The Water

by Nancy Jackson

  Carrie hung up the phone and was soon pulling into the driveway of the safe house. Sandy walked out and got into the passenger side door.

  As Sandy slid down into the soft leather seat of Carrie’s new sports car, a modest Dodge Charger this time rather than a Porche, the two women looked at each other.

  They both knew there was no turning back now. Sandy could not re-enter the house without someone from inside opening the door. So with one final nod, Carrie shoved the car in reverse and sped out of the drive and down the street.

  Chapter 12

  It was a moonless night, but in the city fraught with streetlamps, one would hardly notice. Vince was tiring of sitting watching this silly house all because Gus had something to prove. But Gus was his boss and so he complied.

  It was a boring job on a boring street watching a boring house. Little happened and few people came and went, especially at night when no one at all came or went. He knew the security was tight at the house and was convinced that they locked everything down for the night so no one could come or go.

  The one perk was that he had convinced Gus he needed an iPad with unlimited data service so he would have some way to pass the time. Gus had unwillingly obliged.

  Because Vince had settled in for the night to watch a series non-stop on Netflix, he almost missed the movement next to the house. He shut off the screen of the iPad and watched carefully to see if he had been wrong.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he once again saw movement and leaned in closer to the windshield and squinted. Then, with a huff of air, he leaned back in his seat. It was a silly cat.

  He flicked the screen back on and resumed his series. Then he heard a noise, stopped the iPad once again and listened. Was it that silly cat again, he wondered. For what seemed like ten minutes he sat alert and listening. All he could hear was the sound of the nearby interstate and the middle of the night traffic. It was light but still noticeable.

  When he was about to turn the show back on, he heard the roar of an engine approach from behind him. It was a Hemi; he was sure. That fact was confirmed when the sleek all black Dodge Charger passed his vehicle and pulled into the drive-way of the safe house.

  He set the iPad aside, now glad that the light had been off when the car passed by him. He leaned in to see who would get out of the car. He pulled out his phone and tapped the camera app.

  As he was clicking photos of the car sitting in the driveway a flash of white blonde hair caught the light. It was that lady Gus was so enamoured with. She was leaving the house and getting into the passenger side of the car.

  Vince documented every step and sent them to Gus. Who was in the driver seat, he wondered? Since he was here to watch out for Jenny and Lisa, not the blonde lady, he once again leaned back in his seat.

  As the car pulled out of the drive-way it headed back towards him. He had his camera ready and snapped several shots showing the driver. It was that lady cop!

  He quickly sent those to Gus as well. What could she possibly be doing here?

  The ding of the phone was loud in the quiet, and when Vince looked down, he saw Gus’ response. “Follow them.”

  He replied that Jenny and Lisa were not with them, to which Gus replied, “I don’t care. Follow them.”

  Vince started the engine and did a u-turn in the middle of the street. With few cars out at this time of night, he had to be careful or they would spot him following them.

  As he drove along, his eye once again caught movement. It was the two girls. They each had a trash bag and were walking in the shadows of a street that ran perpendicular to the street he was driving on.

  Torn between following the lady cop and getting the girls, he hesitated. Suddenly he whirled the SUV around once again and headed to where he had seen the girls.

  Just as he was getting closer, a car pulled to the curb in front of them from the other direction, and they both got in. They had flagged down a taxi. He slammed his steering wheel, only slightly disappointed. He vowed that this guy would not see him following though, and he would get these girls back. The reward from Gus would be sweet.

  Jenny gave the taxi driver Pride’s address, which was only two miles away. Their plan was to get Pride and then get on a bus out of Oklahoma. She knew Pride would resist, but Jenny felt confident she could persuade her.

  It was a little past two-thirty in the morning, but there was a light on in the front room. It was the glow of the television set.

  Jenny paid the man, and she and Lisa walked up to Pride’s front door and knocked. It took several seconds, but finally sounds of movement filtered through the door.

