by Selena Black
“What the hell were you doin’ out there? Just kissin’ were ya? Just kissin’ in the middle of the damn road?” he raged.
“We’re so sorry sir. We’re very lost and well…,” she trailed off
The man in the car eyed them suspiciously.
“Where are you headin?” he asked just so he could look at Anna for a little while longer.
“The plan was to get to Mexico,”
“Oh really?” the man was even more suspicious now. He eyed them up again and saw their lack of belongings and their exhausted demeanour. “Hmmmm…. How old are you?”
“19,” smiled Anna.
“And you?” the man pointed to Carl.
“32,”
And again the man behind the wheel grew even more suspicious.
“Well… I can’t say Jesus would approve of your public cavorting and your delinquent ways. But I’ll drop you a little closer – I’m not taking you to no damn Mexican town. Get yourselves in the back there,”
“Thank you so much!” Anna was delirious with joy.
As they climbed into the back of the car they instantly felt the pain being relieved from their limbs.
“Urgh… we’ve been walking for hours,”
“You weren’t planning on walking to Mexico were you?”
“Maybe,” Carl said dryly.
“Well I’m goin’ as far as Austin, Texas. I can drop you there,”
“That is so kind of you. Really, just so kind,” Anna gripped the man’s shoulder.
“Any chance to be a Good Samaritan,” the man smiled in the rear view mirror at Anna. “I’m Gerald by the way,”
“Please to meet you Gerald,” mumbled Carl before he leaned back and fell asleep.
CHAPTER 14
Detective Callahan felt the acid reflux rise within him as he sat at his desk. Reaching into the top drawer he pulled out an almost empty bottle of Pepto-Bismol and drank from it thirstily.
“Urgh….” he rested his head in his hands and sighed sadly.
This was the second time he had been asked to do dirty work for the mob and just like the first time it scared the hell out of him. He knew they were using him for the type of dirty work he was supposed to prevent, but what could he do? If he said no they’d kill him, but if he said yes and his chief found out he’d be fired and he’d probably lose his pension too. The thought of explaining that to his wife Cathy was painful and he could hear her nagging voice already. It made the acid reflux return and he finished off the bottle.
All he had on this Carl Reiner was what Jerry had told him. He was an ex-Navy Seal and he was in Chicago somewhere. He ran his name and saw that he had one conviction a couple years back, a DUI. It was his only offence and it was just after he’d been discharged. Since then it looked as though he’d been keeping his nose clean… well not really, if he was wanted by the Mob. The licence plate for the vehicle he was in at the time of arrest was in the file and he ran that too. A result popped up quicker than he thought. He grabbed his phone and called Jerry back.
“Hey. I got somethin’,” he was eager to finish this whole thing.
“Gimme it,”
“His SUV was found on the edge of St Louis two days ago,”
“St Louis? Was he there?”
“Nope it was just the vehicle. And it was burnt to a crisp. I mean destroyed,”
“I see….” Jerry was in deep thought. “And a girl?”
“There were no bodies in the vehicle. It was really just the husk left,”
“Can you gimme the exact location?”
“Yuh… Two seconds,” there was a ruffling noise on the line as Callahan searched through the file. “It was really in the ass end of nowhere pal. I mean two point five miles northwest of a town called Brunton on Gibson Rd. Nothin’ but fields everywhere,”
“Hmmmm….” Jerry’s mind went blank. “I wonder where the fuck they went,”
“Well if you don’t mind me havin’ a say. I have a brother in law in St Louis. Drove down there plenty of times. If he’s not hidin’ in a field, which I suppose he’s not, then he’s probably wondered into one of those quaint motels on the edge of town,”
“Are there many near where the car was found?” Jerry asked desperately, his excitement was palpable.
“Hang on,” frantic typing sounded. “Yuh… well four miles away. A little place called Evergreen Motel,”
“Thanks Callahan. I owe you one!” and Jerry hung up abruptly.
Suddenly a heavy feeling swept through the detective as he became riddled with guilt. Something told him this Carl was a good guy. A military boy that got himself in with the wrong crowd and he wished he’d never said anything. But what could he have done? He reached into the top drawer again and pulled out a hip flask. He sipped from it gingerly and felt the burn as the liquor washed down his gullet. As soon as the winter was up he was going on holiday.
~
The sun was shining bright through the window of the little VW Beatle. Anna had seen one of these cars once in a movie, but she’d never been in one. She soon realized it was a rather disappointing experience. The seats were hard and each tiny pebble that went under the wheels felt like a bolder. Still, she was appreciative of the ride and she looked down to her feet in her new sneakers and felt the blisters throb.
She looked over to Carl and saw him sleeping heavily. His eyelids were twitching as he dreamt and she wondered what was going through his mind.
