The sound of traffic was music to my ears....I never thought the smell of exhaust and tar could be welcoming...but it was.
"We're free!" Nick shouted gaily as he pumped his fists into the air.
It was almost as good as being back home. I embraced the scene with my mind as I trudged toward the shoulder to the road.
"Nick...civilization!!" I squealed. I approached him and gave him a gigantic hug. In his excitement, Nick picked me up and swung me around.
I laughed, "Nick....put me down I hear a car approaching!!!"
He set me down and began jumping up and down, waving his arms. I joined him. The car slowed down a bit. I made eye contact with the woman who was driving. When she got a good look at us she spead up again.
"Oh thanks bitch!" I shrieked after the car.
"It's nice to know people these days have kind hearts," Nick muttered.
I nervously wrung my hands as I starred at the road, hoping for another car to approach. I looked down at my hands and realized that they were coated with mud from Nick and my earlier fall. I realized that the rest of my body was also coated with the same amount of mud. I looked over at Nick and soon realized that he, too was coated with dried mud. Not only that but he had lost his hat in the river, and his hair lay atop his head, a messy knarled mess. We were a fright. I would be too scared to pick us up.
We could hear the rumble of a truck in the distance. Once again, we performed the same tirade, jumping around and gesticulating frantically.
Surprisingly enough, the truck slowed down. Through the rolled down window I could see the bearded man as he motioned for us to get into the truck.
"Where ya headed?" He asked. For such a gruff looking man his voice sure sounded pleasant.
"Orlando," Nick wiped a bit of sweat off his brow, leaving a muddy streak across his cheek. He boosted me into the truck and then climbed up to sit next to me.
"You're in luck!" said the man as he gunned the accelerator. We were on our way home!!
Brian decided that the only thing that he could do was take his newly acquired information and use it himself. He decided to go back to the cottage, to scope things out. It was a beauriful Florida morning, and the sun was shining brightly. The weather just didn't match his mood. Brian drove his Jeep up the familiar steep dirt road. His attention was caught by the two vehicles in the driveway.
"Well I'll be..." he murmered. Somebody was here! He left the engine to his car idling and made his way to the door. He was about to knock when a familiar voice caught his attention. It sounded like...it was Chris!
"I can't believe you tried to kill them!" he hollered.
"They didn't want to join our group!" Carl hollered back.
"I tried to stop him, Chris! He's insane!!" Christina said.
"You know what?" asked Chris. "This has gone too far...I want out...hell...I don't want to have anything to do with you."
Brian could hear some rustling around as Chris did what sounded like gather a few things together. Brian darted his eyes back and forth assessing the situation. He darted to the side of the cottage as Chris stormed out the door. In the midst of his frenzy, he didn't seem to notice Brian's Jeep. Sighing with relief, Brian approached the door again. It sounded like Christina was crying, and Carl was trying to comfort her.
"Don't worry baby," he said. "I'll take care of those assholes for you. In the meantime we need to find the pricks."
"Ok, I'll grab my purse," Christina said nervously.
Brian took this as his cue to and hot footed it over to his Jeep. Where were they? He was now convinced that Nick and Angela were in trouble, wherever they were.
I followed Nick as he jumped out of the truck. He offered the driver a five-dollar bill, but he refused to take it.
"Thanks," Nick said to the driver.
"God take care," we said in unison.
The truck drove off and we scanned the area. Fortunaty we were only a couple of miles from our neighbourhood.
"Oh maaan Nicky..." I wailed.
Nick crossed his arms in front of his chest and faced me, sighing. "What Angie?" he asked.
I raised my eyebrows. "I was about to say that I don't think I can walk more than ten feet--"
"Tsk, tsk," Nick patted my head and grinned at me. Before I had a chance to do anything, he grabbed be and picked me up.
"Nick you idiot! Put me down!" I swatted at his arm, but he wouldn't relent. He set me down a few yards in front of a telephone booth in the Win Dixie parking lot we were in.
"Now walk the nine feet to the telephone and called us a cab!" he joked.
"Yaaaaay!! Awwww Nicky...you're a lifesaver..." For the second time that day I wrapped him in a hug. I tried to pull away and for a second, he wouldn't let go. When he noticed me pulling away he sighed.
"Can't you thank a fella better than that?"
I took his statement as a joke and laughed it off...but the seriousness in his eyes made me question my thoughts.
"Yeah, Sheriff Bowdini? It's Brian Littrell," Brian was on his cell phone as he followed the black Saab along the Memorial Highway.
"You again?" he sighed. "It still hasn't been forty-eight hours--"
"Yeah, yeah...I know. Listen up ok man?"
Bowdini grunted slightly and Brian decided that was as close to a yes as he was going to get.
Brian explained the whole story about making the connection between 3 Make Harmony and Nick and Angela's disapearance.
"Hmmm...that's pretty fascinating...my daughter has pictures of Carl Roberts all over her walls. She's infatuated with him. Where are you now? You said you were following them?"
"Yeah...we're heading southwest along the Memorial Highway...we're heading back to my neighborhood, actually."
"Keep me posted...I'm on my way." There was a click as Bodini hung up the phone.