  Pride called out, “Yes, who is it?”

  “It’s me Pride, It’s Jenny.”

  The door whipped open. Pride glanced at Jenny and Lisa then quickly looked away to survey the street. She lived on a poor street and the closest streetlamp was busted out. It was pitch black out.

  The door swung fully open, and Pride ushered the girls quickly inside. She engulfed Jenny in one of her all-consuming hugs and stood rocking her gently.

  Then almost as suddenly, Pride released her hold and said, “Why are you here?”

  “Gus was watching the house. He knows we were there.” Jenny knew Pride would understand. “Lisa saw him outside watching the house. We knew we had to leave. We have a plan.” Jenny’s words rushed out in an effort to convince Pride before she could offer a rebuttal.

  “We have enough money for three bus tickets out of here. You are coming with us.” Jenny concluded.

  “No Jenny.” Pride’s words were soft and her face was sad. “I’m not leaving.”

  “But you have to leave now. With us gone from the safe house, Gus will find you and kill you.” Jenny was desperate to convince Pride to come with them. She needed Pride. The last couple of days at Safe At Last had proven that to her.

  “Sit down, sweet girl.” Pride had her hands on each of Jenny’s arms and gently guided her to the sofa. Sitting there, Pride looked with love upon Jenny’s face.

  “I can’t go.” Her voice was calm in a way that frightened Jenny. “I understand that you feel you need to get out of here, but I cannot go with you. I’m too old and too feeble to run away and start a new life.

  “You were safe at Safe At Last. Gus couldn’t get you there. Why did you run?”

  “We were safe, but soon we would go out like Lisa did earlier today with less and less supervision. Then Gus would get us. We would never feel safe.”

  “They have ways to keep you safe. That lady cop, she would help you.”

  Jenny was already shaking her head at Pride’s words. “Not forever. You know Gus.”

  Just then all three of their heads swiveled to the front door. The slow rumble of an engine was growing outside as a vehicle drove down the street.

  Lisa ran to the front door and slammed the locks shut. Then the sound of the engine silenced as the motor shut off. Someone was outside close to Pride’s house.

  “Are the cops still watching your house?” asked Jenny.

  “No. They left earlier this evening with plans to do frequent drive-bye’s.” This realization resonated through all three like a death sentence.

  Just then Pride’s phone rang, and she jerked her head to look in that direction, then back at Jenny.

  Pride pushed herself up and walked to the phone. “Hello.”

  “Pride this is Carrie Border with the OSBI. I am sitting just down the street from your house. Jenny and Lisa have run away from the safe house and I believe they are coming to you.” Carrie paused to see what Pride’s response would be. When there was none, she continued.

  “I’m going to come to your door now. Do not be alarmed. It’s me.”

  Finally Pride said, “Okay.”

  She laid the phone back down and turned to look at Jenny and Lisa. Before she could decide what to say there was a slight knock at the door.

  Pride went to the door and opened it enough for Carrie and another lady to slip through before she s
hut and locked the door.

  Jenny jumped up from the sofa and Lisa scurried around the corner.

  “Wait!” Carrie called out. “We only want to talk to you. Don’t run. We won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  Jenny felt penned in. She stood in front of the sofa, but Pride stood in front of her to her left and the other two ladies in front of her to her right. She had nowhere to run where they couldn’t stop her.

  In defeat, Jenny dropped back onto the sofa and laid her forehead on her knees and cried. Sandy had stepped around the corner and was attempting to stop Lisa, just as she was opening the back door.

  “Lisa, wait,” Sandy called out. But Lisa slipped out the door and ran with Sandy behind her.

  Lisa had never been to Pride’s house and with the dark night pressing in on her, she was literally stumbling to find her way off the porch and through the backyard.

  The clatter of an old metal trash can told Sandy the direction to go, and she ran towards it. Lisa fumbled with the gate to the rickety chain-link fence and finally found the flip-up latch and disengaged it. She shoved the gate hard, but overgrown grass grabbed the gate from below, proving a formidable foe.

