The Chase by Amber Riel (story reading txt) 📖

of us had mentioned anything about the night before.  The night before was one of those things that once it happened everyone tried to block out the event but knowing it was still on everyone’s mind.  I just hoped that Lainie wouldn’t grow up afraid of people after the horrible scene she had to watch with the taxicab driver.  I was thankful that Louis had been there because if it wasn’t for him there would have been no telling how the events from the night would have turned out.

          “So can you tell me where we’re going yet?” I asked as I took a half of my bagel and smothered it in butter and cream cheese.

          “Still not information that you need to know,” Louis replied.

          I shot him a look.  I wanted to know why he would just tell me where we were going.  I mean I know that I wouldn’t know where exactly we were headed but to at least know something would help me a little bit.  “Okay.”

 

          After breakfast we headed to the car dealership, which the clerk from the hotel had given to Louis.  I sat back with Lainie as we let Louis go talk to the car salesman about a car.  It was something that always bored me and when I would go to pick out a car then I would always have a man like my father or one of my brothers and even occasionally a male cousin bring me to buy a new car so they could deal with everything.  They would talk to the car salesmen or women for me while I just listened and nodded as if I knew what they were really talking about.  I would even have them test drive the car for me as well.

          Louis walked over to us and sat down.  “I just got back from test driving the car and I already made a deal…. The car’s a keeper.”

          “That was fast,” I replied.

          “We can go now.”  Louis led me and Lainie out to the parking lot and we followed him toward the brand new car.  It was a nice dark blue small but kind of big car.  It was small in the since that it was low and had four doors which had a driver seat, a passenger seat, and the back seat which looked be made out of grey velvet.  It was big in since that it was wider and unlike Louis’s last car had more room.  It was the perfect car for the three of us.  The windows were clear whereas in the other one the windows were tinted and kind of hard to see the inside.

 

          We were on the road again.  So long and dreadful especially not knowing where we were heading in the first place.  Louis drove for a while.  I figured that when it came time for rest he would probably stop at a rest stop because of what had occurred at the hotel the night before.  I wouldn’t have blamed him either, kind of because I still felt guilty for all of it.  It was silent and I was surprised that Lainie hadn’t asked for music or something.  I wondered what had been going through her little mind.

          “Look I’m going to stop some where’s tonight,” Louis told me.  “It’s someone I know personally because I think that stopping at hotels or rest stops might be a bad idea especially after the scene with that driver last night.  I figured it’s the only way we could know that we’re safe and Lainie knows the person as well so that works out for her as well.”  He sighed.  “I’m sorry for yelling at you last night…. That was my fault as well as yours…. I knew better than to leave the two of you alone but I did it and I feel horrible for it….”

          “And I’m sorry for yelling as well,” I replied.

          “No you had a right…. I was giving you all the credit for the trouble knowing that it happened because of me as well.”

          I looked at Louis, kind of surprised by his words.  He actually wasn’t blaming me for everything and that was shocking to me.

          “We were both to blame.”

          “Do we need to call the police or something?” I didn’t know why it took me so long to even ask that question.  The answer was obvious but I guessed that with everything going the way it did from the night before calling the police was out of mind.

          “No…. I did my job last night….”

          “You’re a cop?”

          “Not exactly…. Look my job is top secret like I told you before…. You’ll probably find out sooner or later but for now it’s nothing that concerns you…. Got it?”

          I nodded then looked around kind of board and stared out of the window.

 

          It was about eight o’ clock at night.  The sky was dark blue blanketed with stars all over.  It was so beautiful.  I couldn’t see the moon from where I was but the sky was so amazing to stare at.  Louis had pulled off of the road and into a little town.  He drove past streets and houses till the car came to a long dirt road in some trees on the left.  He turned on the blinker and turned into the dark arch of the trees.  Even though it was dark and trees where surrounding us it wasn’t scary.  It was actually an interesting sight to see with the lights from the car and the stars in the sky.  It was beautiful.

          Lainie was fast asleep.  I figured that she must have had to go to bed around that time of night because no matter what she would always fall asleep around eight or eight thirty.

          Louis pulled up to a small little cabin and placed the car in park.

