Female Renegades

[ariosto]

Jack worked on the tire as the sun rose higher and higher. It would have been a simple job if some gorilla hadn't screwed the lug nuts on so damned tight.
Without thinking he took off his shirt and tossed it on the hood.
When he'd finally finished he straightened up and found both women looking at him appreciatively.
Two years with little to do but exercise had honed his body to perfection. Beck wasn't tall but he was lean, broad shouldered and built like a prizefighter. Which he had been once long ago.
Sweat had oiled his skin till it shined.

"Well ladies, guess that does it.
It's what you get for passing up a poor guy that needs a ride."
He smiled.
"Say have you got anything to drink in the car. I'm pretty thirsty."

 

[missla]

Becky

I noticed immediately that it was the same guy that had been hitchhiking back up the road. I wasn't so much glad to see him, but was happy to have someone who would change the tire. Sophie and I watched as he labored under the hot sun. He was very muscular, and the sweat really showed off his body. When he finished he stood up and asked if we had anything to drink in the car. Sophie and I looked at each other and I said "We have a couple of bottles of water if you want, but that's it." We really needed to get back on the road....

 

[MtnAngelWV]

Becky and I watched as the stranger began working on the tire, thankful we didn't have to fumble through it ourselves. He cursed as he strained to remove the lug nuts. I couldn't help but notice that his muscles bulged when he turned the wrench. This man removed his shirt and Becky and I glanced at each other with appreciative eyes.

Beads of perspiration were suspended on his broad shoulders. I felt a stir in my body as I observed his flat, taut stomache and rippled abs. I had previously been uninterested in sex. Michael had never considered my needs, only his own sexual perversions. I involuntarily cringed at the memories that began invading my brain. I shook my head slightly to banish the thoughts.

I felt like a woman who had just been released from prison and has seen a man for the first time in years. I flushed red as he turned about and caught us staring at him. He was asking a question and I had to strain to understand what he was requesting, snapping me back to reality.

"Well, we haven't stopped at a store yet, but hopefully there is a gas station down the road," I say to him. "Would you like a ride?"

Becky flashed an odd look at me as if to question my sanity. I had to question my own. We didn't even know this man but I was willing to risk danger. We were already running for our lives so what did we have to lose. I shruged my shoulders lightly and headed back to the car.

 

[missla]

Becky

I was really surprised that Sophie invited this guy to ride with us - we didn't even know him!!! I mean, I was glad he had fixed the tire for us and everything, but I wasn't real sure about him riding with us. He was kind of good-looking, though, and really, what more danger could we be in than what we were already in. What the heck - it might even be fun.

"OK then, so let's get going," as I climbed into the driver's seat and started the car....

 

[ariosto]

Beck sat back in the seat, enjoying the fresh air blowing through the windows. He was doing a whole lot better than he'd been this morning.
The girls were both pretty but not to much for conversation.
That was Ok.
He was pretty sure that they like him were on the run from something.
He thought for a minute about his slender wallet.
What the hell...

"Say..."
He leaned up between them. They smelled good too.

"If you two are getting hungry, I'll buy as some lunch.
Least I can do for the ride."

 

[MtnAngelWV]

I hadn't thought about food until he asked to buy us lunch. I was relaxing and enjoying the music. I looked over at becky as she was moving her head from side to side. She looked tense a bit tired.

"What do you think, Becky, are you getting hungry?" I asked her. I figured that after lunch I could do some of the driving. That's when the bulletin came across the radio. It informed the listeners of my husband's death and the fact that we were wanted by the police. Up until that point we had only assumed that the law was looking for us.

My mouth was agape as I continued listening to the report. Becky sharply turned her head in my direction and her eyes mirrored my fear.

 

[missla]

Becky

Sophie looked over at me to ask what I thought about him buying our lunch. Before I could answer, the radio made the announcement about the death of Sophie's husband and that we were suspects. I quickly looked over at her and I think we could both see the fear in each other's eyes. I took a quick glance in the rear view mirror to see if our passenger had heard the report, and his head was kind of leaned back against the seat like he was asleep, but surely he wasn't.

