The Fine Line

by Kobishop, Alicia

  He kissed the top of my head. “Working through the bullshit isn’t that hard, is it?”

  Chapter Thirty

  Logan sat in the passenger seat of my car as we followed the U-Haul through a residential subdivision to his family’s new home. My backseat and trunk were loaded with boxes. With all the renovations his mother and stepfather had done to Logan’s childhood home, it didn’t take long for them to get a good offer, even with the current real-estate market being less than ideal, and they had their eye on this new home before even putting theirs on the market. Everything fell into place for them perfectly.

  I looked over at Logan, who had an annoyed expression on his face. He had helped his stepfather lift the heavy items into the U-Haul this morning, while I helped his mother and Lanie with the smaller boxes. He had been quiet the entire morning and was being a bit of a buzz-kill. As his elbow rested on the window, he leaned his head on his fist.

  I reached for his free hand. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

  Unfazed, he continued to stare out the windshield. “You are, huh?”

  I squeezed his hand. “Yes. I am. I know this isn’t easy for you. You’re doing the right thing, Logan. It means so much to them that you’re helping today.”

  He huffed. “It still doesn’t feel right.”

  “I know it doesn’t.”

  “I don’t think I ever told you this, but you know that week that we were apart?”

  It had been two months since that week, but I would never forget it. “You mean the week from hell?”

  He smiled. Finally, a smile. “Yeah, that week. I talked to my mom that week. She told me that nothing happened between her and Robert until months after my dad passed. She said what I saw was nothing more than a friend consoling a friend.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  “I mean, they weren’t making out or anything. But what I saw…the way they were holding onto each other…it didn’t look very friendly. At all. Then, she married him so quickly. It was kinda hard to believe I guess.” He paused for several moments, then turned his face toward me. “But then, when you said that you trusted me, despite what you saw…it made me reconsider.”

  “Oh, well, glad to be of service.”

  He laughed. “The thing is, I know I need to let it go. He’s an okay guy, I guess. He’s good to Lanie. I just can’t seem to let it go.”

  I gave him a reassuring smile. “You’ll get there, babe. Some things just take time.”

  His one eyebrow lifted up. “You know I love it when you call me that.” He brought his face to my neck and started tickling me behind my ear with his tongue.

  “Hey! I’m driving!” I giggled. “Stop it!”

  I slammed on my brakes, noticing a little too late that the U-Haul had slowed down in front of me. Luckily, I didn’t hit it.

  “Geez, Liv, you’re a crazy driver. You shoulda let me drive,” Logan said with a smirk, knowing full well that it was his distraction that caused the near-collision. I responded to his comment with an eye-roll.

  We waited in the middle of the road as the U-Haul backed into the driveway of the new home. It was a bit smaller than Logan’s old home but looked extremely well kept from the outside. I pulled into the driveway just as Jen, Robert, and Lanie stepped out of the U-Haul. They immediately went to the back of the truck to start unloading.

  I turned the ignition off and reached for my door handle when I felt a tug on my right elbow.

  “Hey,” Logan said.

  I turned to him, meeting his eyes, immediately melting. I hoped his looks would always have this effect on me. “Hey.”

  “Thank you.”

  Having no idea why he was thanking me, I looked at him like he was crazy. “For what?”

  “For being here today. You make everything better.”

  I smiled from his words. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be.”

  Our lips gently touched just before knocking on the window distracted us.

  “Get a room, you guys!” Lanie said as she opened Logan’s door. “Seriously!” She grabbed him by the hand and tugged, trying to get him out of the car. “You have got to see this! You’re not going to believe it!”

  Logan looked at me, confused, and shrugged.

  “C’mon, Liv!” Lanie shouted.

  We stepped out of the car and began walking down the driveway to the back of the U-Haul. Lanie quickly pulled Logan ahead while I trailed behind them. As the garage came into view from behind the truck, I noticed the overhead door was open, and Robert and Jen stood with their backs to us, with their arms around each other, staring at something inside.

