chapter twenty four

word count: 455

Stan pulled into a rest stop, the first one to come up after dumping the whore. His breaths came in uneven gasps. His hands trembled. Where could he go? He murdered two people. He abused a corpse. It was only a matter of time before they got him.

A cyclone whirled in his head, slamming emotions together in a tempestuous heap. The sum total being insanity. A cacophony of voices pulled him every which way. The logic of heading south of the border eluded him while the dynamics of hate took center stage. Hate for anyone who stood in his way. The whore, Vic, the guy who tailed him, even Jessica, whom he’d loved a little. And Bud Kramer.

Bud Kramer, the larger than life pain in the ass. Bud Kramer with his nose in the air, pushing people around, and now...chasing him; although if he was lucky, Bud didn’t yet know who he was chasing.

“Maybe it’s about time someone pushed Bud around,” Stan White murmured.


Vic flipped the remote like a madman, looking for the porn channel. A little something to amuse until Jorge came back with the whore. Kind of nice to lay low for a while.

A tap at the door and it opened. The girl’s face came through first. The outrage was explicit in her clenched teeth and glaring eyes. Vic’s eyes fixated on the cuffs on her wrists.

“Here she is,” Jorge said. He shot a knowing grin and closed the door, leaving the other two alone.

“Cuffed and ready!” Vic said, pulling his shirt off.

“I’m not doing nothin’ with you!”

“You’re thinking you have a choice? Get over here!”

She backed away instead. “You gonna pay me?”

“Pay you?”

“Yeah, I don’t do this shit for nothin’.”

‘Yeah, right.”

“Besides, I’ve had a bad day, you know? ...We’ve had a bad day. That guy got killed. I got abducted. You gotta cut me a break, right? ...or pay me big money in my sorrow!”

“Which reminds me, what the hell are doing wandering around out here in the middle of no place? Besides looking for tricks?”

“I’m not here looking for anything. That sonofabitch dumped me out of the car!”

“Hmmmph. Can’t say I blame him.” Vic remembered the bloody carnage of Ruben on the ground. His stomach lurched. He looked to the whore and saw a pained expression on her face. She looked up and her eyes met his. They were deep. He could tell, way down in there the devil was dancing for joy about her agony.

“Come here. I won’t hurt you,” he said opening his arms. “Not tonight anyway.”