I pulled over to a roadside stop and said "I've got to make a pitstop - Sophie, do you want to come with me?" I took the keys and we walked toward the rest room - "We'll be right back," I called back to him. When we got inside, Sophie looked at me - "What are we going to do?" I said "We have got to get a move on. They have probably found the SUV by now and know we have switched cars, so we have probably bought a little time, but I don't want to waste any more. Do you think he heard the radio?" Sophie shrugged, evidently not knowing the answer.

"Look, Sophie, do you think we should make him get out now, or let him keep riding? I mean, I'm glad he was here to change the tire and everything, but we might make better time without him. Of course, if we leave him, he might help the police to find us. But whatever we do, we need to do it and get gone --- quickly!!!"

 

[captainb]

Nick

By the time Nick and Rosa arrived in Camburg they had heard the news flash on the radio. Nick knew the women's faces were being shown on the TV too, the partly blurry close-ups taken from once-innocent photographs. They checked in at the police station, but nothing had turned up yet. Back in the car, they drove somewhat aimlessly around town, Nick feeling his frustration grow. Just when he was ready to leave it to the locals, the dispatcher reported that a possible witness had been located. Luckily, they were near the area and pulled next to the curb behind a black and white.

The man said he'd sold a white convertible VW beetle that morning to two women who might have looked like the pictures he was being shown. He shook his head. "Boy, they sure didn't look like no mur'drers. Coupla pretty ladies, but a mite skittish. Paid all in cash too. Uh, two-fifty. Asked fer directins back to th' highway."

Nick conferred quickly with the two cops on the scene. He'd gained some time in the mad race up here, but that time had vanished while waiting for this break. Estimating the distance they might have traveled, he jumped back into the car with Rosa and tore out. Saltsman Creek was the next good-size town the fugitives would come to. He got on the radio and relayed the information to their police department as he pressed the accelerator to the floor.

 

[captainb]

television at the roadside stop

"...grain prices again dropped to new lows, with an announcement coming soon from the governor's mansion. Tune in this evening for the latest update. And finally, here's the latest on the developing story about the hunt for two women wanted for murder. The police have confirmed that the women, Sophie Miller and Rebecca Carlson, [photos of both women appear on-screen side by side] left their homes shortly after Sophie's husband Michael was found poisoned in his car. Sources report that the women's SUV was found parked at a motel in Camburg. Police have declined comment about either suspect's possible whereabouts. But they have asked that anyone seeing either of these two women should call the police immediately. Do not approach them. They are considered armed and dangerous. That's all for channel six news, stay tuned for Green Acres coming up next..."

 

[MtnAngelWV]

I pace the floor of the restroom trying to find some answers to our dilema. My chest feels heavy and I struggle to breathe. I take a few long, deep breaths and try to clear my head.

"I think maybe we should keep him with us, Becky. I agree with your thoughts and we should keep him near us. Also, they are looking for two women. Maybe his presence would help to camaflouge us," I say to Becky as I start walking out the door. I reached the car and entered the driver's side. Hopefully, concentrating on the driving would help ease my worries.

 

[missla]

Becky

With that mini-problem solved, we headed back to the car - Sophie climbed in behind the wheel to drive and I took her seat on the passenger side. She spun out of the parking lot as we got back on the highway. I leaned my head back and it wasn't long before I had dozed off. I don't know how long I slept, but when I awoke, the sun was high and we were still druisin along. Sophie looked over at me and said "Have a nice nap?" I really did feel a lot better, and as I stretched, I noticed that we were running low on gas.

"Stop at the next gas station you see, Sophie - we can fill up and get something to drink." It wasn't long until we saw one and she pulled in and stopped. I got out of the car and said "Go ahead and fill it up - I'll go inside and pay, and I'll pick up some refreshments for us." She got out to pump the gas as I walked inside...

