A Road Trip to Love
It was surprisingly hot and humid for mid-May in upstate New York. Waves of heat were flooding off the asphalt in an epic otherworldly dance. The roadside diner at the far end of the gravel parking lot was old. The metal and glass old fashioned door didn’t close completely. It centred six large windows which framed the booths inside. The interior of the diner was time trapped in the 1950s with ten fixed stools facing the counter on one side with the booths of Naugahyde benches and melamine tables on the other.
In the far corner booth was a young woman drinking a coffee in an old mug. She might have been attractive but with her oversized hoodie partially covering her black and blue hair a stud piercing in her nose and makeup running down from her tear-filled eyes, it was hard to tell. A plump waitress in her tan uniform was standing over her.
“Will there be anything else Hun?”
Despite her gruff appearance, the young woman was very polite. She quietly asked, “How much for another coffee?”
The waitress smiled and said, “that’s free Hun.” The girl looked hungry, but she obviously didn’t have any money. Then the waitress said, “I also have a piece of chocolate cream pie.” The girl was hesitant, but the waitress added, “I was just going to throw it out anyway,” she lied.
When the waitress came back with the pie and coffee, they were both devoured so quickly that the waitress had not left the table before both were virtually gone. “What’s your name Hun?” the waitress asked.
“Sandra...um Sandie,” the young woman answered uncertain if she should give her real name or not.
“Well Sandra um Sandie,” the waitress teased, “Is that your car on fire out in the driveway?”
“It’s my ex-boyfriend’s and I think it’s just smoking now.”
“Do you have someone I can call for you?”
The girl started to tear up, “No I don’t think so. My parents died in a car accident about a month ago. My boyfriend, who I borrowed the car from, did this to me,” Sandie lifted her dark coloured hoodie to reveal a couple of serious looking gashes on her stomach and side just below her boob which were still bleeding a bit. The darkness of hoodie hid the blood.
The waitress was shocked but helped pull her hoodie back down as the men in the restaurant started to take an interest either in her wounds or the exposed flesh. “Do you want me to call the police?” The waitress asked.
“No!” The girl said more sharply than she intended. So, she explained. “My ex is a cop and at a party two nights ago, he wanted me to service a few of his fellow officers. I refused and he took out his knife and started to what he called score me since I wouldn’t score with his fellow officers. I ran to the car. But he followed me screaming while the other cops just laughed. I hit him with the car door and then kicked him in his privates. I have been driving as fast as I could for miles until the car died here in the parking lot. Which begs the question, where am I?”
“Well, I am glad you got a good kick in, Hun. You’re in Auburn about halfway from New York City and the Canadian border.” The waitress and the girl smiled. “Do you have any other family?”
“I have an uncle in Vancouver Canada but that might as well be on the moon at this point.” Sandie was just starting to realize just how hopeless her situation was. The tears and the eye makeup started to flow again. The gashes in her mid-section were also starting to really sting now. She put her head down on the table quietly begging God for death as the plump waitress put her hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be alright Hun, you’ll see,” the waitress said as much to convince herself as the girl.
Somehow with no one seeing when he came in, there was a good-looking man in his late thirties sitting in the next booth with his bright blue eyes fixed on the sad sight in front of him. He was struggling with himself to decide if he was going to say something. “I uh....oh never mind.”
“You uh what Hun?” The waitress asked.
“Oh heck. I might be able to help.” The man cringed as he spoke.
“How can you help Hun?” The waitress asked with a bit of hope for the distraught girl.
He wanted to assist the damsel in distress, but he knew how crazy it sounded. “I am going to visit my sister in Seattle which isn’t terribly far from Vancouver,” The man sort of offered.
“That’s a long way, why wouldn’t you fly?” the girl asked.
“What and miss the company of a cut-up girl whose wanted by the police and whose eyes are melting?” the man said sarcastically.
Sandie wasn’t sure about much, but she knew she didn’t want to walk to the door with this man let alone drive across the country with him. She had never hated someone so instantly before.
“So, you’re afraid to fly?” Sandie asked accusingly.
“Alright, yes, I am afraid to fly. You can tell me it’s the safest way to travel but I was in a plane crash. We were taking off and the plane went up about four hundred feet and then went down like a stone and killed four people. Two of which were my parents. So, yeah, I don’t like to fly.”
“I am so sorry,” The waitress offered.
“Yeah, me too, Sandie said sincerely.
“What’s your name Hun?” The waitress asked the man who was still deciding if he would let the annoying girl travel in his car.
“Robin ...Robin Hanson,” He knew the minute he said it the waitress recognized him. His parents were multi-millionaires before the crash and left Robin with a sizeable fortune. He had spent the last sixteen years, since his parent’s death, giving away a huge amount of money. Although he was still CEO of his dad’s tech company, he was proudest of his charity work. He had no head for business which was why he was going on this trip. His sister had a real head for business so he was hoping to turn the reigns of the company over to her so he could focus on his non-profit.
Shelly, Robin’s sister didn’t really have much interest in the company, but Robin knew she would step up if he asked her properly...and in-person. Shelly, a gorgeous young woman in her early thirties had recently been divorced so she was likely to want a new challenge Robin figured. Plus, she wouldn’t want her parent’s legacy to be destroyed. Shelly wasn’t even a teenager when her parents died but her family’s household staff had basically raised her to that point anyway. As she got older Robin, a few years her senior, made sure she got the best education. She got an MBA from Harvard but decided to go out west with her husband, a shifty and possessive man that Robin never liked. She went out west with the man who had no time for her after they were married, instead of working for the family business. Now that she had come to her senses and split from her husband, Robin was sure she would come back home.
