Driven By Love

by D. Anne Paris

  "I honestly don’t care! Let them know what I can do and then maybe they’ll all back off!" Her hair flipped back as she stomped back into the kitchen.

  “You don’t know what you’re saying.” Dean’s patience with her was slowly starting to crumble. He just wanted to shake some sense into her. “If the public knew what you could do someone could kidnap you and use you!”

  She twisted around and spat fire onto him. “No one would dare to try and do that. I would have a semi run them over multiple times.”

  “If you’re conscious. Anne, you are living in some dream world where you think everything is perfect and nobody can touch you, but you’re wrong!” He turned and paced the kitchen. “I’ve seen the horrible things that people can do, and even with your power you wouldn’t be able to stop them.”

  “They wouldn’t touch me.”

  “What about your family? Your parents, sister, and brother?”

  Anne opened her mouth and then closed it. He faced her and could see he touched a nerve. “This is not one of your movies, Anne. You have to keep your gift a secret no matter what. Your family is counting on it.”

  Anne walked towards the sink and grabbed the wooden spoon. She piled the ravioli on her plate. Not forgetting her guest, she took another plate and loaded it with some ravioli. She took it to the table as her blood continued boiling.

  "What gives them the right to constantly follow me?" she blindly asked.

  Dean sat down in front of the plate. "You said it yourself--money."

  "It’s not right! I need to take a look at Evan's car. It will tell me what happened. Sitting here won't do me any good."

  She stabbed at the ravioli again.

  Dean saw the change in Anne’s mood and the inner turmoil that she was dealing with inside. The screaming diva that he was introduced to just melted away, and there sitting in front of him was a country girl who had more incredible powers than any Hollywood star and wanted to use them to help find the truth about what happened to her little sister.

  Her sister. He grabbed another ravioli and chewed it as he thought of his own sister, who came to this town lost and emotionally distraught, and yet Helen and Kenneth welcomed her with open arms and somehow managed to help Jeri piece herself back together again. They were there for Jeri. Now it was his turn to help them and Anne was the key to solving what happened. He knew it was risky but she needed answers. They all needed answers and she was the only one that could get them.

  "I have an idea. How well does your car follow your orders?"

  As she looked up at him and smiled for the first time since the ordeal started. "He always does what I tell him." She chewed the last piece of her ravioli as she moved her plate away. “He has never let me down.”

  Dean smiled. He’d hoped that she would say that. They could use that to help them get through the crowd outside. He finished up the last bit of ravioli and took her plate. He walked over to the dishwasher and placed both plates inside. "I would suggest wearing something dark, maybe even a hoodie if you have it."

  "You’re actually going to help me?”

  He closed the dishwasher door and leaned against it as he crossed his arms. “Yes, on one condition.”

  “How did I know you were going to say that?”

  “You have to do exactly as I say. One screw-up and your secret will be all over the Internet and you’ll be putting yourself and your family in extreme danger by doing that.”

  Not one to be intimidated, she got up and walked over to him and looked him square in the eye. “Let me make this clear, soldier boy. I don’t take orders from anyone. I’m a big girl and I can handle a bunch of bozos with cameras.”

  His gaze turned cold as he walked up to her until he was close enough to smell the soft scent of the shampoo she used earlier in the day. “Either you take orders from me or you stay here.”

  Instantly, her voice turned sultry. “What are you going to do if I don’t? Handcuff me?”

  A corner of his mouth crept up. “Don’t tempt me.” With that, he walked out of the kitchen and left Anne staring after him.

  Chapter 6

  Dean walked over to the bedroom downstairs. Sure enough, the dresser was filled with clothes that would fit him. Helen was really something and he could see why Jeri stayed close to them. He opened more drawers and found a dark, long-sleeved shirt. He was so happy to be rid of this monkey suit. He took the jacket off and hung it on the chair then ripped his shirt off. He heard a gasp and stopped to face the living room. Anne stared at him with her mouth open, which surprised him. Sure, he worked out every day but she had all sorts of men lining up to be with her, most of whom were as good looking as him but had something he lacked—lots of money.

  "Um… I'm ready," was all that she could muster.

  "Good, I'll be done in five minutes." He grabbed the dark shirt and put it on.

  “Um, okay,” she mustered and bolted.

  After Dean changed his pants he walked in and finished buttoning his shirt. He saw her eyes dart to his gun holster.

  "You carry a gun?"

  "Of course, I'm supposed to protect you."

  "You're not going to shoot a squirrel if it came after me, are you?"

  "Only if it had a knife and was going to stab you."

  "That's not reassuring."

  "It wasn't meant to be. Now are you ready?"

  She inhaled. "Yeah."

  "Okay, we get out and you stay right next to me. Do not try to do anything with their cars. Let them follow us. We can’t have any strange things happen, got it?"

  "What!? No way! I can't stop them from following us!"

  Dean tried to grapple the anger fuming inside of him. He grabbed hold of her arm and brought her gently close to him, mere inches from his mouth as he sternly enunciated, “Do. Not. Control. Their. Cars. Got it?” He grinned at the statement. “Or do I have to take off my shirt again to get you to cooperate?"

