Page 52 of Love & Other Disasters

Jill handed Violet her laptop and moved through the room and returned with a folding chair. Was she about to perform a wrestling move on someone? Jill sat the chair under the window and motioned to it, then the window, and then over to Violet. The laptop shook in her hand as she handed it back to Jill.

This was an awful idea, but since Violet didn’t have a better one, she held onto the window sill, and stepped up on the chair. It wobbled under her feet, and she tried to balance and lift one leg out the window, but couldn’t. Jill grabbed the chair with one hand to steady it, the other still clutching the laptop. That book better become a bestseller after all this.

Violet gripped the window casing and got one leg out of the window. Grasping the window with all her strength, she slid the other leg out. Once she had both legs through, she planned to lower herself down, only gravity took over, and she plummeted to the earth and it squished under her back.

Violet got to her feet and reached for the laptop that Jill held out the window. Only she wasn’t tall enough and when Jill leaned out further, she fell on top of Violet, knocking her to the soft, muddy ground.

“Get off me,” she whispered to Jill. “We have to go.”

Jill groaned and shifted, pushing off Violet.

She gasped and willed herself to move. Jill motioned for them to go back through the garden. Music blared from inside the house, and they took off at a run back the way they came in. At the cattle gate, they took turns holding the computer and climbing the fence.

Running through the woods was not the best idea, the leaves underfoot were slippery and the terrain uneven. Her foot hit something, and before she could catch herself, she was face down in soft mud. A hand slid under her armpit and pulled. No time to contemplate her predicament, and she’d cry if she did. Violet pushed herself back to standing and continued.

They exited the woods and skidded to a halt at a black cargo van sitting on the edge of a road, the cab unoccupied. Kidnappers drove windowless cargo vans. She couldn’t breathe. This was not where Jill had parked the car. Jill grabbed Violet and pulled her back into the trees.

“The car’s this way,” she called, and Violet followed again. They were no longer on a trail or path, weaving their way around trees in a fast walk. Violet attempted to keep tabs on if they were being followed, but the woods were dark and she pushed from her mind what animals were hunting them. The flashlight on her phone would help them see, but it would also act as a beacon pointing them out to anyone nearby.

Violet struggled to get air into her lungs, but fear propelled her forward, her legs moving independently of conscious thought. The only way to go home was to get to Jill’s car. A shower and her bed were all that mattered. Almost free, they came to the edge of the woods. Violet would be home in an hour.

Two police cars flanked the front and back of Jill’s car. Their lights were off and two officers leaned against one patrol car. They appeared deep in conversation.

“We see you. Come over here, ladies,” one called.

They were screwed.

Both officers were young, heads sheared in military style cuts. The shorter of the two men was more muscular than his taller, lankier colleague. They both scanned Violet up and down as she approached. She was more than aware of the mud without their obvious perusal.

“What happened to you?” Officer Musclebound asked.

“I had a little trouble with some mud, sir,” Violet said.

The officers glanced at each other and smirked. But maybe if she made nice they would let them go?

“What are you ladies doing out here in the middle of the night?” Officer Musclebound asked.

“We were looking for owls,” Jill replied.

“Owls?” Officer Musclebound repeated. “Did you find any?”

“Yes,” Jill said. “The Eastern Diamond Owl is native to these parts.”

They weren’t going home soon.

Officer Lanky sighed, “Get in the car, please.” He opened the back door of the patrol car.

Jill dropped her laptop at Violet’s feet and took off running back into the woods. Officer Musclebound yelled and ran after her. Violet sighed.

“Don’t even think about it,” Officer Lanky said.

“I’m not a moron,” Violet replied, stooping to retrieve the laptop. The officer was smiling when she straightened. She held out her hands with the computer, and walked to the police car. He stopped her from getting inside, sitting the laptop on the car roof.

“Do you have any weapons?”

“No.” Violet turned, and he patted her down, removing her keys and cell phone from her back pocket.

“What’s on it?” he asked, holding up the computer.

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