  Shoving with all her might, she pushed the gate just enough to slip through. Somewhere along the way she had dropped her trash bag of clothes, but she didn’t care. Once free of the gate, she ran with a fury knowing Sandy was right behind her.

  The faster an object is moving, the greater the impact when forced to stop by an unmoveable object. The impact Lisa felt caused her to nearly loose consciousness. Bright dots of light danced behind her eyelids as she lay dazed on the hard ground.

  Hearing the impact and a grunt from Lisa, Sandy slowed her pace a bit. Her eyes still had not adjusted to the blackness and she could make out very little.

  Then suddenly there was no ground beneath Sandy’s feet. They were whirling in the air trying to find leverage. Strong, log like arms locked her tightly. She opened her mouth to scream, then more than the night went black.

  As soon as Vince had seen that the taxi was taking the girls to Pride’s house, he slowed and called Gus. Pulling onto the street he realized the cop car that had been watching Pride’s house was no longer there.

  He pulled over to the curb about four houses down from Pride’s and sat waiting for Gus’ instructions. He was sitting there on the phone when Carrie’s black Charger crept down the street and parked in front of the house next door to Pride. He had hit the jackpot!

  As soon as Carrie and the blonde lady had gone inside, Vince stepped out of his vehicle and walked toward Pride’s. When he’d almost reached her front yard, he heard a voice call out from inside and then a clatter from the back.

  He was standing alert and ready when Lisa ran solidly into him. In an instinctual response Vince resisted the impact with the full force. The result left Lisa sprawled on the ground. The impact against Vince, then the hard slam to the ground had rendered her immobile.

  Then he saw a slight flash of blonde hair and grabbed the blonde lady around her middle raising her off the ground. As she screamed, he released his grip enough to punch her solidly in the face.

  Now both ladies lay out cold on the ground. Gus was not close by, and it would take him time to get there. Making a quick decision, Vince decided he would take the two, tie them up and put them in his vehicle.

  He picked up Lisa like a sack of potatoes and slung her over his shoulder. It took only a minute to heave her into the back of the SUV and tie her arms and legs. Soon he had done the same to the blonde lady, and both were secure.

  He got back into the driver's seat and called Gus again, explaining the situation, and waiting for further instruction.

  “So the lady cop and Jenny are still inside with Pride?” Gus asked for confirmation.

  “Yes,” Vince answered. “Wait. The lady cop just came outside. She’s looking around. I’m sure she is looking for Lisa and the blonde. I can’t stay here, boss.”

  “Yeah, right. Okay… Go on over to the house on Ivan Street. I’ll meet you there.

  Vince shut off the phone and hesitated. He was hoping the lady cop would go back inside and he could slip away unnoticed. There she goes, he thought, as Carrie turned to go back inside.

  As she stepped back into the house and out of sight, Vince turned on the SUV. Hearing the car roar to life, Carrie bolted back out the front door and into the front yard.

  Realizing that both Sandy and Lisa were missing, the car roaring to life brought her to rapt attention. She flung her car door open and was quickly inside, moving hard and fast after the SUV.

  It had to be Gus or one of his men, didn’t it? Her instincts from her OKCPD days compelled her to call her pursuit in and ask for backup, but this was abnormal. Her own partner didn’t even know she was here. Should she call him even though she had promised Sandy?

  Sandy was in that car! Sickness threatened her. Her partner’s wife had just been abducted in a situation that Carrie had been talked into against her own better judgement.

  She pressed even harder on the gas pedal. The SUV was no match for the Charger and she would catch up to him soon. They were in a part of the city, close to downtown, where the original grid layout of streets had since been adapted to a winding intercept of curved interstate highways, one-way streets, and boulevards.

  Carrie was surprised that the SUV had so much power. She had caught up to it, but staying on its tail was a challenge. She realized they weren’t heading to Gus’ house, this was the wrong way. But of course he wouldn’t want to lead her straight there.