 

[captainb]

Nick

Nick pulled into a roadside gas station a few miles before hitting empty. Asking at every gas station on the way would probably have turned up something eventually, but it would have taken forever. Besides, that was the local cops' job. But since he was here...

The young woman behind shook her head at his description. He thanked her and started the car. While it idled, he looked at the map. Another couple hundred miles to Saltsman Creek. Pretty desolate country out here, mostly just farms, villages, and small towns. He pulled onto the highway, hoping the sheriffs in those towns would keep their eyes open. In the meantime, he knew a roadblock was being set up just outside of Saltsman Creek. The sheriff there had radioed that they'd use the same location as their speed trap, where the highway curved at the bottom of a hill. If the women came through, they wouldn't see the roadblock until they were nearly upon it.

Nick glanced at Rosa. She was still asleep, must not be used to those kind of late nights. The car tore down the road under the high blazing sun.

 

[ariosto]

Jack took the handle from her and smiled.
"Let me, I smell pretty bad already, no need to get gasoline on you."

He was aware of her looking at him and he spoke quietly as the digitals clicked on the pump.

"You know this road is pretty busy. Main highway and all. It would be a logical choice to take for someone not wanting to use the freeway for some reason or other. I'm not the only person who could figure this out."

He pulled the nozzle from the tank.
"Twenty bucks! Gas has sure gone up lately hasn't it?"

She was staring right at him.

"I use to drive these roads a lot. I don't know where you're going but I could probably show you ways to get there not many folks would think of."

 

[MtnAngelWV]

He seemed to be hinting at our plight without actually admitting that he knew. I sensed some darkness about him and yet I trusted him. I had been betrayed so much that it was not any easy task for me to trust a man. I listened as he explained about less travelled roads and I cannot help but wonder what roads he could lead me down.

Would they be roads filled with potholes that I had travelled on for so long? He could not lead me to the road to hell for I have been there already and am just now finding my way back. Could he be the one to show me the way to freedom? Freedom from pain and anxiety.

My body began to stir with feelings I had long ago hidden as I look at his form standing next to mine. I found myself drawn to him. I longed to kiss his full awaiting mouth.

His words snapped me back to reality. "I'm sorry what were you saying?" embarrassed by my rudeness. He repeated his comment on the price of the gas. "Yes, seems everything is going up. I would appreciate it if you would guide us along the way. Thank you," I said softly as I kissed him lightly on the cheek. I was not sure what motivated me to do that. A need to be connected to him, to anyone, was the only idea that I could imagine.

 

[missla]

Becky

I walked in the store and suddenly felt the need to buy some beer. It was hot and we had to drink something, so why not beer - we needed to loosen up a bit anyhow. I noticed Sophie and Jack pumping the gas as I got to the counter. As I set the beer on the counter, the television behind the counter was giving the news about 2 women on the run, suspects for murder - US!!! The clerk was a nice looking kid of about 19, and as he stood up to come let me pay, it hit him that I was one of the two women. He looked at me and grinned and softly said "Is that you they are talking about?"

I couldn't lie due to the tears that welled up in my eyes - I tried to blink them away as I said "Look - yes, that is us, but please don't turn us in. Her husband was a real jackass - he beat her all the time, abused her every chance he got, and finally I couldn't take it any more and that is what happened!" My words were all running together and I didn't know if I was making since or not and I was about to really start crying. He said "wait a minute - don't worry, I won't say anything. My stepfather used to beat my mother constantly, and I had to lay in bed night after night listening to it. One day he went fishing and never came back - they found he had drowned. It didn't upset me any - I had thought of killing him myself many a time, so you don't have to worry about me."

I felt a big sigh of relief after hearing that. He told me he knew we were headed his way - the local sheriff had told him of a roadblock up the road away, where they would be waiting for us. "Is there any way around it?" I asked. He grinned shyly and said he knew a shortcut, and proceeded to tell me how to get to it. Smiling, I asked him "Is there any place you know of where we can get another car - I'm sure they know what we are driving by no?" He told me he had been fixing up an old Cadillac convertible at his house - he wasn't finished but it ran great and he would let us have it.