So, he had to make the trip even if the urchin he just met did not want to go with him. He didn’t like the girl very much, but he also was not looking forward to crossing the country alone.
“You can relax, I am not going to intrude on your road trip,” Sandie said to Robin.
On the one hand Robin did feel relieved that this girl who was obviously trouble was not coming with him, but he also kept thinking about falling asleep at the wheel. The one thing this girl could do was keep him awake because he’d have to sleep with one eye open to make sure she didn’t steal everything.
“I actually...” he hesitated, “...need someone to keep me awake while I drive.”
“And who better than a criminal... right?” Sandie said sarcastically.
“Yes exactly. I don’t relish spending that much time with you and I am sure the feeling is mutual, but I must go out west and you need to go, so we’ll put up with each other for the trip,” Robin said unenthusiastically.
“No,” Sandie said flatly. “I’d really rather walk...in my bare feet over broken glass in puddles filled with piranha.”
“Ok, subtle but I think you’re suggesting you would rather not go with me.”
“I don’t know what could have given you that idea,” she said with deadpan sarcasm.
At that Robin stood up and asked the waitress for a large coffee, a club sandwich without fries and a piece of rhubarb pie. “And could I have that to go please,” he said as he got up to go to the bathroom.
“Sure thing, Hun,” the waitress said as she wrote the order down.
Robin walked to the washroom as the waitress admonished the girl. “You need to get out of town, and he is offering you a way,” the waitress said flatly.
“Yeah, but he is a jerk...” the girl whispered loudly.
“So are you,” the waitress said exasperatedly.
“Well, you’re not getting a tip,” the girl joked.
“You don’t have any money.”
Robin walked past the waitress and Sandie and went directly to the cash to pick up his order. He cashed out with Cookie, the heavily tattooed cook and owner of the diner and then took his stuff and headed out the glass and metal door.
“I’d say it’s now or never Hun,” the waitress said to Sandie.
Sandie looked out the window to the parking lot where her car was still smoking, and she saw Robin get into his car. She was prepared to let him leave without her but then she noticed, “Oh my God he’s got a Bentley...I’ve always dreamed of driving in one.” Then she gathered her purse and a bookbag and ran as fast as she could out the door. She paused for just a second to say thank you to the waitress.
The waitress and Cookie both yelled at her to go, and she flung herself in front of Robin’s blue Bentley. He jammed on the brakes, and she pulled several times at the door handle before he finally unlocked the door.
The waitress looked at Cookie and asked, “What do you think will happen?”
Cookie just said, “I think he’ll make it about a quarter mile, kick her out and then run over her again and again until she is part of the highway.”
“Yeah, me too. But who knows maybe they’ll fall in love,” the waitress deadpanned, and they both laughed.
In the car Robin asked, “so let me get this straight, If I didn’t have a Bentley, you wouldn’t have come? I think that is most materialistic thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Yeah well, I’ve wanted one ever since I saw one on ‘Christina On The Coast’”.
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a TV show on HGTV,” the girl answered defensively.
“What’s HGTV?” Robin asked
“Oh god this is going to be a long trip,” Sandie said exasperated.
It had been at least a day if not two since she slept. The car was so comfortable that she fell asleep in seconds. Sandie slept for about ten minutes and then jumped-up screaming, “Don’t touch me!”
“I wasn’t touching you honestly,” Robin said defensively.
“Oh, I know you weren’t. It’s just me having flashbacks of a couple of nights ago. I am sorry,” Sandie said sadly.
“Don’t worry about it. I was just startled.”
Sandie winced from the pain of one of her cuts which had become infected. Robin pulled the car over.
“I said I was sorry,” Sandie said thinking he had pulled the car over to kick her out.
“Oh no it’s nothing like that,” Robin reassured her. He reached into the back seat and rummaged through some stuff and pulled out an antibiotic ointment he kept in case someone wanted to play ball hockey and injuries ensued. The ointment had an analgesic quality as well so it should help a lot. He handed the cream to Sandie but when she tried to apply it, her arms were too stiff and sore.
Robin took the ointment from her and reached for her hoodie and asked, “Is this alright?” She nodded and Robin pulled her hoodie over her head. He also inadvertently lifted her flimsy blood-stained undershirt too. Which pain or not she quickly pulled back down.
“Glad we got that out of the way,” Sandie said awkwardly after her breasts were momentarily exposed, and they both laughed nervously. “You looked, didn’t you?” Sandie accused.
“No,” he paused. “Yes, I am sorry. I’m a man and they are boobs, and I couldn’t help myself.”
She looked at him for a second. “You’re blushing! I am the one who was nearly naked in front of a stranger and you’re the one whose blushing,” she teased.
Robin tossed the cream at her, but she simply turned and said, “Please I need your help.”
He took the cream from her hand and lifted her shirt on the side. There were many cuts, and they were deep. She felt almost instant relief as gently put the cream on each slash. Sandie was able to move her hand enough to pull the shirt up or down as Robin applied ointment to her chest. He then motioned for her to turn her back to him and pull up her shirt. Sandie’s back was a mess, but he rubbed the cream over most of her back and then pulled her shirt back down.
Sandie thought it was sweet, gentle, and maybe even a bit sexy. He reached into the back seat again and got her a t-shirt and a coat to warm up in. Robin turned his back and Sandie changed out of her blood-soaked undershirt to Robin’s green tee. She pulled the coat up and cuddled in with a simple but sincere thank you. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Finally able to get going again, Robin kept his eye on the road, but Sandie had fallen asleep. They were only driving for less than thirty minutes when Robin saw the flashing lights behind him. Robin knew he wasn’t speeding so he wondered if this had more to do with Sandie.
