Desert Slam

by Steven Barwin

  “Tonight I have to go online to choose my seat for the flight home.”

  “Thanks for the depressing news. I’d forgotten the break was almost over. I’m going to miss the blue skies.”

  “The swimming pools. And the palm trees,” I added.

  “The green, green grass,” Ruby said.

  “And the wind farms,” I said.

  “Really?” Ruby asked.

  “I think they’re cool.”

  “Oh, eating outside at night.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I love that. And the smoothies at the Beach Cove Café.”

  “Cristina.” Ruby sighed.

  “Yes…and you.”

  “Aww!” Ruby leaned over the net and gave me a hug.

  I helped round up the tennis balls and then headed to the condo. My plan was simple. Spend the night with my grandparents. Watch the sun go down and maybe some TV.

  “Maya?” my grandmother called out.

  “Yeah, it’s me. Hi.” I found her outside on the balcony and gave her a kiss.

  “There’s someone on the phone for you.”

  “For me? Who is it?”

  “I’m not sure. She called twice while you were out.”

  I took the phone. “Hello?”

  “Hi. It’s me. Laurie. Can we meet up? I need to see you.”

  Chapter Nine

  Laurie stood on the other side of the security gate.

  “How’d you find me?” I asked.

  “On the night of the accident your grandfather exchanged information with Dale.”

  Ruby said, “Dale was the guy in the car with you.”

  Laurie nodded. “He’s the brains behind the scam. He has access to a lot full of old cars, vans and pickups to choose from. He’s the man who thinks he owns me.” She checked left and right behind her. “Can I come in?”

  I looked at Laurie, standing exposed to the world while I was protected on this side of the gate. I punched the code into the keypad, and the gate buzzed unlocked.

  Laurie checked behind her again before entering. Then she headed for a spot in the shade and sat down, looking around in wonder. “This place is nice. Real upscale.”

  “Why exactly are you here?” Ruby said, getting right to the point.

  “Because of what you said. About doing the right thing.”

  I looked at Laurie’s hands. They were shaking.

  “You feel bad, I get it,” replied Ruby. “But you’re still hurting people.”

  “Do you think I want to?” Laurie wiped away a tear. “I’m not like that.”

  I stood above her, arms crossed, trying to decide if this was all an act.

  Laurie started to stand up. “This was a mistake. I should go.”

  “You came here to tell us something,” I said coldly. “So tell us.”

  She nodded, sitting back down. “I thought that if you knew more about my story, maybe you’d understand.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Spill.”

  “I’m from a small town. Stanford. Illinois. Like so many others, my dream, ever since I was a kid, was to be an actress. There was zero opportunity back home for something like that, so as soon as I’d saved enough, I bought a beat-up old car and headed west to Los Angeles. But I had only been in California for a couple of days when I hit those guys’ car, just like you did, and, well, I think you know the rest.”

  “Keep talking.”

  Laurie’s eyes welled with tears. Her hands were still shaking. “Like I told you when you found me, I couldn’t afford to pay them for the damage. I had to work it off. They keep saying my debt is nearly paid, but I don’t think it ever will be. And I can’t take it anymore.”

  “So you want our help,” Ruby said. “Just one question. How come you sent that guy after us?”

  “What are you talking about? What guy?”

  “The tow-truck driver. He was following us when we were in Palm Springs.”

  “Are you sure?”

  I said, “Yes.”

  Laurie stood up again, clearly agitated. “I’m sorry I bothered you. Just pretend I was never here,” she said, looking around nervously.

  She headed to the gate, but I blocked her way.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “What changed your mind just now?”

  “These guys don’t mess around,” said Laurie.

  “Yeah,” Ruby said, “you told us that. But they have to be stopped.”

  I had an idea. Something that might make Laurie more likely to cooperate with us. “We know a newspaper reporter. He’s already offered to help us out.”

  “A real newspaper reporter?”

  “Uh-huh,” I said. Ruby glanced at me, but I kept my poker face. Reporter sounded way better than journalism student.

  Laurie paused for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. It’s happening again tonight. They’re staging an accident.”

  “Perfect,” Ruby said. “We can get it on camera and expose them.”

  “Your reporter won’t mind doing this?”

  “No, he’s always looking for a good story.”

  “How do you know him? Neither of you live here.”

  I took the lead. “We know his assistant, Cristina.” What was one more lie?

  “Well, if you’re sure this will work…” Laurie said, wringing her hands.

  “We’re sure,” I said. Okay, two lies.

  Laurie gave us the details of the staging before she sneaked away. Ruby and I met up at the pool and called Cristina to outline the plan.

  I told my grandparents I was going to the movies. Not a total lie. We were going to be down at the cinema, but there wouldn’t be any popcorn, extra butter and iced tea tonight. I stood, one hand on a palm tree, outside the cinema parking lot.

  Ruby waved at me from the opposite side of the street. We wanted to record all angles. She called out, one hand on her phone and the left cupping her mouth, “No sign of Cristina and Javier.”

  I shook my head, knowing I had double-checked that this was the right spot. Then I spotted a car, the lead car. It stopped and idled at the side of the road. I could see a woman in the front passenger seat. It was Laurie, probably in that pregnancy costume.

