Super Chick

by Amber R. Polk

  “I don’t know.” He shook his head.

  She glanced sideways at Lillie and they smiled at each other. He was close and they knew it. Men were easy. “Drew, we’re not babies and they would be idiots to come back if you have an officer sitting outside.”

  He turned around. “If something happens or you even think something could happen, you have to call me immediately.”

  Gotcha! “Of course.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to her,” Lillie said, patting Megan’s shoulder. Hell, it was safer being with Lillie than it was with him, but he had no way of knowing that. Plus, it would probably hurt his male ego to find out.

  Glancing at his watch, Drew grabbed the phone and called his parents to tell them he would be on his way. By the time he hung up, he was smiling so Megan guessed they were happy with the idea. It wasn’t hard to see he loved his family; his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when he spoke with them.

  “Okay. I’ll call someone to come up here and then I’ll go visit them for a while.” Drew immediately called an officer, but as the time passed, he got tenser. Megan followed him into the bedroom and tried to ease his apprehension as he sat on the bed and put on his shoes.

  “I’ll be fine, really.” She sat on the bed next to him.

  “I know. I just don’t want to be looking for two women instead of one.” He smiled warily. “I still want to talk about earlier.”

  Twisting her hands in her lap, Megan watched her feet. “No need to talk about it. It was a spur of the moment thing. Nothing to talk about, really. I mean… nothing happened, right?”

  Her rambling came to a screeching halt when he cupped the back of her head and turned her to him, covering her mouth with his. The kiss was gentle, but he made a point and she was in serious trouble. “Something definitely happened.”

  “Uh, okay,” Megan stammered in wide-eyed shock.

  Drew gave her a shit-eating grin and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “We’ll talk a lot more when I get back.”

  In slow motion, she nodded her head and watched him walk away. Did he consider that talking? If so, she could only imagine what an argument with him would be like. Chills covered her arms. She slowly rubbed them, wondering what she could say or do to pick a fight.

  Chapter Eleven

  Lillie strode into the bedroom and placed a hand on her hip. “He’s gone. Let’s get ready.”

  As fast as they could, they dressed in as much black as they could find in Megan’s closet. Megan ended up in a black sweatshirt and sweatpants with dark gray sneakers. Lillie wore knee-high, black high-heeled boots and a pair of black leather pants Megan forgot she even owned, and a long-sleeved black t-shirt. Lillie came up with the bright idea of smearing black shoe polish on their faces. The point was to blend in with their surroundings and for their sake, she hoped they did. Megan was pretty sure she would drop dead from humiliation if anyone saw her in that getup.

  “How far down did you leave the car?” Megan whispered when they made it out the back door and crawled to the woods at the side of the house, undetected. Earlier, Megan told Drew her car needed tires and an oil change so Lillie dropped it off for her. They told him Brandy took them home after work. It worked, but only if he didn’t check into their story.

  “It’s just around the corner and out of view,” Lillie said, moving from tree to tree like she was dodging bullets while Megan walked a straight line.

  “What are you doing?” Megan asked.

  “I don’t know, but it’s fun,” Lillie said right before she did a running summersault on the leaf-covered ground. When she hopped back up, she had crunched leaves sticking out of her hair. “The car’s right over there.”

  They climbed a steep embankment to the road and jumped into the car, closing the door as softly as possible. Megan drove since she knew the area better and it was her car, but Lillie said she would be able to listen to people better if she didn’t have to concentrate on driving. After a quick discussion, they decided their best chance would be the larger truck stop at the edge of town. They figured it would be easier for the two kidnappers to come and go at that place without being questioned or looked at suspiciously when there were truckers coming and going all the time.

  Across from the truck stop, Megan spotted a self-storage business and parked between the rows of buildings. They had a clear view of the front of the store and were still able to see if they pulled up from the side. “I figure we have three hours tops before Drew comes back.”

  “Maybe tonight will be our lucky night then,” Lillie said, rummaging through the backseat and coming back with a bag of kale chips.

  Megan’s face squished with disgust when Lillie pulled a dark green, wilted leaf out of the bag and popped it in her mouth. Feeling the need to counteract Lillie’s food choice, Megan dug through her bag and pulled out a plastic wrapped snack cake.

  “Do you have any idea how much sugar and processed foods you’re putting in your body with that?” Lillie asked, pointing to her snack cake like it was a vial of poison.

  Speaking around a mouthful of goodness, Megan said, “I really don’t care.”

  Lillie pursed her lips as she shook her hand. “You really should.”

  They sat silent for a couple of minutes before Lillie asked, “Did you grow up here?”

  Megan nodded her head until she swallowed. “I grew up in the Logan County foster care system.”

  “Do you know what happened to your parents?” Lillie probed, popping another kale chip in her mouth. Megan wasn’t sure Lillie would be able to listen to her and for the kidnappers at the same time, but boredom was settling in.

  Megan kept her eyes on the store and the people coming in and out when she answered. “No, they found me on a footstep of a church in a town over with the name Megan May on a napkin. The town was called McAlister, hence the last name. Apparently, there was a big search back then for my parents, but nothing ever came up.” She didn’t say it, but she liked to think they left her because they were forced to and not because they didn’t want to be parents. “You said your mom died in birth, but your grandmother didn’t know anything about your father?”