“Sandie, wake up!” Robin said sharply. When she saw the flashing lights she virtually jumped out of her own skin.
Robin started to pull over.
“What are you doing?” Sandie screamed.
“If I don’t pull over, he’ll radio ahead to his buddies, and they will set up roadblocks. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Robin said in resignation.
In the mirror Robin could see a tall, athletic looking man get out of the police car. Then he went back into the car, and he did something to the camera on the dash and got back out and did something to the camera on his uniform. Robin figured he shut them off.
The cop came to the window and Robin buzzed it down about halfway.
“Just a routine traffic-stop to make sure you’re not carrying something you shouldn’t,” the cop said threateningly.
Sandie was petrified but Robin answered, “If it’s so routine then why did you shut off the dash cam and your personal camera?”
“Just get out of the car asshole,” the cop said while reaching for his gun.
“And if I refuse, are you going to shoot me?” Robin asked.
“Maybe so. But all I want is Sandra and you can go,” the cop was belligerent now.
“Do you know what kind of car this is,” Robin asked ignoring the threat of a gun.
“Yeah, it’s a Bentley so what?”
“Well Bentleys have cameras everywhere and they can be recorded on my phone which I will now upload.” He looked down at his phone even though he knew he didn’t do anything. “Huh look at that I am already getting views,” Robin said flatly.
“Look get out of the car or I will get my supervisor…”
“Please do,” Robin interrupted.
Sandie’s ex then got right in the window of the car. “Sandra if you come out now, I’ll forget everything like you running off and stealing my car,” Sandie’s ex said angrily.
“Yeah Tommy? Will you forget slicing me up like a steak and threatening me with worse if I didn’t service your buddies,” Sandie yelled as she lifted her shirt on her side where the cuts were the worst. “You did this,” Sandie said screaming and crying with anger.
“Yeah, well you deserved it you whore!”
“Gee that one should get a few views,” Robin chuckled and said, “Send”
Sandie’s ex, Officer Tommy John, didn’t know what to do so he threw up his hands and started walking back to his patrol car. “You wait whore, I will finish the job,” he said threatening as he walked away. He got into his car and drove off.
“Do you think he’ll be back?” Sandie asked.
“Oh yeah especially once he realizes Bentley’s can’t send images to a phone,” Robin responded. “We have to get off the main roads and find a more inconspicuous car.”
“Damn it, I love this car,” Sandie said
“Yeah, me too. I was just starting to look forward to this trip,” Robin said sadly. Since he no longer had to worry about getting stopped for speeding, he was going about 160 mph along the highway until he found an old chip sealed road. He barreled down that road until even his GPS didn’t know where he was. Just in the distance was an older motel but it looked like people had looked after it.
As he pulled up, he noticed there was only one other car there. He jumped out of the car and went into the office which obviously had not been updated since the 1960s. A very chubby man in his late 50s with a round face that had not seen a razor for several days came from behind hanging beads wearing a tan corduroy sport coat that he obviously bought back when it was stylish and a jean shirt and pants that almost matched. He was struggling so Robin figured he had COPD or some progressive lung disease.
“What can I do for you?” the man behind the counter gasped.
“I need a room for the night, preferably with two double beds,” Robin inquired.
“Well, I got two with two queens. Not like them New York City queens,” the man realized Robin didn’t get the joke. “I’m sorry I sometimes forget times have changed in sixty years.”
“It’s no problem for me but you should be careful what you say as many people are very sensitive these days. Anyway, my friend is being followed by her ex, a corrupt cop, who plans to do her harm, so I need to hide my car,” Robin asked.
“Jealous husband, eh?”
“No, nothing like that. I just met the girl, but her ex is a policeman who tried to give her the death by a thousand cuts. So, I need to hide the car and get something more inconspicuous,” Robin said.
“Well, I do have a suggestion.” The man pointed to a garage behind a house near the motel. “In that garage is an almost new Huun-die Tucson. You could use that for your trip and bring it back to me when you come back.”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll trade you the Bentley for the Tucson. The only problem is you won’t be able to use it for a few weeks or the policeman will torture you to find out what we’re driving. The Bentley is worth about twenty Tucsons.”
“Oh, you don’t have to sell me, I know what a Bentley is worth, and I look forward to driving it when the dust settles a little,” the old man said with a smile.
“My name is Dan Davis, but my friends call me Dandy.”
Robin and Dandy walked over to the Bentley and Sandie got out and went into the backseat. Just in that short movement, Dandy could see several of her wounds, so he knew Robin wasn’t lying about the cop or the girl.
“My name is …” Robin started
“Maybe it’s best I don’t know your real name Mr. Schwartz from Montreal Canada or yours Mrs. Schwartz. Just in case your cop friend does pay me a visit, Dandy said with a smile.
As they stopped the car, the new looking compact red SUV was peering out of its garage. Robin took the keys and drove it out of the garage. Sandie and Robin moved the stuff from the Bentley to the Tucson in no time. Then he backed the Bentley into the garage and closed the doors so it could not be seen from the motel or the road.
Dandy handed them the keys to “Number 26. You have a pleasant evening Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz.”
Robin and Sandie got in the Tucson and Robin said, “It’s no Bentley but it's not half bad.”
“Seems comfortable enough,” Sandie offered.
Dandy got in the backseat, and they drove back to the motel. After Dandy got out Robin and Sandie parked the SUV in front of number 32 and walked to number 26. The room was nice enough with two queen sized beds. They each picked a bed and flaked out.