  As if on cue, a tow truck appeared to my right. I secured it in the crosshairs of my phone’s camera. The words Cactus Towing confirmed that Laurie had told us the truth. It was on!

  The tow truck kept at a low speed, circling through the parking lot, trolling for young or old drivers coming out of a movie.

  A loud clap caught my attention. It was Ruby across the street. I was relieved to see Cristina and Javier at her side. Ruby gave me a thumbs-up, but I was distracted by the tow truck’s movements.

  It was onto someone. It trailed its prey, a white Toyota sedan. It was unsettling to be on the other side of this scam. Seeing the setup. Knowing that less than a week earlier, I’d been driving the target car. It was an eerie feeling, knowing an accident was about to happen. At least it was the last one these people would ever set up.

  I stayed hidden behind the palm tree and kept my phone trained on the Toyota. Inside was an older couple who had no idea they were being watched. They stopped at the exit with their left turn indicator on. As they turned, the tow truck flicked its lights once, obviously signaling the car Dale and Laurie were in. What Dale didn’t know was that Javier was about to call 9-1-1.

  The car lurched forward and sped up, maneuvering itself in front of the Toyota.

  It felt like the night of my accident was replaying, frame by frame. The couple was probably complaining about the terrible driver zooming past them. In the car in front of them, Dale was about to hit the brakes.

  I gripped my hands tightly together and called out, “Brace!” as if they could hear me. The red brake lights lit up, and I half turned, my phone still capturing the moment. I scrunched up my eyes at the sound of screeching tires, and then there was silence.

  My eyes popped open, but instead of a crash scene, the road was clear. There was no sign of the target or
the tow truck. The lead car pulled a U-turn and stopped in front of me. I stood frozen, my phone still aimed and recording as Dale jumped out of the car and rushed toward me. He grabbed me and pulled me into the backseat.

  I looked up to see Ruby watching in horror. The force of the car’s acceleration pushed me back into the seat, and we were gone.

  Chapter Ten

  My heart raced as I reached for the door handle and pulled on it, but it wouldn’t open.

  “Child locks are on,” Dale said with a sneer. “So sit back and be quiet.”

  I tried the door again and again, pulling as hard as I could, praying that somehow the lock would snap and the door would swing open. I wasn’t against jumping and rolling to safety. I’d roll the dice for scrapes or broken bones.

  Dale said, “And stop whimpering!”

  Was I? I also hadn’t noticed my heart racing out of control. Calm down and think, I ordered myself. As I got my breathing a little under control, I remembered that Laurie was in the passenger seat.

  “What’s going on?” I called to her, pushing on the seat. “What happened to the plan?”

  She didn’t say anything, her head aimed forward.

  “Wait a minute. This whole thing was your idea? How could we have been so stupid as to trust you?”

  Again she didn’t say anything.

  “Where are you taking me?” I was trying hard not to panic.

  Dale slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “I said shut up!”

  I looked out the window. There was just darkness. I was Palm Springs-experienced enough to know that no sign of lights meant we were somewhere in the desert. I scanned the backseat for anything I could use to break a window or stop the car. There was nothing.

  “My friends are going to find me. Laurie, you know who was there. They’re probably behind us.” I glanced over my shoulder through the dirty back window. Nothing.

  “If she doesn’t shut up,” Dale said to Laurie, “then I’m going to do it for her.”

  Tears streamed down my face. Come up with a plan.

  I could kick the back of the driver seat enough to bother Dale. If he got out to yell at me, I could make a run for it.

  The tears continued. Don’t give up.

  If this was an old car, maybe I could kick out the window. Then jump through.

  I wiped away the tears. They haven’t won yet.

  Another idea surfaced. Reach around and cover Dale’s eyes with your hands. Blind him into swerving off the road. This car doesn’t have air bags. I could brace for the crash, then escape.

  A light went off at the back of my brain. I had my phone! There had to be a 9-1-1 option. I flicked up on the lock screen and saw the words Emergency Dial. I touched it and hoped the phone would do the rest. I waited, the phone pressed against my left ear so it was blocked from view.

  The car slowed and pulled into a long driveway.

  Come on, come on. Why isn’t it dialing? Then I saw the words No Service.

  The headlights shut off, and everything went black.

  The car stopped, and they got out. My door opened, and Dale grabbed me. I struggled to get loose, but his grip was too tight. He dragged me along a dirt path toward a large building.

  I tried to turn—where was Laurie?

  Dale kicked the door open and pushed me through a large office area and then through another door.

  He released me, and I fell to the floor.

  The dimly lit space looked like a car garage—more like a dead-car morgue.

  Dale stood above me, pointing. “I saw you together. You think I wouldn’t have found out? That you and Laurie would have the brains to take me down? Next time, be a little less obvious when you’re trying to film me.” He wiped sweat from his forehead. “You should have minded your own business. Moved on with your life.”

  I was too scared to move. I swallowed hard, muttering, “My friends are coming for me.”

  “No one’s coming for you! No one’s going to find you!” He turned and slammed the door behind him. I heard the click of the lock.