“Gerald?” she broke the silence.
“Yuh?”
“Do you always pick up hitch hikers?”
“Hmmmm… not always. But I’m always on the road so maybe every week or so I’ll pick up someone nice like yourself and help them out,”
“That’s real nice of you,” Anna smiled in the rear view mirror.
“Oh really it’s nothing. It’s just what the scripture teaches,” and he smiled happily.
She had never met anyone so innocent and carefree before and figured he’d never had a bad experience in his life.
“So do you travel for work?” she asked.
“Uhuh… I’m a good old fashioned Bible salesman,”
“You’re kidding? I didn’t know those actually existed,”
“Well,” Gerald shrugged. “Here I am,” and he smiled that goofy grin again.
He was so kind and friendly that Anna couldn’t help but be suspicious. She’d seen enough horror movies in her lifetime to know how scenes like this ended. She looked out to the desolate landscape and realized the predicament of their situation. The sheer wild terrain all around them and the sense of isolation, it terrified her.
“You look like you’re contemplating something there?” Gerald talked to her through the mirror.
“Just that… Don’t you get lonely and frightened out here on the open road?”
“Frightened? No!” he laughed. “This is freedom. This is the true spirit of America,”
And Anna churned over his words in her mind.
“Have you always travelled alone?”
“Oh no. No. I had a wife once. She used to come with me on all my trips. But we were just married two years when the cancer took hold of her. She died before I could make it home to say goodbye,” the severity of his words however were not impacted on his face.
He was still smiling at Anna in the mirror as she turned towards Carl. Seeing him beside her warmed her heart.
“May I ask if you’ve been married long?” Gerald asked so innocently that it made Anna blush.
“Er… not that long at all,” she didn’t care to elaborate.
“Well ain’t that nice. You should appreciate every moment you have together. You never know when you’ll have to say goodbye,” and he looked to the sky as if he could see to heaven. “But everyone waits up there for us when we have to go,”
“Do you think everyone is reunited with their loved ones?” she quickly felt terrified at the thought of being with her father for all eternity.
“Yeah I really do. Th
e way I see it is that we are all in debt to God and then person by person he makes us repay that debt. That’s when it’s our time to go back,”
Anna didn’t know what to say to that and she just looked out the window as the trees passed by.
“I don’t know if I like the sound of that,” she mumbled under her breath.
CHAPTER 15
Jerry was trying his hardest to run up the stairs in the Don’s home but in true Angelo style it was the longest and most exhausting staircase Jerry had ever seen. He was sweating as he got to the top and he had to stand for a moment to catch his breath. In the distance he could hear the music of Frank Sinatra playing. He followed the sound until he reached the door of Don Angelo’s office. Knocking gently he waited for an answer. Silence. He knocked again.
“Yuh, who is it?”
“It’s Jerry, boss,”
“Sure come in,”
As he opened the door he was instantly startled to see a young girl about twenty years old emerge from under the Don’s desk. As she stood up he could see she was only in her bra and panties.
“Don’t mind her she was just leavin’” Angelo zipped up his pants and leaned over his desk to pick up a cigarette.
The girl scurried out the office and down the hallway, with a wad of cash clutched in her hand.
“Oh, I didn’t know you’d finally met someone. How romantic,” the sarcasm was dripping from Jerry’s voice.
“Don’t talk shit, Jerry, I’m not in the mood,”
“Havin’ pecker troubles again boss? If you don’t mind me askin’,”
“Yuh… the doc said it’s on account of my weight but what the fuck does he know? Anyway….” He lit his cigarette and exhaled. “You got news for me?”
“Sure have! Callahan tracked down Carl’s SUV to a quaint little country road on the edge of St Louis,”
“St Louis? What the fuck’s he doin’ there?”
“And there’s somethin’ else. The car was on fire. I mean literally burnt to cinders. But no bodies,”
“The clever bastard…” Angelo sucked on his cigarette angrily. “He thought he could lose us….”
“I reckon he walked the four miles to a small truck stop on the edge of town,” and Jerry rifled through his pocket to look for the scrap of paper he’d written the name down on. “An Evergreen Motel… that’s where I think he went,”
“What’s with the motels? He seems to have a thing for them,”
“I reckon it’s where he keeps the girl,”
“The girl…. Such a shame she got dragged into this,” Angelo looked to the smoke drifting from his cigarette. “But too bad,”
Jerry nodded solemnly.
“So… Call Jorge. I want the both of you out there immediately. With a bit of luck you’ll find them both holed up in their new love nest,”
“On it boss,” and Jerry gave a thumbs up as he turned to leave.
~
When Carl finally woke up it was dark.
“Shit… how long was I out?”
“Pretty much all day,” Anna held onto his hand.