Sandie power napped for about an hour and then went to the bathroom at the far end of the room and had a shower. The hot water stung her wounds, but she got through it. The cream Robin gave her had helped a lot and most of her wounds didn’t hurt as much. She got out of the bathroom not really wanting to put on the same clothes. On her bed was a man’s button shirt with a pair of boxer shorts. Up until that moment she had forgotten she was naked. She looked over at Robin who looked like he was still asleep facing the window. She failed to see his little smile as he watched her in the reflection on the window. She did have a nicely proportioned beautiful body.
Minus the scars she thought to herself. After a few minutes she walked over to the far side of Robin’s bed and gently put her hand on his face. He pretended to wake, and she thanked him for the clothes. He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently.
“I’m starving,” she said.
“You know, I am starving too,” Robin said.
“I’d call for a pizza, but we’d need cash since they are probably tracing your credit cards now.
“I’ve got a little in my wallet and he motioned to his pants which were sitting on a chair. Sandie went to his pants and pulled out his wallet. She had never seen that much cash in one place before. She found a card by the phone and called for the pizza and four cans of diet Pepsi. She did it with a French accent and even said vinqt-six before saying twenty-six.
Robin laughed and said, “You know Mrs. I mean Madam Schwartz, chances are they are English jews from Montreal like Captain Kirk,” Robin teased.
“Kirk was from Iowa, Shatner was from Montreal,” Sandie corrected. “Besides who's to say where Mrs. Schwartz is from.”
“Fair point,” Robin conceded.
As they waited Robin thought to himself that the smart thing to do was to leave Sandie at a curb somewhere, but he couldn’t seem to help the fact he was starting to like her. Or maybe it was seeing her prance around in his shirt which was a bit more revealing than even he intended it to be. Without make-up dripping from her eyes and with her hair brushed, she really was quite lovely.
Just then there was a knock at the door. He got up out of the bed and looked out the motel room window. “It’s just the pizza guy,” he said. Sandie didn’t hear him as she was looking at his well-toned physique covered only by boxer shorts. “Sandie, it’s the pizza guy,” he said again.
At that she sprang up from her chair, with his wallet and paid the teen aged pizza delivery person. “Sorry, I was in a daze,” she said.
“Oh yeah what about?” Robin asked.
“It was nothing,” she lied. Then she brought the pizza and the pop to Robin’s bed and sat very close beside him with both of their backs against the headboard. She pulled the old orange blanket over both of their legs and sat the pizza on top. “Is this alright?” she asked.
“It’s quite nice actually,” Robin said as he grabbed a piece of pizza. After a few bites he said, “Maybe it’s the fact we’re both going to die soon, but this pizza is really good.”
Sandie laughed and pulled his right arm over her head and cuddled into his chest. “I think it’s the best I’ve ever had,” she said meaning nothing and yet so much more. She started to fall asleep until Robin started to move the pizza box which she grabbed with speed and stealth like nothing he’d ever seen before. Robin was startled. “Sorry,” she laughed, “but I still want more.”
“Yeah, me too.” And they both ate pizza and drank pop until they could barely move. Then they both fell asleep cuddled up in each other’s arms. At one point he thought he felt her kiss him, but he was so tired he could not be sure.
Robin slept on his back with Sandie’s head on his stomach. He was so relaxed that he just forgot about everything. But then he felt the unmistakeable feeling of a hand on his genitals in the open fly of his boxer shorts. He thought she had done it by accident but when he pushed her hand away, she put it back and said, “just let me play.”
She was very slow and deliberate but there was no mistaking what she was doing. His breathing was getting shallower, and he could feel an eruption starting to build deep inside. The more he tried to push her away, the more determined she became. He was unable to stop her now and she jumped between his legs and said, “I can’t have you making a mess all over the nice sheets and your shorts now, can I?” Then she took him deep in her throat. He was wide and long but she didn’t gag. He was well down her throat as his eruption started uncontrollably and she used the swallowing motion to milk him dry. He was dead to the world for at least an hour but when he went to reciprocate, Sandie said, “No no that was my gift to you. I am sure you will make me happy soon but not now.”
Robin had never experienced something so intense and completely unselfish. No wonder the cop wanted her back so badly he thought. He woke up at five in the morning and Sandie was faced the other way. He wondered if he had just dreamed it.
“Sandie, wake up!” He shook her gently. “Um did we or you really…?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said as if nothing had happened.
“Ok well we gotta go before it’s light out and we can be seen,” Robin said getting dressed.
Sandie put on her pants over the boxer shorts Robin loaned her then grabbed a piece of cold pizza and shoved it in Robin’s face. He took a bite, and they grabbed their stuff and got into the SUV. As he was driving away, he could see Dandy waving from the kitchen window of his house. They both waved back and started again on their journey west.
They decided to head north rather than immediately go west. If they could make it to the Canadian border, travelling inside Canada would be safer. For now, they would go up to Rochester and from there head west to Niagara.
It took a few hours to get to Rochester and it would be another few hours to get to Niagara so they stopped at a diner that could have been twins with the one where they met. As they went in, they saw a pleasant waitress and a gruff looking owner, and they laughed to themselves. The waitress came over to the table and poured them both a coffee without even asking. Her orange uniform was a bit frumpy, so it was pretty evident it was not meant for her.
Swiftly and without warning the cook and the waitress had guns in their hands. The man shot his gun into the ceiling and told everyone to listen up, “I want you to put your wallets and jewellery in this bag.” He held up a blue pillowcase and handed it to a man sitting at the nearest table. A man in his forties who was heavy set refused to put his wallet in the bag. The fake cook shot him in his hand and with his other hand he put his wallet and his watch in the bag as he whimpered from the pain and the blood loss.
