Runaways (10 page)

“I'm sorry,” I said.

He took a closer look at all of us.

“You should all be asleep now anyway,” he continued. “Your aunt know you're out here?”

“We've just arrived. We're on our way to her apartment,” Crystal said.

“You know how to get there?” he asked.

“Yes sir, we have good directions,” Crystal replied.

“Move on, then,” he said.

“Thank you,” Crystal said. “Go, go, go,” she muttered behind my ear.

I put the car in gear and pulled away, again a little too fast. Everyone held her breath. Crystal looked back.

“It's all right. He's not chasing us.”

“You did great, Crystal,” I said. “Fast thinking.” Were we all just naturally good liars? I wondered. Had our lives made us that way?

“Just stay alert. Turn here,” she commanded. “We're looking for the Lincoln Tunnel.” She glanced down at her map. “Make a left ahead and keep going.”

Despite the hour and our fatigue now, it was impossible not to be wide awake. I followed Crystal's directions precisely. When we entered the tunnel, Butterfly was afraid we would never get out. It did seem to go on forever, but suddenly we burst out and then carefully, now with all eyes on the signs and directions, found our way to the route west.

I gazed at the clock again. In a few hours, Gordon Tooey would wake, get dressed, have his coffee, complain about something, step out of the Lakewood House and see his car was missing.

And then, it would begin.

* * *

We drove into the dawn, seeing and feeling the sun come up. When it became very bright, we saw a clear, blue sky ahead with just a puff of a cloud here and there against the horizon.

“Why don't we stop for some coffee?” Raven said. “I need some caffeine, and I need to use the bathroom.”

“Me too,” Butterfly chimed in.

I was glad they asked. I hadn't wanted to be the first to say it, but I was getting to feel like a balloon filling with water. I saw a sign advertising a rest stop in ten miles.

“We'll stop there,” I said nodding.

Just a little more than ten minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot and stepped out of the car, all of us stretching. Probably from the tension, my lower back ached and my legs felt as if I had been squeezed into Gordon and Louise's famous pickle barrel.

“It feels great to move around,” Raven said.

“If you're complaining already, can you imagine what you'll be like by the time we reach the Midwest,” I said. I had to keep them all strong and determined, which meant I had to be even stronger.

“Who's complaining? Was I complaining, Crystal?”

“Let's not argue about it out here,” she said. “Come on.” She took Butterfly's hand and the two of them started for the restaurant.

There were three motorcycles parked in front of the restaurant, and through the window I could see three young men in leather jackets gaping at us. Actually, they were all staring at Raven.

“Uh oh. Here we go again.” I warned.

“What?” Raven had been fiddling with her purse and hadn't noticed the motorcyclists.

“Brooke's just pointing out that you seem to have a fan club inside,” Crystal said in her matter-of-fact way.

“Ugh. They look like the guys my mother used to date. Trouble. With a capital T.” Raven shuddered a little as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“Don't worry, Raven, we won't let them bother you.” Butterfly was always eager to protect Raven. She knew what it was like to be lavished with unwanted attention.

“Come on, let's just go in and sit down. They'll leave us alone if we ignore them.” I said, opening the door to the diner.

After we'd ordered I got up to use the bathroom and when I returned to the table I saw that one of the motorcyclists had sat down in my vacant chair. I cleared my throat and he started to get up. Crystal, Raven and Butterfly all looked up at me gratefully, as if I'd saved them from some sort of torture. When I heard the motorcyclist speak, I knew I had.

“Well, if you girls need anything you just holler for Paulio. I'll be right over there,” he said, pointing to the table where his greasy friends sat.

Thankfully the waitress came then with our order and we settled in to fill our grumbling tummies. As we finished the last of our food Crystal asked if we'd need gas soon.

“I'll get gas here before we leave,” I said. “The wagon's a guzzler. Lucky we have Gordon's credit card.”

“Don't you have to sign his name?” Butterfly asked fearfully.

“We'll use those tanks where you just stick the
card in,” I said. “When we drove up, I saw they had them here.”