I couldn't take it for nothing, so I pulled out my money from my bag. I gave him $1000 - "Is that enough?" He smiled back and told me I was giving him too much and tried to give some back. I said "NO, you are much too nice - you will make some girl very happy one day," and I leaned over and hugged him, and then gave him a big kiss. It felt so good to kiss someone again, but he pulled away and told me to get going. He gave me the key to the Caddy and directions to his house, and said "Good luck" and hustled me out.

I hustled out the door and looked at Jack and Sophie and said "Let's go - plans have changed." We all piled in and I drove to his house. We hid the convertible in some woods along the road and sped off to the shortcut he had told me about, as I filled them in about him...

 

[ariosto]

Jack listned to the tale with reservations. By now he knew the whole story and it was worse than he'd thought.

"Listen you two are pinning everything on this kid that you don't know crap about. OK lets say he's well meaning really want's to help out. The cops track us to the store and muscle the kid. He could break down easy and tell them right where we are."

The women were exhausted. He would have lept in the car that instant and dumped it in the nearest town. Hell, setting out on foot might be safer than staying here...Ok.

"Listen it's been a rough time for you. There's a bed in there. He pointed through the screen door. Go ahead and catch some sleep. I'll stay awake out here. When it gets dark I'll get you up and we can figure out what to do."

 

[captainb]

Nick & Rosa

Rosa told Nick about her impressions in Sophie's home, about the kinds of makeup she'd seen and her suspicion of a wife-beater. "I thought everything was black and white when I started this career. But it's not. There are shades of gray everywhere, and it makes me wonder if we can really find justice in a case like this."

Nick drove in silence, digesting her words. "You're right," he finally said, "to a point. Spousal abuse seems epidemic sometimes, and I know most wives are too scared to go to the cops. But there are other places to go. There's family, there's shelters, we've got structures, organizations set up in society that can help women in those situations..."

"And then what? They get protection for a few days or weeks, until the husband finds them and drags them home again."

"Well, that's when they need to call the police in, the courts. God, that's what we're here for!"

"But it doesn't work," she said. "Sometimes, yeah, but there's a... I don't know if it's a love-hate thing, but wives rarely seem to follow through in prosecuting their husbands. They believe their sob stories and apologies, and maybe things are good for a few days after they get back together. But then it starts all over, usually worse, and that's when a woman gets hurt or killed!"

Nick was taken aback by the passion in her words. After a moment he shook his head slowly. "But this isn't the answer. Killing the son of a bitch doesn't do anything except fulfill a burst of revenge. I know," he said as she tried to speak, "sometimes it's in self-defense or the heat of passion. But this wasn't, Rosa. This was premeditated murder. They poisoned him. And not even in his home, they let him die behind the wheel of a car. What if he hadn't hit the bridge? What if he'd crossed into the other lane and hit someone else?" He slammed the wheel with his palm. "Dammit, look how much trouble they're giving us. Don't you think if they'd just drove off in Becky's SUV they could have gotten away just as easily? How on earth could he have found them when the whole police force can't? She could have started a new life in a different state, or done whatever her plan is. She could have done everything the same, except no one would have had to die. Shit!"

This last was said as they rounded a curve at the bottom of a hill. Four police cars were lined up on the side of the road, ready to leap into the center to block traffic. The women hadn't come this way at all. They'd slipped through the dragnet.

 

[MtnAngelWV]

I listened to the hitchhiker's words, taking in every morsel, trying to let it sink in deep to my troubled mind. I was reluctant to trust him but he did seem to know more about this than we did. Becky and I were as out of place as two deaf-blind mutes auditioning for a musical on Broadway. I was tired, he was right about that. From the dark circles under Becky's eyes I knew she was stressed out and exhausted.