At the next table there was a woman in her fifties and a very pretty, young teenager wearing a blue partially unbuttoned shirt and a blue mini. The fake cook looked at her and said, “You know what honey I am going to teach you the real value of a woman.”
“Just leave her alone,” the fake waitress said.
“No, I don’t think so. This is an important life lesson. Now darlin’ I’m gonna let you keep your money. All you have to do is strip down.”
“Oh, let the girl be Earl,” the fake waitress said again. At that Earl pointed the gun at the waitress and cocked it. The other robber took her cue and shut up.
The girl looked at Earl and said, “No I am not doing this.” Without even blinking he pointed the gun at her grandmother and shot her.
“I said strip! Next one won’t be in Granny’s shoulder. It will be in her head.”
The young girl hesitated but as Earl lifted his gun, she began to remove her blouse.
“Well look at those little perky ones.”
Robin and Sandie were at the next table and while Earl’s eyes were distracted, Sandie stabbed him in the neck with a steak knife she found on the table. The fake waitress was about to turn and fire but she was attacked by several of the patrons all at once. They beat her so bad that no one knew if she was alive or dead.
The young woman put her partially blood covered shirt back on. The she grabbed a knife off her table and stabbed the now lifeless body of Earl the fake cook over and over again until her grandmother said, “I think you got him dear.”
Robin and Sandie used the opportunity to slither past everyone and get going. But on the tv above the counter there was a breaking story about a motel owner murdered. The newsreader said, “Seedy Pines motel owner Dan Dandy Davis was found murdered from a single gunshot to the head in his home by the motel. Police are looking for a man in his later 30s and a woman in her 20s as persons of interest in the killing. Photos of the couple can be found on the Action news website.”
Before they drew attention to themselves, Sandie and Robin got in Dandy’s SUV and drove off. Sandie was upset and angry. “He was so nice to us. He didn’t deserve that.”
“Well now we know your boyfriend is not above murdering someone just to get you back under his control. We’re going to have to get rid of this car and find a way to get across the border without being seen,” Robin said fighting back a few tears of his own.
“There’s a marina near Rochester where an old friend of the family has a cabin cruiser. A nice one, thirty-two feet long and a couple of nice cabins,” Robin suggested.
“Well let’s hope he doesn’t watch the news,” Sandie said sadly.
“It’s she and yes if you’re wondering, we do have a history, but it’s been a few years so hopefully it’s ancient history.”
“Who broke up with whom?” Sandie asked.
“I broke it off. She was getting too serious, and I wasn’t there yet,” Robin confessed although he was partially lying since he actually caught his girlfriend with someone else.
“Oh god we’re f-d,” Sandie said realising they were going to have to get on a boat, cross the border and rent a car all virtually sight unseen.
Robin called his ex and made arrangements with her. To Sandie it sounded like a shouting match but after the call Robin simply said, “we’re in.”
“That didn’t sound good.”
“Well, she had some reservations…something about carrying wanted felons across the border…that kind of thing, Robin said trying to convince her it was going to be ok when he wasn’t sure himself.
Luckily it was near dark when they arrived at the marina. There was a camera but that looked easy enough to avoid. As Robin and Sandie looked up the dock, popping out of the darkness was a stunning blond woman who had the body of a teenager but looked in face to be in her 20s. She was beautifully proportioned and sexy even at a distance. She looked up at the car since the parking lot was above the docks and motioned for Robin and Sandie to come ahead. With that she grabbed a stick and broke both the light and the camera. Robin and Sandie grabbed their stuff and ran down the small hill to the dock. From there they walked briskly on the docks that head to the boats. Sandie hadn’t realized they were floating docks, and the waves were quite high. She started to fall in in front of a sailboat, but two arms grabbed her and held her tight. Sandie turned around expecting it to be Robin, but it wasn’t. Sandie wasn’t sure but she might even have copped a feel as she grabbed her.
Robin chimed in, “Sandie Daws this is Stephanie Silk.”
Stephanie asked Sandie if she and Hansen as she called him were together.
“No, we’re just travelling together although we’ve gotten to be close friends as he has saved my life and put his own at risk…” Sandie offered.
“But you’re not together together?” Stephanie interrupted.
“No not really. I hope this isn’t awkward, but you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life,” Sandie said almost without thinking. She looked at Robin who just confirmed she is very attractive.
“From Hansen that is rip your clothes off gorgeous,” Stephanie joked as the two girls grabbed each other’s hands and laughed as they made their way up the dock.
As they got to the end slip the sleek dark blue hull of a Sea Ray Sundancer appeared out of the darkness.
“New boat?” Robin asked
“Yes, I call this one Steph’s Toy. She is fast fun and comfortable.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Thanks!” Stephanie got on board as the dock rose in the waves faster than the boat. Sandie was a little off in her timing and was pulled up and on the boat by Stephanie who held her tight for a minute and gave her a little peck on the lips making both girls laugh.
She looked down at Robin. “Are you coming or what Hansen?”
Robin got the benefit of a big wave, so he just stepped on the boat.
We have about an hour before we cast off so I thought we would have some dinner. She said she slaved hours over the hot stove and by that she meant she opened a bucket of KFC. They were starving so they didn’t complain.
The boat was going up and down like a confused elevator as they ate. Then there was a look of horror on Sandie’s face, and she ran to the side of the boat and vomited. She threw up so much and so often that Robin was starting to worry.