  "Oh, you're funny," she said sarcastically and smirked as she tried to hide the color flowing to her cheeks.

  His gaze turned cold and serious. "Are you going to follow my orders or not?"

  Anne returned his cold gaze. "Seems like I don't have a choice."

  He ignored her comment and kept his hold on her arm. "Good. Let's go."

  They opened the door and Dean locked it right away. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and moved his entire frame behind her as she opened the car door and got in. He right away went to the driver's side and Hawk was already running.

  "I don't know if I can get used to that," he muttered as he put the car in reverse. He moved about two feet and then glanced forward, shifted to drive and floored Hawk.

  "What are you...!" Anne shrieked as he drove through her back yard and out to the beachfront. None of the camera crew saw that one coming and that was what Dean hoped would happen. He turned out to the right and then drove down to the nearest side street. When it ended he turned left and zoomed down another road.

  "You are nuts! I can't believe you just did that! Hawk, are you okay?"

  The engine revved again even louder and she looked at the dashboard in shock. "He loved that! He actually loved that! You are a bad influence on him!"

  Dean smiled and looked at the rear view mirror. He could see that two news vans found them and were now about three blocks behind him so he had to try and give them more space to lose them.

  "Hawk, I'm going to need you to leave us and take these turkeys on a wild goose chase so to speak. Take them around the area, then go to somewhere secluded like a park or forest preserve and then just park there and stay there until we get you. Understand?"

  The windshield wipers turned on and then off.

  "He says, ‘Yes,’" Anne said.

  "I kind of figured that. Now let's see if we can find someplace for us to park and get out without anyone noticing."

  "How about over there?" She pointed towards the church that was facing the lake. They could run in between the buildings and then come out
when everyone was gone.

  "Looks good to me." He glanced in the back and could see that the crew was far enough away to give them a chance to get out.

  He stopped Hawk and jumped out of him. Anne was instantly next to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind the church. Hawk chirped his tires as he zoomed away.

  Anne and Dean hid behind the church and waited. Dean pulled Anne's hoodie over her head and leaned his body against hers. They heard the whine of another car as it zipped by, followed by another and then another.

  There was silence and the only thing that Dean could hear was Anne's racing heart. He kept himself close to her just in case someone was still looking for them. From a distance, it would look like they were two teenagers hiding in the shadows making out. He tried not to think of Anne that way. Yes, she was attractive but he dated attractive women before and they didn’t have the same effect on him that she did. So why did he want time to stand still for that moment as he protected her body with his?

  They heard another car approach and Dean leaned in more so their faces were a mere inch apart. The car drove slowly down the road and he saw the headlights shine down the road.

  Dean felt her body tense up as the headlights slowly inched towards them. If the car stopped, he knew that Anne would do something drastic. Desperate to take her mind off the situation, he wrapped his arm around her neck and closed the gap between them as their lips crushed against each other. Without hesitation, she responded to him and cupped his face as they deepened the kiss.

  Dean felt like he was on a different planet as she grabbed hold of him and their tongues danced a dance of ecstasy. Everything and everyone around him disappeared. There was only Anne and she filled every pore of his being.

  Then Dean’s mind woke up and tried to rationalize with him as to why this was wrong on so many levels, but he ignored it as he held on to Anne like a shipwrecked survivor holding on to a life raft. Her scent permeated through all his senses and made his body harden. No women in his past had an effect like this on him. He couldn’t explain this at all and it scared the hell out of him.

  The headlights blinded them for a second but they both didn’t notice as they continued to kiss. The car drove down the street and the lights diminished.

  Eventually, they pulled apart, panting. Dean still kept his body close to hers and listened around them. The crickets chirped around them. It would be so easy to just stay there for another few minutes and try to figure out what just happened between them.

  Anne’s voice still sounded breathless as she whispered, “We better go.”

  Slowly, he lifted his head up to assess the area. His eyes adjusted to the darkness that surrounded them. He let his senses stretch out around them and found that no one was around. Based on their location, it would take them a good thirty minutes to get to the police impound.

  "It's clear, but stay close to me just in case."

  He moved aside to let her step out. He pulled his arm over her shoulder and brought her close to him. They had to blend in as much as possible to not raise suspicion. She pulled her hoodie down more and moved closer under his arm.

  “Are you sure Hawk will be able to lead the paparazzi far enough away from here?"

  She nodded under him. "Yeah, he knows all the roads around the town, and he'll find a way to get them all confused."

  "Good. So tell me, when did you learn about your gift?"

  "Right when I turned thirteen." She kicked a rock on the sidewalk. It spiraled away and hit a tree trunk before it landed on the grass.

  "My mom and I were driving from the store when a dog ran right in front of us. I put my hands up and the car stopped instantly before my mom even hit the brakes." She looked back at the ground as if embarrassed. "It freaked my mom out completely. After that, I started to notice that when I was angry or really sad cars would just flock to me."

  "Just like at the hospital?"

  "Yup. I also started to develop headaches after that."

  "Migraines?"

  "Yeah, similar. Turns out that I need to be close to cars at all times. The more cars, the better I felt."

