Author's Note:
This a collaboration between myself and wonderful Brittni4U. Please take the time to read the previous chapters. You can find separate versions of Ch. 01 on both Brittni4U's page as well as mine (Skye_sub). Ch. 02 can be found exclusively on Brittni4U's page. I want to dedicate this chapter to the beautiful and talented Britt, babe, you are my heart and soul; I love you.
Enjoy, everyone and thanks so much for all your support!
My boots tread silently along the well-cushioned carpet of the hotel. After volunteering to retrieve our baggage from my truck, I'd left Britt snuggled up in bed, drifting off to sleep as satisfied as a cat in a sunbeam. As the lobby doors automatically opened, I was hit by a chill carried by the wind, coming down from the mountains. I shuddered automatically and I hugged my leather jacket closer.
The clacking of my heeled boots echoed across the empty parking lot and reverberated off the tall buildings around me; it lent an additional aura of mystique to the already disconcerting scene. The sound was misleading in its origin. Instinctively, I began looking behind myself with the image of a dark figure ready to pounce vivid in my imagination. These anxiety-induced fears were practically foreign to me before yesterday. It had been less than 12 hours since I was attacked in an attempted abduction at a truck stop, and my nerves weren't as solid as I'd grown accustomed to them being. Conversely to my current situation, my hometown was as safe as a sitcom trope; small and quaint. The type of town where nobody locked their doors at night because the biggest thing to fear was a moose wandering around town.
As I continued on, a unique sort of chill crawled up my spine. Suddenly, I wondered,
just what the hell am I doing? Britt won't be around to save me this time
. I was too proud to go back for her or her gun, so I quickened my pace and carried on towards the truck. Soon, I heard footsteps sounding behind me in a way I couldn't explain away as echoes or nerves. Quickening my pace, I heard the steps keep match with mine. My heart was pounding the deafening reverberation of flowing blood through my ears. Panicking, I began to trot away, and the steps faded behind me. I ducked behind a nearby vehicle and swung my head out, just in time, to catch a glimpse of a man climbing into a car. Relief washed over me as I observed him put his key in the ignition and start the vehicle.
In an effort to remain inconspicuous, we had parked far behind the hotel and that had subsequently lengthened my walk. By the time I arrived at the truck, I was a mess of nerves and jumping at every noise or shadow. I felt embarrassed by my behaviour but was unable to stop it as my fear took me over.
I almost missed it, in some ways I wish I had and yet, I know it's foolish to wonder what might have been. In any case, I heard it first, the unmistakable flapping of paper in the breeze. When I looked up; I noticed a piece of paper tucked beneath a windshield wiper. Climbing up the steps, I leaned across the air cleaner and awkwardly reached for the paper. It was barely within reach, but after some stretching, I managed to grasp it between my forefinger and middle finger. Tentatively contained, I conducted a delicate dance with it back to my other hand where I secured it just as a breeze blew up, seconds too late to dislodge it. Clasping it firmly in one hand, I used the other to open the door and swing into the driver's seat. I sat for just a moment, breathing hard and feeling deeply apprehensive. I set the note on the dash, and climbed into the bunk, not taking my usual care to remove my boots first.
Our bags were sitting on the bed, I grasped them and heaved them one by one into the cab of the truck. I wanted to get started on my way back to the hotel, but my senses were on high alert. There was a small part of myself that wished I could just lock the doors and curl up in the bunk to wait for daylight. That was ridiculous though, Britt was waiting upstairs, and ultimately, I wanted nothing more than to crawl into her arms and fall asleep with her warm soft skin snuggled up next to me. Newly motivated by the thought of her, I grabbed the bags and was about to jump down the steps when I remembered the note. I set our luggage down and settled into the driver's seat.
I unfolded the coffee stained letter - at least I hoped those were coffee stains- to reveal the handwriting of someone with a slim grasp of literacy. It read:
I bet u think u got away wit it. I bet ya think no one seen what u done. Cunts u r. Both of ya. Takin money that should be mine. Those were my best custmers. U owe me big time! Tomorow u will pay or I will show everyone what u bitches done. I got a video the cops would luv to see. Meet my guy, Sal at the El Dorados gentlemen's club. He will find ya. B their by 10 tomorrow. Don't b late!
"Fuck." I muttered to myself and then as the gravity of the situation sunk in further, I yelled while pounding my fist on the steering wheel, "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
I knew I needed to handle this; I needed to protect Britt like she had protected me. Questions rattled through my overwrought head with increasing intensity,
I can't tell her; I need to keep her safe from this. Will she let me go alone? How can I explain away leaving her alone for an evening, while I go to a strip club, when I'd harassed her so frequently about meeting up with me again?
There was no doubt in my mind as my thoughts continued their onslaught
, I will have to take her with me.
Maybe I can get her drunk enough and she won't notice what is going on, but that seems like a cheap trick. If I can sell her on the idea of going to the strip club, then maybe I will be able to sneak off, meet this Sal- piece of shit, and pay them off or do whatever it is that they want. Then it will be over, and Britt and I can try to salvage the rest of this trip.