Stephanie just looked at him and said, “You went through this. We all did at one time or another. She’ll have her sea legs now and she likely won't feel sick again until she gets on dry land that doesn’t move.”
Stunning Stephanie as Robin’s sister used to call her, guided Sandie down below and wiped her face with a cloth. She then helped her to the shower and got her something to wear. The garment Stephanie picked out was gossamer thin lingerie.
“I can’t wear this…it’s too….” Sandie began.
“Revealing?”
“Well yes.”
“For him maybe but for me it’s perfect,” Stephanie teased.
As Sandie showered, Stephanie made lewd gestures at the partially opaque door. As she got out, she was met with a towel and an intense kiss that made them both wobbly in the knees. Sandie stopped for a second and said, “I am not usually into girls.”
“Well, I never used to be but now I find myself going whichever way the wind blows. I think I prefer guys, but I do like to dyke out every now and then. And there is something about you that I just can’t seem to resist. But what about Robin? Stephanie asked making sure she wasn’t treading on his territory.
“Don’t tell him this but I am really starting to fall for him. But we’re not there yet.”
At that Stephanie kissed her again and they began to grope and grab each other and then Stephanie just stopped and said, “It’s dark so it’s time to go.”
The bilge pumps whined for a minute until the two large engines roared to life. Robin jumped off to release the moorings and then jumped back on as the boat pulled away from the dock. The boat maneuvered around the break water to the dark depth of Lake Ontario toward Hamilton harbour—a steel town that has so much iron in the water it looks a bit red.
The boat came up on the plane to cruise at thirty knots, but she kept her running lights on so as not to attract attention on the American side of the border. Stephanie looked over at Robin, “Hold her steady at this heading for a few hours. Between GPS and chart software she may turn to avoid sandbars, rocks, and sunken ships but she will turn to her proper heading after she passes whatever is in the way. I, on the other hand, will be in the forward stateroom trying to seduce your new girlfriend.” Stephanie said with a chuckle.
“She’s not my girl…”
“Oh, save it. I don’t care what she is to you. She is the best-looking thing that’s been on this boat since I bought it. She is quirky and is damaged goods. And if it hurts you even a little, well that’s just a bonus.”
With her supermodel face, tight body and a decent sized rack, Robin wasn’t sure Sandie even had a chance to say no. Part of him wanted to stop her but another part of him was more than a little intrigued at the prospect of two sizzling hot girls making out. Besides Sandie is just a passenger, he thought to himself.
Robin could see down into the galley and Stephanie had already shucked down to a thong before she got out of sight. Their nipples collided as they kissed and while Sandie had every intention of slowing things down but her “stop” came out as moans and undulations of approval.
Robin kept an eye on the compass as he heard Sandie scream, “oh my god yes! right there!” He turned the radio up to drown out the shenanigans below deck.
It had been a good hour since the girls left to entertain each other. But about a hundred feet off the starboard bow there was a boat. He couldn’t tell how big it was at first but then he realized it was a lake freighter and she might not have seen his boat. He went to full throttle, but those ships are deceptively fast for something the size of a small town floating on the water. The bow of the Lisa Marie missed Stephanie’s Toy by inches. The wake off the front nearly capsized the boat and the big wake was yet to come. He slowed down a bit, but it was too late. Stephanie’s Toy, a heavy cabin cruiser, jumped off the wake like a sea doo. She flew about 30 feet until it landed hard in the water and submarined for a second or two and bounced up.
The girls didn’t know it was coming and they bounced hard on to the floor. Steph was in obvious pain when she yelled out from down below deck and asked what had happened.
“Lake freighter. Seemed to come out of nowhere. It came within inches of hitting us. I don’t think he saw us at all,” Robin yelled back from the helm to below.
“Robin?”
“Yes Sandie?”
“I think Stephanie’s hurt.”
Robin set the destination and heading into the auto pilot GPS system and went down below deck.
He found Sandie in a green t-shirt dress hovering over a mostly naked Stephanie. She was trying to cover her up, but Stephanie said, “It’s alright he has seen my tits before.” Everyone laughed awkwardly.
“Yes, I have, and they are truly spectacular tits...large yet still perky...”
“Stop it, it hurts when I laugh,” Stephanie said as Robin and Sandie helped her get to her feet and then sit down on the sofa just outside the forward cabin.
“She flew up off the bed and crashed onto the floor,” Sandie described.
“I am a bit sore, but I think I am fine,” Stephanie said as Robin stood above her and ran his hand over her ribs.
“If you wanted to feel me up all you had to do is ask,” Stephanie joked and winced a bit as she laughed.
“I don’t feel any broken bones. Apart from all that, I thought you were into girls now,” Robin said as he sat on the couch beside her.
“No, most of the time it’s guys but I decided years ago that I wasn’t going to limit myself and if a girl came along that I was attracted to then that was okay too, Stephanie explained as she grabbed Sandie’s hand.
“Yeah, I feel the same way. I think I prefer the feel and taste of a man, but women are soft and beautiful, so I like them too,” Sandie offered.
“I admit I am a bit jealous but, I am also intrigued by the notion that women can be purely sexual beyond the limits of the baggage of procreation,” Robin said as the two women kissed and then yelled at him to shut up. He started to go back to the helm, but Stephanie grabbed his hand and the three of them headed back into the cabin.
After an hour of awkward intimacy, the three companions headed back up to the deck. It was still dark out but there was more light than there was before. In the distance there was another lake freighter passing just ahead of them. The sheer immensity of the ship is very intimidating, and Robin couldn't help but remember how close he came to being plowed under by one just an hour or so ago. Stephanie was still clutching her side a bit where she flew off the bed and onto the floor. Sandie gently touched her side where the bruising was becoming visible and the two smiled at each other.