  A sudden curve came up, and the SUV skidded around it with two wheels almost leaving the pavement. Carrie responded with a quick whip of the wheel. Her car wobbled back and forth trying to regain forward momentum.

  Vince was driving erratically trying to throw the cop off. She had a souped-up engine, and he knew his heavy SUV was no match. He would have to think through this to get her off his tail.

  He attempted to navigate the one-way streets downtown, thinking he could throw her off by going the wrong way, but after she followed him relentlessly two blocks the wrong way down a one-way street, he realized that wouldn’t work.

  He had to get out of downtown. There was too much construction and torn-up streets. Just then proving that point, he accidentally hit a wooden barricade that went flying to the right and back.

  Carrie dodged and ducked out of instinct as the barricade hurtled toward her car. She swerved just in time to miss it, but lost precious ground.

  The engine roared as she pressed it harder, sitting forward in her seat from anxiety. Even if she wanted to call Randy now, she couldn’t. She would lose them.

  The SUV turned again and headed south. The stoplight was red, but that hadn’t stopped it. Carrie looked quickly and then sped up to follow. She had not seen a car approaching and had to swerve to miss it as she careened into its lane. The other car screeched to a halt perpendicular to the street.

  Again, she had to gain control of her car in order to press it in a solid, forward motion. The near collision had afforded the SUV some ground. Carrie was about five or six car lengths behind when she heard the dinging bells and saw the flashing red lights.

  A train. A split second decision. The SUV flew across the tracks just ahead of the train as Carrie slammed on her brakes and spun the car sideways. Her car rocked hard to a stop with dust and debris flying all around her.

  The rush of the train traveling inches away from her car door created terror like none she had ever known. She had missed death by a split second. Her life had flashed before her eyes and was now vivid in her mind.

  What she saw blanketed her with a deep sorrow. Her body shook convulsively, and she laid her head and hands on the steering wheel and wept, with one thought ringing through her. If the train had hit her, would it have even mattered?

  The chaos of Sandy pursuing Lisa out the door, then Carrie tearing off in her car, left Jenny and Pride standing stunned
in the middle of the living room.

  Pride reached out and drew Jenny in close. They had once again shut and bolted both the front and back doors. They did not understand what was going on and were both terrified.

  Jenny pulled away slightly from Pride and looked up at her. “Pride we have to go.” She watched Pride’s face, hoping that she would understand that they couldn’t stay where they were.

  “Please Pride,” begged Jenny.

  Pride stood thinking. The anxiety was preventing her from clear thought and her emotions were tugging against her common sense.

  After a few minutes of Jenny begging, Pride took hold of Jenny and looked her firmly in the eye.

  “Jenny take my car and go. I can’t go. I told you, I can’t. But you should.” Pride let go of Jenny and walked to her purse. She dug around, then pulled out her car keys and cash from her wallet. It wasn’t much, but would help the poor girl a little.

  The entire time Jenny was still begging, now pleading, for Pride to please go with her. Threats of not leaving without her fell on deaf ears.

  Pride turned and pressed the keys and money into Jenny’s hand. “Go. When this is all over and they have caught Gus, you can come back.”

  Jenny was furiously shaking her head and tears fell mixed with hot water running from her nose.

  Suddenly, Pride slapped Jenny across the face, then in panic pulled her to her, hugging her tightly, then pushing her away again.

  “Jenny you have to go! Now!” Pride shoved Jenny towards the front door, unlocked it, and pushed her outside. She shut and locked the door quickly before Jenny could force her way back in.

  Jenny sat down on the cold concrete step and sobbed. She wanted to die. It was all too much to bear.

  In the dark quiet of the early morning Jenny finally realized that Pride could not be made to come with her and that she had to leave. She rose from the step as though her body were made of lead and walked to the car.

  Jenny pulled out of the driveway and was three blocks away when Gus pulled up in front of Pride’s house.