “It looked like a gun, but everything happened so fast.” I let out a deep breath. “Let’s just put the incident behind us, all right? We lost them, it’s over. We’re safe now.”

  “I’m scared for you. For us. You need to contact the police.”

  “I’ll think about calling the cops, all right?”

  “Are you afraid of the police?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Within a few seconds, we made our way to the parking lot of the spacious mall that housed Victoria’s Secret. Jennifer whipped the Bug into a space. Breathing a sigh of relief, I jumped out. We’d be safe in the mall. But beads of sweat trickled down my forehead, and I knew without looking the hair on top of my head was wildly out of control. One thing, though. I had managed to keep my cool and not let hair spread all over my body. If my locks were a mess after that ride, imagine what my tail would have looked like.

  “You think you can hook me up with that defensive driving course?” I panted as we marched toward the mall. We both scanned the area. My heart rate still hadn’t reached normal. People moved about, but no one seemed to be paying attention to us.

  “I’m sorry I can’t disclose the info. It’s top secret.” She laughed.

  “Gotcha.” I nodded and smiled.

  Jennifer scanned one section of the lot and I watched the other as we hurried along. I weaved in and out of cars like a stealth ninja warrior. All right, I kid, but I watched my back nonetheless. No signs of the car around. So far, so good. My stomach gnawed at me with the mere thought of the mystery vehicle popping up out of nowhere. Maybe it would run over us right there in the middle of shopping suburbia, or the driver would pull out the gun and shoot my ass on the spot.

  “Under the circumstances, maybe we should just forget about this shopping thing?” I glanced over my shoulder one last time as we entered the glass doors. “My date is in a few hours, and I still need to shower. And pick out my outfit. Let’s just go home. We’ll shop for underwear some other time.”

  “It won’t take long. Besides, we’re already here now. And I’ll help you with an outfit. You’ll regret it if you go home now, trust me.” She adjusted her purse to the other shoulder.

  She mumbled the rest of the sentence, something about granny panties. Whatever…

  “I guess. But let’s hurry, okay? I want to get in and get out as quickly as possible, so no browsing.” I let out a sigh and followed her into the massive pink store. Either my eyes were playing tricks on me or there was an abundance of one hue in the place. Not that I have anything against pink. I rather like it, actually.

  Jennifer grabbed bras, panties and heaven knew what else off the racks. I followed along like an impatient two-year-old shopping with her mother. The store had so many items my eyes couldn’t focus on all of them. A sexy lace demi-cup bra captured my attention. I reached over, touched the fabric and examined it.

  “I need more padding,” I said.

  Jennifer didn’t answer. She was in a zone.

  Hanging it back, I rummaged through the rack for my size. Finding the correct one, I held the bra up to my chest and daydreamed about how I’d look wearing it.

  Someone tapped my shoulder. If I’d been a cat, I’d have jumped onto the ceiling. Thankfully, I’m not a werecat—we don’t get along. Although, I guess if I were a werecat I’d get along with them then and not werewolves. But, anyway. I needed to focus on the danger at hand.

  “What the hell?” Turning around in a single fluid motion, I flung my hands out in a karate stance. No, I didn’t know karate. But put me in a life-or-death situation, and I’d go kung fu on your ass. Or at least die trying.

  Jennifer jumped back, tossing bras right and left as she let out a high-pitched shriek.

  An arm grabbed mine.

  “Shhh. Not so loud. People will stare,” the baritone voice said.

  “You think? Uncle Ernie, what the hell are you doing here? You scared the bejeezus out of me.” I stared at him, wide-eyed.

  “Hi, doll. How’s my favorite niece doing? How’s about a kiss for Uncle Ern? Lay one on me.” He pointed to one cheek.

  I ignored his offer. I was too frustrated for affection.

  “How am I? I’m confused, that’s how I am. People are looking for you, Ernie. Do you realize that?” I shoved the bra that dangled from my hand behind my back. I didn’t want him looking at my underwear, even if it wasn’t on my body. There I was, in the middle of Victoria’s Secret, bra in hand, talking to my were-uncle who was clearly on the run from some not-so-nice people. How did I get myself into this situation?