  Shaking her head, Lillie stared out the window. “All she knew was my mom told her he was the most beautiful man to walk the earth, but she hadn’t seen him in months before I was born.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that both of us weren’t raised by our parents? I mean, do you think it’s possible we were government experiments gone wrong?” Lillie was about to answer when Megan watched a car that looked an awful lot like the one the kidnappers used move down the street and park in front of the store. “Look. Can you hear them?”

  Lillie closed her eyes and tilted her head before her eyebrows shot up. “It’s one of them. He wants a beer.”

  They watched in complete silence as he got out of the car and looked around to see if he was being watched before he shut the door and went inside. “What do we do now?” Megan whispered.

  “Let’s go drag his ass out of the store,” Lillie said, her hand on the door handle.

  “No, I don’t think we should. We should wait and follow him so we know where they’re staying.” She thought it was a better plan than walking in there, guns blazin’, and tackling him. The look of disappointment on Lillie’s face said she disagreed with Megan’s plan. “See if you can hear a name or something that would help identify them.”

  “If you’ll be quiet, I can try,” Lillie said, holding a finger toward her but keeping a steady eye on the store. Megan stuck her tongue out at her, but she didn’t see. “He’s coming out.”

  Megan started the car but kept the headlights off. “What do we do? What do we do?”

  He got into his car and started driving away. “Go! Follow him,” Lillie shouted.

  In the heat of the moment, Megan panicked and floored the gas pedal, screeching out of the storage parking lot and onto the street behind him. He must have seen them because he began driving
faster and faster.

  “Lights! Lights!” Lillie yelled, slapping the dashboard. Megan flipped the headlights on and continued in their effort of catching the bad guy. Since he knew someone was following him, she couldn’t let him get away. When she caught up with him, she nudged his back bumper with her car. “He’s going to turn left,” Lillie warned her.

  At the last minute, he turned hard, leaving tire marks on the road. Megan hit the brakes, turned the wheel hard to the left, and just about spun the car. Luckily, she was able to straighten it out before slamming her foot on the pedal once again. He was at least a block away when she got control of the car and flashing lights lit the sky behind them. Sirens blared their warning, but she didn’t let off the pedal.

  “Oh, shit!” Lillie sputtered as they caught up with the criminal once again. Now he was being reckless, driving on sidewalks and running over signs. “Hard right.”

  “Hold on!” Megan turned as hard as she could, but she felt the car losing control under her hands. Fortunately, fast thinking and Lillie’s hands assisting her on the wheel kept them from slamming into the building on the side of the road. For once, Megan was thankful Hope went to bed early. They looked for the Oldsmobile, but it was long gone. It disappeared into thin air. “Lost him,” Megan said, defeated.

  “What about the police? Drew’s going to kill us,” Lillie cried. Megan wanted to laugh, because Lillie, more than anyone else, should have no reason to fear anything, but Drew had a way about him that did put fear into the strongest of souls. They both looked down the road to the three police cars flying toward them.

  “We gotta get outta here.” Megan put the car in reverse and did a nice little one-eighty. She put it in drive and took off like a bat out of hell. They had to find somewhere to hide the car and make it home before Drew got the call, if he hadn’t already. She had a feeling the dinging that let her know she had a text message was from him.

  The car nearly sailed down Oak Drive and turned sharp onto Pine Street. Megan hoped they could turn onto Whitaker Street and hide the car on the other side of the bridge before the police got around the corner. Her cell phone started blaring out Bad Boys. “Shit, that’s Drew. Get my phone.”

  Fumbling through Megan’s purse, Lillie tried to stay straight in her seat while Megan made sharp turns to the left, then the right. They were beginning to get quite a bit of distance between them and the police and she thought they might have a real chance of losing them. Lillie held the phone to Megan’s ear as she turned onto Pine Street once more.

  “Hello?” Megan answered, trying to sound completely normal.

  “Megan, where are you right now?” Drew was seething on the other end of the line.

  “I’m upstairs with Lillie. Why?” She hated to lie, but evading the police probably held a pretty good sentence so a little white lie wouldn’t be the worst thing she had ever done.

  “Uh, well, that’s odd. I just heard over the scanner that a car matching the description of yours is being chased all over town right now.” Megan could hear in his voice that he was clinching his jaw and speaking through gritted teeth.

  “That’s crazy,” she said, making a sharp right onto Whitaker. They made it over the bridge and drove onto the dirt road next to the bridge and turned back until they were tucked on top of the overpass. Megan flipped off the lights and killed the engine. “I hope they catch whoever it is.”

  She gave Lillie wide eyes as her friend choked back laughter. If I’m going down, you’re going down with me, Megan thought and Lillie chuckled. They watched as the police cars flew down the street and passed underneath them. She held her breath and waited to see if they would turn around and find them, but they didn’t. “No, they’re still looking. I’ll be there in ten minutes and so help me God, you better be there, too.”

  Megan punched the ‘end’ button on her phone and turned to Lillie. “We gotta hurry.”