  "That explains why you have your own house in town."

  She nodded. "My parent's house is too far away from the city and there's not enough cars there. I would get headaches the next day and they wouldn't stop until I was in a car or somewhere where a lot of them were."

  "Interesting."

  "No, painful." She poked back at him.

  "No, I'm not talking about your headaches. I'm talking about your gift. Sounds to me like you need the energy the cars generate to balance yourself out."

  "Yeah, that sounds about right."

  They stopped at an intersection and Dean looked at the signs to get his bearings. He led her left, and continued to pry for details. "So, what else can you do?"

  "What, that's not enough?"

  He flashed her a smile. "I can handle anything you throw at me."

  "How about a Mack truck?"

  "You can lift a truck?"

  "No, but I can ask one to run you over."

  "I'm so hurt. Remember, I'm here to protect you."

  "I can protect myself just fine, thank you. So tell me, Big Shot, what other powers do you have besides breaking into beautiful women's homes?"

  He chuckled and looked around the area again before he lowered his head and whispered to her, "I can track people."

  "How?"

  "I have to touch them and send out a tendril of energy, which stays with them. With that I'm able to see where they are."

  "Like a map on the Internet?"

  "Similar. I can tell how far away they are and in some cases I can see what they see."

  "Wait a second.” She stopped and turned to look up at him. “So if you touch me right now you can track me?"

  "Only if I want to track you, which I do, but I would never do that to you unless you give me permission."

  "I'm just afraid that you'll just pop in my head and look at me when I'm naked."

  He stifled a groan as his body reacted to that statement. He still felt the lingering kiss on his lips and her scent still surrounded him.

  Another couple turned onto the street and began to head towards them. Dean grabbed Anne tight against him and put his mouth to her ear. "Act like I'm saying something funny."

  She giggled on cue and pushed him slightly away.

  Dean moved her to cross the street and they ran across to get away from the couple before they recognized Anne. As they reached the other side of the street, Dean's arm covered her shoulder and he made sure her hoodie hid her face from the strangers.

  "That's why you're my baby," he muttered loud enough for them to hear.

  Seeing that they were just a couple in love, they ignored them and moved further away.

  Dean and Anne both continued to walk down the street and Dean led them to the left. "That building over there." He motioned with his head towards the direction of a huge warehouse with no signs or any markings at all to give a clue as to what was in there. It was a two-story tall brick building with wooden white frames that were worn out and flecked with peeling paint.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah, Stan gave me a tour of the facility once. All cars under investigation go here to be examined."

  "Looks creepy to me."

  "I'll be with you and I’ll protect you."

  She wiggled away from him and slapped his arm. "I told you, I don't need you to protect me." To prove her point, she started the two cars parked in the street.

  Dean's eyes widened in alarm. "Quiet! You want everyone to find us here?"

  The cars engines died. "Relax, Hawk probably has them half across town by now. Geez, you're uptight."

  "Let's see what Evan's car says." He tugged her arm and she walked right behind him.

  He looked around the building he saw the side door of the facility.

  They walked up to the warehouse door and he placed his hand over the lock. In an instant, it un
locked, and Dean opened the door.

  Chapter 7

  When they walked into the building, Anne decided that she didn’t care how much trouble she would be in if they were discovered. Her only concern was finding out the truth.

  For such a huge warehouse there really was not that many cars. Instead, there were police cars and two police boats being stored there. In the far corner of the warehouse Anne could make out a bunch of crushed cars.

  "That's got to be it," she murmured as she walked in that direction.

  Their footsteps echoed across the building as they approached the wreckage.

  When they reached the wreckage, she could see that there were three cars there. Instantly, she recognized Evan's car and ran over to it.

  She hesitated a moment as memories of the last time she woke a dead car came flashing back to her. It was her junior year in high school and she and her friend Rachel Simmans decided to go to a party at one of their friend’s house. Anne decided to meet Rachel at the party once she was done at work. Unfortunately, she had to stay late at work because some patrons didn’t want to leave. By the time she got to the party, there were squad cars all over and half a dozen kids were arrested. Anne was secretly grateful that she wasn’t involved in that mess. She didn’t like to drink or do any drugs, especially since she had to keep her powers a secret from everyone.

  She called Rachel to see if she was all right but instead she got her voicemail. Since Rachel was known to do spontaneous things on occasion, Anne waved it off as Rachel just being Rachel.

  The next day, though, she got a call that shook her to the core. Rachel crashed her car into a tree right and died at the scene. Everyone said that she was slightly intoxicated and freaked out when she heard the first squad car pull up. Running out the back, she jumped in her car and drove like the devil was on her tail and lost control a few miles down a side road.

  The memory of the pain that filled her heart came back. She had such a hard time believing that Rachel would have been that reckless. Anne needed to know the truth and she knew that it would be in Rachel’s wrecked car.

  When she went to the police station, she tearfully asked Stan if she could see Rachel’s car for some sense of closure since Rachel’s casket was closed and everything to her seemed unreal. With a heavy heart, he reluctantly brought her into the garage where it was stored under a tarp.