Crystal took out the map and we started to discuss the trip, where we thought we would be after another day's travel, and how far we would get by tomorrow.

Suddenly, all our hearts fell. A police patrol car pulled up and parked right under our window. The officers got out and gazed toward Gordon's station wagon.

“It's too soon for there to be a description,” I said and looked to Crystal for confirmation.

“Unless Megan went right to him after we left and he got on the phone with the police,” she replied.

Butterfly looked ready to cry.

“They'll put us in jail,” she whispered.

“Everyone take it easy. Don't act suspicious,” Crystal said.

The waitress brought us the coffee and juice as the policemen entered.

“What are they doing?” I asked Crystal. She glanced up.

“They're going to the counter. They're not even looking our way.”

I blew the air out of my lungs and sat back.

“You know,” I said mournfully, “we're going to have this sort of reaction every time we see policemen.”

“That's why we want to get off the main highways as soon as we can,” Crystal said. She went back to her map. The waitress served our toast and muffins and we all started to eat.

“So where are you all going?” I turned to see one of the motorcyclists standing by our table.

“To visit relatives, like I said,” Crystal replied.

“Early start on your summer vacation, huh?”

“Something like that,” I said quickly and gave him my best look that said “Buzz off.” But he ignored me and turned to Raven again.

“Where do these relatives live?” he pursued. His dirty, dark brown hair, although tied back, had strands popping up like broken piano wires. He had a thin nose and deep-set dark eyes. If he had shaved recently, he had done a poor job. Patches of stubble were on his chin and cheeks. His sideburns looked coated with motor oil.

Raven looked at Crystal for help.

“We're going to a little town outside of Philadelphia,” she said and pointed to it on her map.

“Oh, you got a map, huh?” He leaned over. Then he looked back at his two buddies who were paying their bill. “Be right along,” he called. “I know that town,” he told Crystal. “What you want to do is get off at the next left down here,” he said pointing through the window and up the highway, “and follow that road for ten miles to 1-78. You can cut in here,” he said tracing his long, bony finger on Crystal's map, “and you'll save about fifty miles.”

“Really?” Crystal studied the map intently.

“Yeah, really. We're from here so we know the shortcuts and stuff. Well, have a good trip,” he said with a smile and joined his friends.

“Thank God he's gone,” Raven said in a rush, and it was obvious she'd been holding her breath.

“Maybe he wasn't as bad as we thought. And, if he's right,” Crystal said, “that would cut miles off our trip and also give us a way to avoid heavy traffic. It looks like it makes sense.”

We gazed out the window as the three mounted their cycles, all of them looking back at us. The one with the ponytail waved and then they roared out of the parking lot. We finished our coffee, toast and muffins, paid the bill and left as quietly as we could. One of the policemen at the counter gazed at us, but quickly went back to his eggs.

“My stomach was doing flip-flops when that cop looked at us,” Raven said after we all got into the station wagon. “Brooke's right. We're going to be in a sweat every time we see a police car or a policeman.”

Crystal paused and studied her map again.

“Let's try the shortcut he gave us. It looks like a very quiet way and maybe we won't see any policemen for a while.”

“Good idea,” I said. We got in and I drove up to the gas pumps, filled the tank, paid with Gordon's credit card simply by slipping it into the slot on the pump, and then drove away without looking back.

“This is it,” Crystal said, pointing to a road on our left. It looked poorly maintained.

“This? Are you sure?”

“It's what he told us,” she said. “First left turn after the restaurant.”

“Okay,” I said, turning. The road was chipped and cracked and after only what seemed like a mile or two, was nothing but potholes. I had to slow down considerably. “This can't be right,” I said. “No wonder it's quiet, it's unused.”

“I'm sure this is the road he pointed out,” Crystal said. “It's what he told us,” she repeated and then, as if they could hear her, the three motorcyclists appeared, two crisscrossing right in front of us, the other, with the ponytail, riding alongside. I had to stop. The two cyclists in front of
us stopped, parked their motorcycles right at the front bumper, and got off.

“What's going on?” I demanded, my voice quaking.

“I see you took my advice on your shortcut,” Paulio said. “You girls must be in a big hurry.”

