61Chapter 32
Det. Brenning entered the name Kipp had just given him into the computer. "Yep, I got him. Chase Marsden, arrested four years ago for attempt kidnap, harassment, and assault on a minor, all against Audrey Adams."
Kipp suddenly remembered why that name sounded familiar. He remembered hearing about Chase several years ago, when he got kicked out of the Academy. Everyone talked about what a psycho he was. And now this psycho was holding Audrey hostage. Kipp felt an involuntary shudder go through his body. He hoped he could get to her in time.
"Hang on Audrey, I'm almost there," he said through gritted teeth. Though he had not thought it possible, he pushed the gas pedal down even further.
- -
A drop of water slipped down the ginger ale bottle and dropped onto Chase's shoe. He switched the freezing cold bottles to his other hand. Unfortunately, his hands were making the bottles sweat, which was why they were melting all over him.
He knocked on the bathroom door. He hadn't heard anything from Audrey in a while.
Audrey responded with a loud heaving noise.
"You want me to just slip the ginger ale in the door, without looking or anything?" Chase asked. For some reason, Chase was sure that the ginger ale would cure all of her problems; after all, she had asked for it.
"No," Audrey moaned. Chase couldn't stand it anymore. The one he loved was in obvious agony; he had to do something. "Open the door, Audrey," he said. When she didn't comply, he ran back into the convenience store. "Where's the spare key for the women's room?"
The kid stared at him dumbly. "Uh, sir, that's just for women and you can't be-"
"JUST GIMME THE KEY!" Chase screamed at the incompetent kid. The kid took one look at his enraged face and handed over the key.
Chase raced back to the bathroom and unlocked the door. He opened it to discover Audrey, in perfect health, sitting on the floor. "What's going on?" he asked, bewildered. Just then, he heard sirens in the distance.
"We have to go," Chase said, grabbing Audrey and pulling her towards the door. She dragged her feet.
"No!"
"Don't you want to see Corrine?" he begged, frantically trying to get her out of the bathroom before the cops got there. They probably weren't coming for him, but who knew? That dumb kid might have called the cops.
"Let me go!" Audrey shrieked, just as the police cars arrived. The tubby cop hopped out of his car and succeeded in snatching his gun from its holster, after three tries.
"Police, hands in the air!" the cop yelled. Audrey ran towards the safety of the law. Chase helplessly tried to grab her but it was too late; she was already gone.
Chase's face sagged with defeat. He had really, finally lost her. It was over. He watched as the only woman he had ever loved ran away from him in terror. He had nothing to live for now. The peanuts and ginger ale fell out of his hands as the cops threw him to the ground. The last thing Audrey saw before she got into the police car was Chase lying on the ground, surrounded by the ginger ale and peanuts that he bought for her.
- -
Kipp was in a daze. Where am I, he thought. His head cleared a little, and he remembered his mission. He had to save Audrey! He stopped abruptly when he saw Audrey's face in front of him. I must be dreaming, he thought.
"Hey, speed demon," Audrey said, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"Audrey? What are you doing here? I haven't rescued you yet!" He was confused. What was going on? And why was he in bed?
Audrey laughed. "You ended up needing a little rescuing yourself. You were going so fast when you hit that weasel, you could've gotten yourself killed."
Kipp sat up. Weasel? What the heck was Audrey talking about?
"What weasel?" he asked.
"You were," Audrey smiled, "coming to rescue me, and you swerved off the road and hit a weasel. You didn't get hurt that badly, but the airbag knocked you out, and you put a weasel-shaped dent in Ev's car."
Kipp sighed and leaned back in the bed. "I would guess, by the current situation, that you have already been rescued."
"Yeah."
"Well, I tried."
"Yes, you did, and I really appreciate it. I was so scared in that car with Chase, and talking to you helped me get through it."
"Yeah, I have that affect on people." He grinned, and she couldn't help but laugh.
Then he turned serious. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Yeah, we do," Audrey agreed.
"But right now, I'm just glad that we're both okay."
Me too." Audrey reached over to take his hand.