In Sandie's mind, there was no romance going on between her and Stephanie, it was just a night of fun and pleasure. Robin on the other hand didn't know where he stood anymore, if he had any standing before.
Despite nearly colliding with the lake freighter, the trip had gone rather smoothly, and they were just a few minutes away from Hamilton harbor. Luckily for them, they had not run into the RCMP or the Canadian Coast Guard.
The boat gently touched a long wooden dock at a small marina. Fortunately, no one was up or if they saw the boat, they didn't say anything. It was still dark. The light was just cracking over the horizon. Robin jumped off the boat with a rope in hand and tied the boat to the nearest mooring. Stephanie was obviously a bit sad as her ex-boyfriend and new girlfriend we're about to leave the boat.
Stephanie handed Robin her credit card and said this might help. Robin quickly wrote down some numbers so that Stephanie could take whatever money she needed out of one of his accounts. Then, after untying the boat, Robin and Sandie gathered up their stuff, jumped off the boat onto the old wooden dock and headed into town. As they looked back, they can see that Stephanie's Toy had already left the harbor and was on its way back to Rochester. It had been a weird and fun time for Robin and much the same but in a different way for Sandie. Robin and Sandie smiled at each other, and Sandie grabbed Robin's hand as if to say that was fun, but it didn't mean anything or at least that's how Robin took it. As they climbed a small hill out of the Marina, they could not believe their good fortune as just a few feet away was a used car dealership that had a sign that said, ‘Yes, We Rent Cars. Dawn’s early light had barely arrived on the horizon, so they walked to a 24-hour diner that was just half a block down from the car place. It, surprisingly, looked exactly like the one where they met in New York state.
The inside of the diner was styled like Arnold's from Happy Days. The Naugahyde benches were all tan or beige depending on how the light hits it. Each booth had a miniature jukebox and for a quarter they would play any one of up to 10 songs.
When Robin and Sandie sat down, they laughed at the miniature jukebox and pondered which songs they would play. Eventually they didn't play any because soon as they thought about it, the waitress came up wearing a poodle skirt, bobby socks and a tight sweater straight outta Happy Days. She was quite beautiful, but her late 50s attire didn't really do much for her. Robin and Sandie both ordered pancakes and sausages and bottomless cups of coffee. Robin stared intently at the server as she left the booth to the point where Sandie had to kick him in the shins to bring him back to reality.
After their trip on Stephanie's Toy Robin really didn't know what to make of Sandie. Was she into him? Was she more into Stephanie? He really didn't know, but he did know that he was starting to have feelings for her and that was scary. When the server brought the pancakes, Robin did his best not to stare.
The girl really was quite pretty and even though he tried to avoid a prolonged gaze, Sandie still noticed, and she looked at him and said, “You really can't help yourself, can you?”
“No not really. I don't mean it to be insulting to you; you're a beautiful woman too, but I have to say I like looking at beautiful women. It’s not really a sex thing, it's more of an appreciation of beauty and form. Sure, I suppose there's a sexual element to it but most of it is just appreciation,” Robin said trying to explain.
“It's OK I guess, we all do it. It's just that I feel a bit inferior when you see someone as pretty as that, but sometimes it's nice just to think that the person I'm with thinks I'm the most beautiful girl in the room. Even if it's not true,” Sandie said while staring at the waitress.
“I'm sure most of the time you are the most attractive girl in the room. For what it's worth I find you very appealing... if a bit odd.”
“Thanks…I think!” and they both laughed.
They had been there about an hour and the car rental place was about to open, so they paid their bill, and they left the diner and walked back to the car rental place.
Robin rented a blue Toyota Rav 4 which was also a hybrid. He asked the rental person not to swipe his (Stephanie’s) credit card and paid instead the $1000 down for the rental deposit. They never said anything about the American money or the exchange rate. As Robin walked back to the car, Sandie was already there.
“I knew you would pick this one.”
“Why is that?
“Cause it's the best on the lot.”
While the Rav 4 was no Bentley, it had all the creature comforts that Robin had become accustomed to.
Well Sandie Are you ready? We have a long journey ahead of us and nothing but regret and pain behind us.
“Speaking of which…” Sandie handed Robin the jar of medicinal cream and she took off her top. Robin understood the message and started rubbing the cream on her scars and the few open wounds she still had. When Robin was done, Sandie curled back into him and gave him a kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her for a minute. And for that minute Sandie felt safe and warm and loved which is a feeling she hadn't had for a long time.
As they drove out of the lot and on to a two-lane road, Sandie turned on the radio. A song was playing when the news interrupted.
“A well-known model and heiress from Rochester was brutalized last night. Stephanie Siemen (the announcer pronounced it semen which might have been funny under different circumstances. Her family pronounced it like Simon) was kicked, beaten and sexually assaulted last night by a New York Police Officer who probably didn’t know he was on video. It calls into question the other crime scenes which were originally attributed to Robin Hansen by that same officer. Hansen’s travelling companion, Sandie Turner, was the officer’s girlfriend until a few days ago. Speculation is that all the crimes the fugitives were being blamed for may have originated from the officer.
“We have to go back” Sandie and Robin said simultaneously.
The trip back to the U.S. was uneventful. They were arrested at the border for unlawfully being at-large and leaving the country and they were still suspects in the death of the motel owner.
In the first hour of incarceration, several guards came into Robin’s cell but just after they started beating him, his lawyer together with his sister bailed him out. He was in severe pain, so they took him to the hospital where they treated his bruises, cuts and the several blows he had endured to his testicles. He had been in custody for less than an hour but because of his wealth and accusations against a police officer, they decided to send him a message.