  “Yeah, so I’ve heard. Listen, um, if anyone asks about me, tell him, or her, I left the country, all right? Tell them I’m backpacking across Europe.” He scanned the store, then looked over his shoulder. I didn’t know what kind of people were hunting for him, but I didn’t want to find out, either.

  “Look, I don’t know what mess you’ve gotten yourself into this time, but I’m a little nervous about the goons who are slinking around my business and apartment. One of them smashed down my door looking for you,” I whispered.

  “Oh God. He broke the door down?” His eyes widened. “I’m really sorry about that. Was there damage? I didn’t think they’d go that far,” he said under his breath.

  “What did you say?” I asked. I knew what he’d said, but I wanted him to repeat it.

  “Nothing. Um, nothing, dear.” Being truthful never had been one of Ernie’s strong suits.

  “Anyway, yes, you could say there was damage. I had to replace the door.”

  “I’m very sorry. I’ll pay you back for that. Just give me the total.”

  “Are you working?” I asked.

  “Not exactly. I’m kind of in between jobs at the moment.” He shuffled his cowboy-boot-clad foot.

  “Right. Look, Uncle Ernie, I’m not trying to lecture you, but…” All right, so I’d been known to offer a lecture or two in the past. So what? This time he deserved it. “You need to get your act together. There’s a lot at stake for me. I can’t have my customers thinking I run some sort of illegal business, and that’s exactly what they will think.” Or good-looking neighbors might start thinking something shady was going on with my life.

  “Everything will be fine. I promise, doll.” He fiddled with his graying ponytail. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.” His amber-colored eyes danced under the lights. He held my chin and a smile yanked at the corners of his mouth.

  “Oh, Ernie. I worry about you.” I embraced him. He hugged back.

  The woman behind the register eyed us between checking out customers. Her sleek blond ponytail pulled at the skin around her eyes, adding emphasis to her annoyed expression. Jennifer hid behind a rack of panties, waiting for the commotion to quiet. The pink hue of her cheeks matched the store, and let me know she was embarr
assed by the attention Ernie had attracted.

  “By the way, did you just follow us here in a black car?” I pulled away from our embrace. That was a stupid question for me to ask. Of course he hadn’t. Uncle Ernie wouldn’t be brandishing a gun. Unless I’d only imagined a gun. The mind can see funny things sometimes.

  “No, I’m in my truck. The big red one, you know.” He glanced over his shoulder and blew a kiss in the general vicinity of the area outside the store.

  I looked over his shoulder for the recipient of the air kiss. “Yeah, but did you follow us?” Maybe the black car tried to chase Ernie when he followed us. Everything seemed so confusing. My head spun with the mayhem.

  “No, I just happened to be in the mall and I spotted you. I’ve been meaning to stop by and see you for some time now.”

  It was better that he didn’t. I needed his drama around me like I needed a bottle of Rogaine.

  “See that woman out there?” Uncle Ernie pointed toward the front of the store.

  A tall, lanky woman with multicolored hair stood outside the door and picked at her nails. Was her hair mostly blond, red or brown? I had no clue. All colors mingled throughout her mane. Oh well, it didn’t matter, because Ernie seemed pleased—based upon the expression on his face. If he liked her, then I liked her. She was fine by me.

  “Yes, I see her.” How could I not with her rainbow hair.

  “She’s my lady friend. She works here at the mall, over at Bath and Body Works.”

  Hmm, I wondered if she could get me a discount. They had an incredible lotion that helped with razor burn.

  “I’m very serious about her. She might be the one. And the sex is—”

  “Please. I feel queasy as it is. I’m thrilled to hear she might be the one. But I just don’t need the details. I’m very happy for you.” I frowned and took another long look at the woman. More details about her, other than the sex, would have been nice because lord knows my mother would ask, but I didn’t feel like going into that discussion. Not to mention, I didn’t have the time. My hot date would be waiting.

  “Listen, I’ve got to skedaddle. Tell your dad I’ll call him soon. And you take care, sweetheart,” Ernie said.