  After a few minutes I got to my feet and looked around, feeling like a scared rat. Where was I? An old sports car sat in the middle of the room, its hood up, no engine.

  Other than a few tools, car rims and half-naked chicks taped to the wall, I was alone.

  Best vacation ever.

  I heard footsteps outside the door and quickly grabbed a wrench, hiding it behind my back.

  The door scraped open and Dale appeared. Behind him was Laurie, tears streaming down her face.

  I took a step to the side, eyeing the open door. Could I make it? I squeezed the wrench. Could I take him?

  Dale grabbed Laurie’s arm. “Turning on me was the dumbest move of your stupid life.” He pushed her toward me, and she cried out.

  “You two deserve each other.” Then he was out the door again.

  Laurie’s hands covered her face. She just stood there, muttering to herself.

  Was she praying?

  After a moment she lifted her head and screamed, “I wish I’d never met you!”

  “How is this my fault? We trusted you. You are a liar!”

  “I meant Dale! But the same goes for you.”

  “What did I do? Except believe that you actually wanted to stop them.”

  “Are you kidding me? Do you think I set this up? I warned you that Dale was smart. He found out. He’s been following us since you showed up at the clothing store!”

  Oh. “So you didn’t set me up?” I asked, feeling a bit sheepish.

  “No! I stuck to the plan. But they already knew.”

  There was silence.

  “Now what?” I asked finally.

  “You said your friends are coming—” “You believed me? How would they ever find me? If they’d followed us, they would’ve been here by now.”

  Laurie ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m scared to think what Dale is going to do to us.”

  More silence.

  I moved around the room some more. There was a rusty-looking shelf that ran about halfway up the far wall. I put my foot on the first level to test its stability. So far, so good.

  “What are you doing?” Laurie asked.

  No idea. I kept climbing and pushed some boxes to the side. There it was, our exit plan. “Laurie, come here!”

  I climbed back down and showed her. “We have to pull this shelf out from the wall. There’s a window behind it.”

  “Really? Okay.”

  “First we need to take everything off the shelf.”

  We started with the first row, and then I climbed back up to hand Laurie the rest. The next step was to slide the shelf far enough away from the wall that we could access the window.

  “Laurie, can you cough for me? It will cover the sound.”

  She nodded and coughed on cue as I pulled on the shelving structure. It made a terrible scraping sound against the cement floor. It didn’t move much over her three coughs, but just enough.

  We heard distant voices on the other side of the building.

  “We have to move quickly. Like, now.”

  I moved behind the shelf and climbed up to the window. “It won’t budge.”

  “Here, let me try,” said Laurie, climbing up beside me and giving it a good push.

  The window would not open.

  Chapter Eleven

  The window was sealed tightly from years of never being used. “Maybe if we try together,” I suggested. “Ready?”

  Laurie nodded.

  “Pull!”

  I felt it give a tiny bit. “Again,” I said, my muscles straining to their max. The window started to lift.

  “Oh my god, it’s so heavy!” exclaimed Laurie.

  It took both of us to get it high enough to get through. But in our excitement, we let go, and it crashed back down.

  The distant voices stopped.

  “We have to hurry!” said Laurie.

  “We need something to prop it open. Something
about the height of a racket handle.” I looked around briefly but heard the voices start up again—no doubt Dale and his friends were on their way to investigate.

  “What should we do?” said Laurie, more panicked than ever.

  “Try again.” It took all of our energy to pull the window back up.

  “Maya, I can’t hold this for much longer.”

  Executive decision time, I thought. I couldn’t hold on much longer either. And one of us getting out was better than none. I looked at Laurie. “You first.”

  “No. We go together. And you can’t hold the window alone.”

  “Laurie, it’s time. Go, now!”

  Laurie sighed and let go of the window. I took all its weight. As she got her first leg through, I felt the strain in my fingers first. Then it traveled quickly up my arms. Steady now.

  Behind me the voices grew louder, angrier.

  Laurie was through, looking up at me from the outside.

  I could hear the voices right outside the door. It was too late.

  “What are you waiting for, Maya?”

  “I can’t get through without getting crushed. Go get help!” I stepped back and let go.

  I scrambled down and turned to the door as it opened. I was expecting Dale, but it was the old man from Cactus Towing.

  “What is that racket? Oh, it’s you again,” he grumbled, trusty baseball bat in hand.

  Whatever trouble I had been in before, it had just doubled.

  “Come here!” he commanded.

  All the exits were blocked. All I could think of was my grandparents. And my parents. They had trusted me to follow rules and stay out of trouble. I had done the exact opposite, starting with talking to strangers.

  I could apologize, but that wouldn’t do any good. I could try begging.

  The old man turned from me to the two men who’d followed him—Dale and, behind him, the tow-truck driver. “What’s going on here, boys?”

  Dale spoke first. “Nothing, Pops, just hanging out. Thought we’d have some fun.”

  Pops?

  The old man looked back at me. I may have glared a bit. “Doesn’t seem to me like she’s having much fun.”

  Was that a serious comment or sarcasm? Dale’s face was expressionless.

  “And you, Joe? What’s your story?”