          I wished I could have seen it during the day instead of at night but I guessed that I would have to wait till the next day.  We climbed out of the car and Louis made sure to grab Lainie and carried her up the steps after he closed the doors to the car.

          I followed behind, looking around.

          Louis knocked on the door and waited.

          When the door opened, a woman who looked to be twenty-three or almost twenty-three stepped out.  She looked dark but that was because of the light from the inside which had shone out of the little cabin.  “Louis?  What are you doing here at this hour?”

          “Long story, Carmen,” he replied.

          “You have Lainie with you for the night?” she asked as her attention dropped down at the child.

          “Something like that.”

          The woman’s gazed moved over to me and even though I could really see her facial expression in the dim light I figured she was confused.  “Who’s that?”

          “You know Ron’s wife Annastia?”

          “Yea.”

          “That’s her sister Samantha.”

          “Oh.  Hello, I’m Carmen, Louis’s older sister.”

          “Hello,” I replied as I stood with Louis and his sibling.

          “Look, Carmen, we need a place to stay…. The mansion was broken into…. Ron and Annastia have to go into witness protection because they were the only two there and the men who broke in are most likely after them…. I told Ron that I was going to keep an eye on Lainie and Annastia’s sister.  I was wondering if for the night we could stay here?”

          “Of course…. You can always stay here, you know that, Lou.”

          I kind of laughed as I watched Louis cringe at the nickname.

          “You know I hate that,” he told Carmen as he walked into the house.

          Carmen kind of laughed.  “I always call him that.  I love messing with him,” she whispered to me as I walked past her.  “Otherwise it wouldn’t be fun to have younger siblings.”

          I couldn’t help but laugh at her comment.

Inside of Carmen's Cabin

          The light in the cabin lite up the hall.  It wasn’t too bright but it wasn’t dim either.  It was perfect.  I looked around as Carmen closed the door behind me.  The hall was somewhat long with two side doors on each wall and an opening into what I had guessed to be the kitchen.  There was a staircase leading up on the right wall and pictures of Carmen with a man who I guessed was mostly her boyfriend or fiancé was hanging on the walls in between the doors and a few of her, Louis and three other guys who all looked alike.  Louis held Lainie as he looked around.  “You and Eric need to do some rearranging.  This place always looks the same can’t you two fix it up some?” Louis asked as he looked around the hallway.

          “I like it the way it is,” Carmen replied, kind of laughing.

          Louis kind of snorted.  “Where is your dare ol’ hubby anyways?”

          “He went fishing for the weekend with our brothers.  Can you believe that?  They ask Eric to go fishing with them all of the time but they never ask me to do anything.”  Carmen kind of smiled.

          “Well, I hate to say it sis but that’s because you’re boring,” Louis joked.

          “If you weren’t carrying that child, I would smack you upside the head right now.”

          Louis couldn’t help but laugh.  “Where can we sleep?”

          Carmen took a moment to think as she looked around.  “Well, right now I only have two rooms that are opened that the moment and I’m not going to aloud an unmarried couple to sleep together.”

          “I figured that,” Louis replied as he looked around.

          “That’s okay,” I interrupted.  “I could sleep with Lainie…. I don’t mind.”

          Carmen smiled at my offer.  “That’s great.”  She began to head up the long staircase with about ten wide small steps.  “Follow me.”

          We followed Carmen up the stairs and I could help but look at the pictures which she had hanging up on the walls.  She stopped at a closed door and opened it.  When she stepped in, she hit the switch and the light came on.  The room was wide and looked like it could a fit a few good sized furniture.  Inside was a small closet on the left of us.  The bed was a full size bed which the bed post was against the wall as the bed popped out.  On the right of us was a small tall dresser with a small TV sitting on top of it and on the right wall was a small but wide window.

          “Samantha, you and Lainie can have this room,” Carmen told us.

          “Okay.  This is a nice little room,” I replied as I looked around.

          “Thank you.  And Louis, you have the room you always stay in while you’re here.  Okay?”

          “That works for me.”  Louis carried Lainie over to the bed and laid her down.  She was still in her night clothes from the night before and didn’t have any shoes on so all he had to do was cover her up after he placed her head on the pillow of the right side of