“So?” I said. I hoped he couldn't hear my voice shake.

“So you're on a toll road,” he said with a grin.

“What?” I started to smile, but one of the other two opened the door on Raven's side and leaned in.

“Hello again,” he said. He was short and stocky with light brown hair and blue eyes, a thin mouth and a round jaw with pock-marked cheeks and a bulbous nose. “Nice hair,” he said, reaching in and touching Raven's ebony strands. She pulled away from him.

“Don't touch me,” she cried and we could see the fear in her eyes.

“I'm just giving you a compliment. Don't get so uppity, Maria.”

“My name's not Maria,” Raven mumbled under her breath, not wanting to talk to him any more than she had to.

Paulio reached into his pocket and pulled out a switchblade.

“We could cut some of that off and tie it to our bikes, Duke, huh?”

“Good idea,” the one practically on Raven's lap said. The stench of whiskey was so strong on his breath, it filled the car and turned my stomach.

In the rearview mirror, I could see the look of terror on Butterfly's face and the anger on Crystal's. We were out in the middle of nowhere, no houses, no other people and certainly no other
traffic. They had tricked us, just hoping we would take their advice.

“How much money you got?” the one called Duke asked me.

“We've got tons of money. That's why we're driving such a nice car,” I said with defiance. Instinctively, I knew that if I showed any fear, we would be even worse off.

“Oh, you're a wise guy, huh?” he said. “Maybe we'll cut off your hair, too. Not that you have much.”

“What about her ear? You could wear that on your belt, Tony.”

The third man put his foot on the front bumper and laughed.

“The toll is fifty dollars,” Duke said, “but in five minutes, it goes up to seventy-five.”

“That's two minutes, Duke,” Paulio said. Duke laughed.

“He's right. Two minutes. Well?”

“I think we'll take another route,” I said.

“Too late. You're on this one,” Duke insisted. He reached for Raven's hair again and she pushed his hand away.

“We'll tell the police about this if you don't leave us alone,” Crystal threatened.

“You know,” Duke said, twisting his mouth until it curled in the right corner, “somehow, I don't think you will. Am I right, four-eyes?”

“No, you're all dead wrong about everything,” I said and dropped my foot on the accelerator.

The wagon shot forward, the opened door swinging back on Duke and jarring him so that he fell to the side. The one in front just got his foot off the bumper in time, but that threw him off balance and he fell. The wagon slammed into the bikes parked
in front of us, one flying to the left, the other to the right. I felt the tires go over it.

The cyclists shouted curses at us. Raven shut the door and I backed up. Paulio turned his bike toward us, but I put the wagon in drive and headed for him and he had to speed up to get out of my way. He practically flew off the road and into the ditch, somersaulting head over heels in midair. I didn't wait to see what happened. We bounced over the bumps and potholes so hard, our heads nearly hit the car roof. As soon as I saw the highway, I sped up. In minutes the side road was behind us.

“Don't go too fast, Brooke,” Crystal warned. I slowed down quickly.

Butterfly was crying. Raven looked stunned. I kept my eyes on the road, numbed by our escape. Crystal was watching out the rear window.

“No sign of them. I think you totaled their bikes,” she said with a smile.

“Just keep going,” Raven gasped. “Don't slow down too much,” she begged.

I didn't. We drove on, no one speaking, only the sounds of Butterfly's sobs and our heavy breathing filling the air.

“Butterfly, it's okay, we're fine,” Crystal said as she put her arm around Butterfly and started to comfort her.

“You better watch the map and the road, Crystal. We can't afford mistakes now,” I said.

“This exit,” she said. “It's about twenty-five miles to I-287. Watch for that.”

When it came up, I made the right turns and we were heading southwest. Crystal directed us to another highway and then we were going west toward Pennsylvania. There was no sign of the bikers. I was confident enough to sit back and relax,
but Crystal was worried about Butterfly. I could see it in her face when I looked in the rearview mirror. Instinctively, I pulled off the road at the next rest stop and we all took a deep breath. Butterfly looked like she could go catatonic on us at any moment.