His head was foggy as he looked out the window to figure out where they were. He squinted into the darkness and Gerald saw his confused look.
“We’re just comin’ up to Austin,” he announced.
“Already?”
“Yup… So your wife here has been telling me all about you being a Navy Seal!”
Carl looked to Anna with a befuddled expression.
“Wife?” he silently mouthed to her.
She shrugged nervously and rolled her eyes.
“Oh… yeah. Just a regular job you know,” he lied to end the awkwardness.
“Oh. Nonsense Sir. You’re a real hero,”
“Thanks,”
“So… Folks, where should I drop you off?”
“Anywhere I guess,” Carl replied.
And they drove in silence until central Austin came into view. Anna thought it looked like a charmingly modern yet clean kinda place. A place she wished she had more time to explore, but as had become normality over the last few days, they had to dash.
“How about here?” Gerald asked as he pointed at an empty parking spot.
“Lovely,” and Gerald pulled in. “Well I guess it’s goodbye,”
As Anna looked to Carl, he had that fierce look of control and determination that she loved so much. He sensed her fear and held her hand tightly.
“We’ll be fine,” he whispered. “We’re nearly there,”
And she nodded.
“Ok… Let’s go,”
They jumped out the car with Carl making sure he definitely had everything this time. Gerald tipped his hat and smiled as they closed the doors and thanked him profusely.
“Good luck!” he waved and then he was gone.
His car disappeared to a pin point in the distance, and Anna wondered where the night would take him.
“It’s funny… meetin’ people like that. They’re the most important person in your life for a little while and then they just go,” Carl remarked.
“I wonder what happens to them,” Anna was still looking into the distance.
“And I wonder if they think about us,” and Carl put his arm around her.
He kissed her on the cheek and swept her hair back behind her ear. He leant in and kissed her cheek softly. She cuddled into him close and turned to kiss him back. But then she pulled away. Carl felt her tension and looked her in the eye.
“What’s wrong?”
“Now what? Another empty road… another night on the run,”
“I promise as soon as the night is over we’ll be hurrying our way over to Mexico. We can get the first bus and we’ll be there in no time,”
“Hmmmm…..”
“You don’t seem happy about that,”
“I’m just scared….” and she cuddled back into him.
“Come on… let’s go find somewhere for the night,”
“Yeah, hopefully we can find a cheap motel around here.!”
Carl laughed and looked to the briefcase of money under his arm.
“I think I can do better than that,”
And he led her down the street until they arrived outside an old, opulent looking hotel.
“Wow, this must be five stars!” Anna looked up in awe.
“I think it is. Come on… we deserve a treat,”
And they entered the magnificent hallway, to be greeted by a concierge who eyed them up somewhat suspiciously as they walked to the reception. After convincing the arrogant girl at the desk that he could indeed afford it he booked the most expensive suite they had, a penthouse on the top floor. As the bellboy took them up in the elevator they smirked to one another and burst out laughing the second they walked out onto the top floor.
“That girl…. With the bad smell under her nose,” Anna giggled. “Her face when you just showed her all that cash,”
“Yeah, I wish I’d taken a picture,” he held out the key as their door approached. “I hope you’re ready. This should be really special?” and he slid in the key card.
As he pushed open the door the most spectacular scene was revealed. Anna gasped as she looked around at the plush living area that looked out through tall glass windows. Next she popped her head around the bathroom door and squealed when she saw the Jacuzzi.
“I’ve always wanted to sit in one of these!”
“Ah you just want to sit on the bubbles,” he laughed and tickled her in the ribs.
She giggled and squirmed under his touch and he picked her up and carried her away.
“You gotta see the bedroom,” he declared.
And he carried her through the suite before playfully tumbling her onto the bed.
“Oh my God. This bed is huuuuuuuuge!”
“Yeah… King sizes are the best,”
“We have loads of room to play,” Anna lay on her back and flirtatiously opened her legs while she stared at him seductively.
Carl couldn’t resist and jumpe
d on top of her. Kissing her passionately he held her tight as if he could never get enough. She wrapped her legs around him and they pressed up against each other as if they never wanted to let go. Eventually Carl broke away and glanced to the phone.
“What’s up?” Anna asked anxiously.
“Fancy ordering room service?”
CHAPTER 16
The two men were in Jorge’s Buick as the night descended on them.
“You ever been to St Louis?” asked Jorge.
“Never, but I hear it’s a shithole,” Jerry answered grumpily.
All he wanted was to grab a beer and get some sleep but here he was carpooling with a psychopath on the hunt for a runaway hit man. If anybody came out alive from this scenario it would be a miracle.
Jorge was looking straight ahead into the night with his hands loosely on the wheel. He was also getting anxious with the lack of sleep and he bent over and rifled through the glovebox for some cigarettes.