"Maybe he is right, Becky," I say as I watch her stare at me as if I had gone mad. I shrug my shoulders and walk into the small cabin. I decide to rummage through the cupboards to find something to eat. My stomache had been growling for miles now. Not very much to chose from, but I retrieved macaroni and cheese and found a can of beef stew. From the looks of the place I would say it was used for a weekend retreat. No parishable items were in the refrigerator, just a box of stale baking soda and two sticks of margarine.

The guy brought the beer in from the car, I got out three cans and put the rest in the fridge and went about making some dinner. Popping the top on my own can, I gulped a long swig of the cold intoxicant. If I kept this up I would become an alcoholic in short order.


OOC: Missla, check your PM please! Thanks!

 

[captainb]

ooc: Sorry, but I can't make out where you guys are. Did you get the Caddy, drive somewhere and find a cabin, or did you go into the gas station kid's house and not take the Cadillac?

 

[MtnAngelWV]

OOC: I was confused also, captainb...so let me say that we have the Caddy and we happened along a cabin. Check your PM, need to give you some story info. and do not want to give it away here. lol

 

[MtnAngelWV]

OOC: just bumping the thread.

 

[ariosto]

Jack walked around the yard and took a good look at the Caddy. The tires were in bad shape and could go at any time. The spare was flat.

Damn...this was looking worse and worse. By now the sun had fully set and a deep still night had fallen. The smell of food brought him to the back porch by the kitchen door.
Sophie jumped brandishing a skillet in her hand.

"HEY!....oh it's you. Jack you scared me."

"He laughed, you look cute when your scared then."
He walked in.

"Where were you?"

Jack looked in the saucepan,
"Just walking around outside...lookin' around.
Nothing exciting."

No use getting them all worried over something they could do nothing about.

 

[missla]

Becky

Sophie was able to fix us some dinner, which we all ate in record time. As darkness fell, we sat around talking about nothing, until we had finally finished off the beer. Jack laid down on the couch in the living room, and told us to take the bedroom. We told him goodnight and closed the door behind us. I looked at Sophie and said "What we both need is a good hot shower - now whoever owns this cabing must think showering is a high priority item, cause I looked in the bathroom and the shower is enormous. And believe it or not, it has nice, hot water - I already checked !!

Becky's eyes flew open wide, as I could tell she was excited about relaxing with a hot shower. I smiled at her and said "I'l even let you go first, Becky - only one thing, don't use all the hot water !" We laughed and I said "If you stay in there too long, I'm coming to get you !"

She laughed and headed toward the bathroom. I soon heard the shower running as I sat down on the edge of the bed and took off my shoes. A hot shower would really feel great - I couldn't wait to get in......

 

[ariosto]

Jack laid on the couch with his eyes fixed on the screen door. Fully expecting to see the lights of police cars coming up the driveway.
He was tired and had not stopped since he'd left
Joliet. try as he might he could not keep from drifting...

Women's laughter woke him. He listened. He'd been with them all day and hadn't really thought about the fact that they were two quite lovely young women...They were in the bathroom and water was running. He could picture them...

He realised suddenly that he had an erection.
It came as a pleasent surprise!
He lay back rubbing himelf to the sound of Becky and Sophie giggling in the shower...

 

[MtnAngelWV]

The water was beginning to take the soreness and tension out of my body. After I grabbed the soap, I ran it over my body. The lather felt good, cleansing my soul as well as my body. When my hand rubbed over my breasts the nipples began to grow, aching to be touched over and over again. They needed another's touch, something different from my own. It had been too long since they had been touched tenderly by anyone other than myself.

"Hey, you're going to turn into a prune," I startled as I heard Becky's voice on the other side of the flimsy shower curtain. I must have lost track of time.

"Sorry, Becky. The water felt too sinfully good. I just can't bring myself to get out of it. Might as well jump on in," I tell Becky. I have no desire to leave the refreshing spray pulsating against my breasts. I also don't want to deny Becky the same pleasure.