Robin asked his lawyer and sister to go help Sandie. If it happened to him it’s possible worse was happening to her. When his sister Shelly and his family’s long-time lawyer got to the women’s prison, Sandie too was being beaten as her accusations against a fellow officer could not go unpunished.
“One of them was raping me with a truncheon but the funny part was she was using her thumb on my clit like she was trying to get me off. Someone should tell her that rape wasn’t meant to be pleasurable,” Sandie joked as she fought back the tears.
“I can see why my brother loves you so much,” Robin’s sister Shelly said with a laugh.
“He does?” Sandie asked like she didn’t know before.
“Of course, he does. He was in hospital and in a lot of pain, but his only thought, since he got there, was of you,” Shelly revealed.
“Can we go see him?” Sandie asked.
“Yes, but we have stop to make first,” Shelly said mysteriously.
They went to the hospital but stopped in another room. On the bed surrounded by IVs and a heart monitor was a badly beaten but beautiful blond.
“Stephanie?” Sandie asked almost disbelievingly.
“Hey kiddo,” Stephanie said weakly.
Before Sandie could reach Stephanie to give her a hug, Shelly jumped in front and kissed her full on the lips for more than a few seconds.
“Oh, oh my...I didn’t know you two were...”
Shelly laughed and said, “its new. Just a few days but for the second time. We were kind of together when she and my brother were dating. That’s kind of how they broke up. He didn’t mind her cheating with a girl being the pervert he is but his then married sister...well that was a bit much,” Shelly explained while Stephanie was trying to nod.
Stephanie weakly chimed in, “We all sort of grew up together and Shelly was my first if you catch my drift. If I remember correctly, I was about 14.”
“Hey, I was not a lot older but God even then she was so beautiful. When she asked if I wanted to sleep over... well my hormones took over and I said yes to everything,” Shelly explained. “Several years later when I came home for a visit, Stephanie and I sort of took up where we left off. I was married to a total selfish jerk, and she was with an even bigger jerk, my brother. Robin walked in on us, and I guess we all broke up that day,” Shelly confessed. “When I found out she was in hospital well I got on the first plane to wherever-the-hell we are.”
“I think we all ended up in Buffalo,” Stephanie offered very weakly. “I teased him about how we both had a taste of Sandie and then he proceeded to show me how a real man treats women. Apparently, it involves beatings and sodomy. Then he dragged me to his car from the boat. But I was bleeding all over his police cruiser, so, after travelling up the road for a while, he pushed me out of the car. After laying there bleeding for a little while, an off-duty firefighter saw me on the side of the road and brought me here.” She was still weak but still able to converse.
Looking past Shelly, Stephanie's eyes suddenly became huge with an unmistakable look of terror. For standing in the Hospital room doorway was officer Tommy Johns. He was holding a pistol and simply said, “it's time to gather up some loose ends.”
The officer had just cocked his pistol and was about to fire when Sandie leapt across the room, grabbed his gun and pushed him to the ground. In the struggle and commotion the gun went off and at first the others were starting to breathe a sigh of relief because they thought that the corrupt police officer had been the one shot. Instead, it was Sandie she had taken a bullet right in the stomach. She was in a lot of pain and even as she was sliding to the ground, Officer Johns was so surprised that he had actually and finally killed his former girlfriend that he let his arm down. Sandie made one more grab for the gun and wrestled it away before she fainted from the pain and mortal injury.
Just then a white haired and very rotund security guard hit the back of the corrupt officer's head with a fire extinguisher. The officer went down like a ton of bricks falling on top of Sandie's seemingly lifeless body. Shelly, Robin's sister, grabbed the gun and without hesitating, shot the murdering monster of a cop, right in the head.
When she realized what she had done, she began to cry and fell to her knees. Still in her bed and unable to giver new love comfort, Stephanie was also crying... in part because she was so upset and in part out of fear for what appeared to have happened to Sandie. Several other security guards and a few orderlies came and gathered up the bodies. Sandie was put on a guerney and several health professionals whisked her off to an O-R. But, the prognosis was not good. In all likelihood she had breathed her last breath, made her last joke and cried her last tear for the man she never had the opportunity to get to know and to really love.
Up and Robin's room he had no idea what all had happened. He was sitting on the edge of his hospital bed in pain and rocking like a child in agony. He was starting to recover mentally and thinking about how he was going to confess to Sandie about how much he loved her. He was pretty certain that she loved him too. things that happened on the boat made him question that a bit but the end of the day he couldn't picture a day without her. Just then Robin had a sense that something was terribly wrong.
Several days had gone by and Stephanie had made a pretty fair recovery. Robin too was a lot better. He had regained his strength and his ability to move around. As the funeral progressed, Robin didn't seem emotionally affected at all. Stephanie and Shelly were there together they shared a loving look and even laughed a little bit. It seemed insensitive but they were really only there to support their friend and in Shelley's case maybe even a sister-in-law?
Sandie fully recovered from her surgery and the tragic events that transpired. It would be a long time before she would feel less at fault, but she was starting to accept it. Sandie grabbed Robin's arm, pulled herself in close and just said thank you for coming. I know none of us really want to be here but he was a part of my life, and in some ways, because he nearly killed me, I kind of feel that this is the best way to move on. Robin looked down at Sandie and said, “So, what are you doing for the rest of your life?
Sandie smiled and said, “well we still have a road trip to do.” Robin laughed and said, “that's true and I just got a new Bentley...”
Dash 30 dash