  Lillie burst out laughing and Megan tried to hold back, but couldn’t help but laugh at their eminent demise. “Stop it. He’s really gonna kill us. You know that, right?”

  They did a joint scan of the area to see if the coast was clear and the police weren’t lying in wait for them before Megan started the engine and hightailed it for home. Losing the police wouldn’t matter if they didn’t make it back before Drew got there. If he made it back first, they would be the ones who needed the police assistance. She took every back road, shortcut, and alley she could think of and more than once she had the car skidding sideways along the way. One thing was sure, it was a night like she’d never had before.

  And one she hoped to never have again.

  Parking the car where they’d first gotten in, they took off in a mad dash through the trees and to the house. “I can hear the officer talking on the radio.”

  “Hurry. We can make it,” Megan told herself as much as she told Lillie. Adrenaline pumped in her veins and her breathing was labored from the full-out sprint back to the house. Going around the back, they went through the kitchen door. Stripping down to their underwear, they threw their incriminating clothes into the washer and ran to separate bathrooms for quick showers.

  Megan kept her visual walls down and watched as Drew used his key to walk into the house and first yelled for her, then walked into the bedroom. He stood by the closed door. “Megan?”

  “I’ll be out in a minute,” she yelled back as normal as she could. She washed any remains of the night off her, hurried out of the shower, and put on night clothes before coming out of the bathroom.

  Drew was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her. “What did you girls do tonight?”

  “Nothing much. Girl stuff,” she lied while she towel dried her hair.

  “Uh huh, and where’s Lillie?” He stood, moved to the dresser, and leaned a hip against it while he crossed his arms over his chest, disbelief written on his face.

  “Did you check upstairs?” she asked. Walking back to the bathroom and hanging the towel on the rack, Megan noticed her hands were shaking. If he was going to believe her, she had to stay calm.

  “Yes, and oddly enough she’s in the shower, too,” Drew said sarcastically as she walked past him to get to the bed.

  She sat on the edge and kept her eyes from looking directly at him. “How are your parents?”

  “Fine, but don’t change the subject.” He began pacing in front of her. She swallowed hard. “Where’s your car again?”

  Shit, think and think fast. “It’s getting tires changed on it. I told you that earlier.” Okay, that sounded good, right? Maybe he would buy it. He stopped pacing and stared down at her. The silence was awkward, so she tried to fill it. “Do you think someone took my car and went for a joyride?”

  His eyes narrowed as he studied her features. “I guess anything’s possible. I’ll check into it more tomorrow.”

  “So, tell me about your parents,” Megan said, changing the subject again.

  Drew sat down next to her, took the brush out of her hand, and started to brush her hair. At first, she sat as stiff as a board, but with his gentle ministrations, it didn’t take long for her to relax. She didn’t know much about the ways of men, but this had to be the sexiest thing she had ever heard of a man doing. And he was doing it to her.

  “They’re doing fine. Worried, but fine. I did talk to them about what they walked in on earlier.”

  Stiff as a board again, she had to ask. “Then could you explain it to me?”

  “What do you need explained? You’re the one who kissed me, if I remember correctly, and I don’t think I’m going to forget that for a good long time.” He chuckled.

  Funny how the mind forgets the important details, she thought as she cleared her throat. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that.”

  Setting the brush on the nightstand, he turned her until they were face to face. “I’m not sorry, baby. You are more than welcome to kiss me whenever you get the urge.”

  Sliding his hand around her neck, Drew cupped the back of her head and kissed her
full and deep. Before she knew it, Megan was lying on her back and his chest was pressed down on hers. She knew they should stop this game they were playing, but it felt so good and she couldn’t bring herself to stop just yet. She enjoyed the feel of his hard body pressed against hers and wanted to linger a while longer. An added plus was he wasn’t thinking about Lillie and her involvement in a high-speed police chase anymore.

  Just when she started to get the nerve to put her hand under his shirt, there was a knock on the front door. Lying with her hands giving the comforter a death grip, she let out a deep breath. Why did they keep getting interrupted?

  Thank God we kept getting interrupted, she thought.

  “I’ll get it,” he said, kissing her stomach as he pulled himself off the bed and walked out the door.

  Frustrated, she sat up and slapped a pillow from the bed. Looking outside, she watched Drew on the porch, talking to an officer. She hoped he wasn’t there to take her partner in crime and her away. Moving to the living room, she listened for Lillie. There was music coming from upstairs so she decided to leave her alone.

  Megan had to get her mind off Drew’s body and how good it felt on hers. Moving through the kitchen and to the pantry, she pulled out a bucket of craft paints and poster board and took them to the kitchen table. She still had to make four festival signs and if she were lucky, which she rarely was, Drew would give her the space she needed to get a few done.

  While stenciling out the signs for the cakewalk, Drew came back into the house and stood in front of her. “Want some help?”

  She didn’t. She wanted him as far away as humanly possible, but that would be rude to ask and the task was a monotonous one that would go a lot faster with two people working. Plus, there was less of a chance of anything happening between them in the middle of the kitchen. Though, flashes of him tossing everything off the table and laying her out like a buffet came to mind. She was pretty sure there was whipped cream left in the fridge, too.