  As we approached, a sniffle came from Jen. Was she crying? Robert turned to her and kissed her forehead. Logan stopped next to his mother, and as the sight of whatever it was overtook him, he pulled Lanie close to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. His mother wrapped her arm around Logan’s waist.

  I walked up and stopped next to Lanie and finally saw what all the commotion was about. In the back of the garage, hanging on the wall between two studs, hung the same John Wayne movie poster that hung above the desk at Logan’s shop. This one, however, was older, faded, and it looked like it had been here for years.

  Logan turned to his mother. “Did you put that there?”

  She faced him and shook her head to say no.

  Logan looked back at the poster. “Holy shit.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lanie turn to me. Her hand took mine, pulling me close, then she wrapped her arm around my waist, as I put my arm around her shoulder. The five of us stood side by side, holding each other, taking in the scope of what that old, beat-up poster, actually represented. Logan turned to me with tears welling in his eyes.

  No words needed to be said. I knew that, for Logan, this was the validation he needed to move on. To let go of the resentment he had been holding on to for so long. His father was giving his blessing. Finally, Logan would have some peace.

  I’m not sure how long we stood there before Lanie finally broke the silence. “Those boxes aren’t going to carry themselves inside, you know.”

  Logan chuckled and messed up her hair. “I guess we better get to work then, boss.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  It had been raining for days. Most of the snow banks were melted down from the spring showers but a few still remained. Today was the first day in a while that the sun had peeked out, and I had been stuck inside Frank’s, admiring the shining light from through the front glass doors. It was dark when my shift ended.

  “See you tomorrow, Olivia.” Stacy waved just before she opened her car door and slid into the driver’s seat of her car.

  “Bye, Stace.” I waved and watched her drive out of the parking lot and into the flow of traffic.

  I opened my car door and threw my purse on the passenger seat when I heard footsteps quickly approach and felt something hard jabbing my side.

  “Close the door,” a deep, unfamiliar voice husked before I had a chance to turn around to see who it was.

  Was this some kind of joke? Confused, my head turned to see my assailant.

  My breathing stopped. All the muscles in my body stiffened. Except for my heart, which banged wildly against my ribs. “Derrick.”

  A dark grey hood covered his head, shadowing his eyes. Looking down to see what was poking my side, my eyes widened. A hand-gun. “What are you doing? What do you want?”

  He dug the gun further into my side. “Close the damn door and get in through the passenger side.”

  I did as he said, looking everywhere on my way to the other side of the car. Could I scream? Would he shoot me if I did? Would anyone even hear me? The parking lot was dimly lit, making it difficult for passersby to witness anything from the road. I slid into the passenger seat then scooted over to the driver’s side as Derrick slipped in behind me.

  We both buckled our seatbelts just before I started the car. I placed both hands on the steering wheel and glanced over at Derrick wh
o still had the gun pointed at me. “What is this about? What do you want?”

  With the phone in his other hand, he clicked a picture of me. “Drive. I’ll tell you where to go.”

  “Did you just take my picture? Derrick, tell me what you want.”

  His initial response was only a look. It was a look I had never seen on anyone before. Ever. It was a wide-eyed mixture of fury and psycho. He pressed the gun into my side so hard that it would definitely leave a bruise. In an overly calm, yet wicked voice, he responded, “I. Want. You. To. Drive.”

  I suddenly became incredibly aware of what was happening. My breathing became shallow as my body tensed. Every nerve ending in my body became alert.

  I followed his direction and drove onto the road. As I continued to drive, following his orders to turn here and turn there, I noticed him tapping on his phone. My eyes moved from the road, down to the gun, and up to Derrick’s unsympathetic eyes.

  “Eyes on the road,” he instructed.

  With my eyes wide, I did as he said and kept them on the traffic. What was he going to do with me?