"I just want to forget this whole thing ever happened," she said, laying her head down on his chest.
"Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon. You'll probably have to testify at his trial." He realized that his words were less than comforting, so he tried to soften the blow. "But at least you're safe now."
"Yeah," she said, contented.
Suddenly, she lifted her head. "Let's do something."
"Aren't we doing something now?"
"You know what I mean. Let's go out and celebrate the fact that we got out of this alive."
"Maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm kind of confined to a hospital bed at the moment. And I am also wearing a paper dress that exposes my naked behind."
Audrey pointed to the neatly folded stack of clothes on the table. "And the doctor is discharging you at noon."
"Okay," Kipp relented. "So where are we going?" he asked.
Audrey shrugged. "I dunno. I figured I'd let you decide."
Kipp thought for a moment, then came up with the perfect idea. With a sly grin on his face, he asked her, "Have you ever been crabbing?"
- -
Kipp and Audrey sat on the edge of the pier, feet dangling. Audrey looked down at her traps. "Look, you can see them!" she said excitedly, pointing to the crabs scuttling around the ocean floor. Maybe it was Kipp's imagination, but the crabs seemed to be pointedly ignoring the traps. They had been out here for more than an hour and still, not a single catch.
"Do you come out here a lot?" Audrey asked him.
"Like once a month. It's really nice out here."
"It is," Audrey agreed, observing their beautiful surroundings.
"And, they're much cheaper when you catch em yourself," he said, gesturing towards the crabs.
"I bet they are."
Kipp wrapped his arm around Audrey, and she smiled and leaned into his embrace. Suddenly, Audrey jumped out of his arms.
"I got one!" she yelled excitedly.
"Beginner's luck," Kipp grumbled as he watched Audrey pull in the trap. "Put that crab back! I'm supposed to be the one impressing you."
Audrey dropped the crab in the cooler and lowered the trap. "Oh, you've impressed me enough for this month. I can just see you speeding down the highway at 150 mph to come to my rescue."
"Actually it was more like 115. Ev's little dinky car couldn't do 150 if its life depended on it."
"I guess we'll all be taking cabs to work now," Audrey observed.
"Yeah, I guess so. Or maybe we could..." Kipp voice trailed off when he saw the amazed look on Audrey's face; unfortunately, she was not looking at him. "What is it?"
"This sunset is beautiful. Is it always like this out here?"
"Well, no, sometimes the sun rises."
Audrey slapped him on the shoulder. "You know what I mean."
Kipp held his injured shoulder. "Ow, that hurt."
"Baby."
"Sadist."
"Whiner."
"Hopeless Romantic."
Audrey looked at Kipp, trying not to smile. "What kind of insult is that?"
"It wasn't an insult, it was the truth," Kipp said loftily.
"Oh yeah? And how do you know?"
Kipp couldn't think up a good response to that one, so he kissed her instead. The kiss reminded him why he had been willing to drive 115 mph to rescue her. But unfortunately, like all good things, it had to come to an end. When it did, Kipp and Audrey sat there staring at each other. They were both unsure of how to break the silence.
Then, with a smile on his face, Kipp said, "Well Audrey, I'd have to say that you're a much better crabbing buddy than Ev."
THE END
A/N: The end has come! Hoped everybody liked it, please review and let me know what you thought. I am thinking about doing a sequel to this story, or a funny story about Kipp and Ev, or an angst/romance about Kipp's past coming back to haunt him. If you'd be interested in reading any of those, review or e-mail and tell me(Taz ).
And thanks to RelientK and NativeHoney2003 for their CONSTANT reviews ;). Also, thanks to everyone else who took the time to review; I really appreciate it.
And now, I'd like to take this time to plug one of my favorite stories. If you like romantic stories about psychos, then check out Raven Le Pirate's story, Bruised Egos, Burnt Cupcakes. It's about ex-girlfriends who go off the deep end. Great for dark humor fans.
If you haven't read it yet, be sure to check out my other story, Family Reunion, which is about Kipp and Audrey journeying to see Audrey's mother. Anonymous sources say it's very good. ~Taz