  “You’re little boyfriend should be opening up a text with your picture as we speak. I’m calling that little fucker out. He’s not gonna say no this time.”

  After what seemed like forever, we arrived at an empty industrial park that I had never been to before. Warehouses surrounded us. Derrick had me park next to another car in a parking lot of one of the buildings.

  The same woman who had been with him at my very first race, stepped out of the parked car and waited. She appeared nervous with a worried look on her face. The ends of her brown straggly hair met the tops of her shoulders.

  “Get out,” Derrick ordered me, then followed me out the driver’s side door. He faced the woman. “Is the car ready?”

  “Yeah, baby,” she said as she approached us. “Camcorder too. Everyone’s gonna see what you can do.”

  “Damn right, they are.” Then he turned to me and started shaking the gun at me as if he were using it as a pointer finger. “The only reason your little boyfriend won’t race me is cuz he knows I’ll win.”

  All I could think about was the gun going off. What if he shook it so hard he accidentally pulled the trigger? I could see his eyes now under the halogen light attached to the industrial building where our cars were parked. They were glossy. Bloodshot. Was he high? Or just crazy?

  Nobody had heard from Derrick in months. He probably had no idea that Logan was out of the street racing circles.

  “Logan doesn’t race anyone anymore,” I blurted out, instantly regretting it.

  Derrick looked at me with hatred. “Do you think I’m an idiot?”

  My mouth snapped shut. I shook my head no, vigorously. There was no room for tears. Too much adrenaline coursed through my system for tears. Instead, I was acutely aware of everything. The drip of water falling off the roof of the building beside us and onto the puddle below. The hum of the light on the concrete wall. The constant sniff from Derrick’s nose. The mist of our breaths in the cool air. But mostly, my attention focused on the darkness of the barrel of the gun pointed at me.

  Then, a rumble.

  “He’s here,” Derrick said, handing the gun to the woman. “You know what to do.”

  The gun shook in the woman’s hand as she trembled, and he looked at her with concern. He stood behind her and surrounded her hand with his, helping her point the gun at me.

  “Like this,” he said firmly, visibly calming her nerves. “Like we practiced. You’re a natural born shooter, Amber, don’t you forget it.” He placed his other hand on her stomach. “We’re not doing this for just us, remember? How are we gonna support a baby if I can’t race?”

  I wanted to say something smart and clever, like they do in the movies, to get myself out of this situation. Something like, you don’t have to do this, it’s not too late. Or you’ve got so many other options. But nothing came out. What if I said the wrong thing? What if they simply didn’t like what I had to say?

  Amber nodded, recovering her confidence. “You’re right, babe. Our baby girl deserves the best. And everyone deserves to know that you’re the best.”

  She turned her head to the side to face him, but he grabbed her head with both hands, forcing her to face me. “Don’t you ever take your fucking eyes off her, you understand me?”

  She nodded eagerly. “Yeah, baby. You can count on me, I promise. I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “If anything goes wrong. You shoot. Do NOT hesitate. Don’t think. Just act. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah, baby.”

  “Good. Now follow me to the edge of the building and wait for my signal.”

  The rumble got louder as Logan’s car approached, but I couldn’t see him because the building was in the way. Derrick darted in front of us and turned the corner while we waited behind the wall at the edge of the building. The growl of Logan’s engine silenced as he turned off the car.

  I heard a car door open and slam shut.

  “Where is she?!” I heard Logan shout.

  “You’ll get her after the race, you little fuck,” Derrick replied. I heard some shuffling and what sounded like a body being slammed against a metal door or a metal car hood. “Take it easy, son. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to your precious flag girl.” There was a silent moment. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” A smug-sounding Derrick continued, “Get in your car. Your little good luck charm will flag the race so everyone can see it’s fair. Yeah, that’s right. We all know you can’t do shit without her flagging.”

  The gun pushed harder into my back as a car door opened and closed again.

  “Bring her out!” Derrick called.

  Amber nudged me with the gun as she kept a tight grasp on my shoulder. “Move. Now.”

  We turned the corner, and my heart jumped at the sight of the Mustang. It was parked next to Derrick’s car in the middle of the road. Seeing Logan’s car, and knowing he was here for me, set off a chain of reactions in my body, like I could release what I had been holding back. My eyes began to swell, my cheeks burned, and I began to breathe heavily. Something about him being here was giving my body permission to break down.

  But I couldn’t let myself fall apart now. I had to be strong. Brave. I needed make smart choices, and even though my heart pounded hard in my chest, choosing to break down right now would be the worst possible decision.

  We stayed close to the building, and I wondered why Amber hadn’t walked me directly to the cars. Then, she stopped me. “I can’t go any further, baby. The camera will see me!”

  Derrick stood in between the two cars. “Good. Turn the laser on.”

  I heard some clicking behind me. “It’s on, baby!” Amber shouted.

  He nodded. “Now walk over here…Sweetheart.”

  She shoved me forward. “That means you, bitch.”

  I did as they said and started toward Derrick. Walking between the cars from behind, I saw that Logan’s car window was wide open. Absolute fury seeped out of every pore of his body. His face was a dark shade of red. I had never seen him so angry before. Our eyes met as I walked past him, and his expression became more determined.

  “Get over here, lover-girl. You’ve got a job to do,” Derrick commanded.

  He took me and turned me around so that I faced the cars, while his hand stayed firmly on my shoulders as he stood behind me.

  “Look down, sweetheart,” he whispered in my ear. His breath smelled like death and cigarettes. I followed his order and looked down at the ground, but a bright red dot of light on my shirt immediately caught my attention. “That’s our insurance policy that you—and your boyfriend here—aren’t going to try anything stupid.” He spoke louder now, so that Logan could hear. “My girl’s been instructed to shoot if either of you make any wrong moves. You got it?”

  My eyes locked with Logan’s. We both nodded.

  “Good,” he continued. “There’s a camera here.” He pointed to the sidewalk, a
few yards in front of the cars. “And another one at the finish line. Everyone’s gonna see that the only reason you won’t race me is cuz you know I’ll win and ruin your precious reputation.” He pointed at Logan. “Now start your fucking engine.”

  Logan immediately brought his car to life. The loud roar sent a surge of thrill through me. Derrick removed his hands from me and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him walk to his car. A second later, he started his own engine.

  Logan mouthed, “Are you okay?”

  I didn’t know what I was. I had been doing everything I could to stay calm. So I guess I was calm. Calm is what I needed to be. I nodded in response. His gaze left mine and moved to my chest: to the red dot. A pained expression came over him. His shoulders slowly lifted up then back down with the deep breath he took, and his eyes returned to mine.

  My face began to crunch up slightly as the enormous rock in my throat pushed against all my senses, trying to force out a sob. My entire body trembled. I closed my eyes and took a calming breath, pulling myself together. I needed to stay calm.

  When I opened them, I looked to Derrick on my right. His evil face nodded that he was ready. I turned my head to Logan’s beautiful, determined gaze on my left. He gave a nod as well, but included a small reassuring smile. His gesture showed me that he, too, was ready. And that everything would be okay.

  Engines revved as I lifted my hands above my head. I closed my eyes and breathed. Then forced my hands down.

  The high pitched roars of both cars vibrated in my chest, and the smell of exhaust was released in the air. I quickly turned around and opened my eyes to watch. I couldn't tell who was winning for sure, but it looked like Logan. Almost simultaneously, both cars boosted forward from the nitrous.

  Suddenly, the blue Honda Civic started fishtailing and screeching. The back end moved side to side, only slightly at first, but each swing became more erratic until it was completely out of control. The back end of the Civic whirled to the side. The front of it jetted forward, directly into the back side of Logan’s Mustang.