Fourteen

Oscar's bowling trip doesn't go as planned

Oscar drove carefully to the bowling alley. Although it was only a few minutes’ drive from the hotel, he wanted to take the least obvious route. Avoiding main roads he’d hoped there would be little chance of anyone noticing the odd couple, or any cameras recording the journey. He parked around the corner from the alley, keeping his car away from anywhere they might be for too long, so keeping it safe. The night was still and warm, and the blue jacket Oscar wore unzipped over a white t-shirt was plenty to keep him warm. Similarly Lucy’s leather jacket, thrown over a checked shirt seemed to be doing plenty to warm her. The two walked around the corner towards the entrance, and Oscar noticed how comfortable they had both become in each other’s company.

‘You any good at this?’ he asked the question with slight apprehension. He was fairly competitive at everything he did, and found it hard to switch that off against anyone older than ten.

‘I’ve only been once before. I always wanted to go again’ Oscar realised that despite this being the case, she hadn’t once used this to argue for going. He respected her refusal to use self-pity as a point of argument. ‘You?’ she sent the question back.

‘I haven’t been for a while but if I get in the swing….’ Oscar let the sentence finish itself in the girls head as they walked into the building, surprised by how it suddenly opened up inside. It was busy, with several groups of people competing, but there were clearly open spaces. Oscar walked up to the counter and booked a lane, at the same time ordering a drink for Lucy as requested. A cranberry juice and vodka. This time though he would not indulge. Being outside the hotel he needed to have all his wits about him. They climbed the staircase and arrived at their lane, setting up the scores and names they started bowling. Initially Lucy became frustrated, forgetting, so she said, that you had to ask for the gates beside the gutters to be up. Oscar was having none of it and managed a few good shots, but Lucy began to grow into the game as Oscar threw a couple into the gutter. Then after a good shot he told her he needed the toilet and strode off to use the bathroom.  As he entered the cold room he walked over to the urinals to relieve himself, but there, situated perfectly at eye level was a poster. It was Lucy, an old photo, but unmistakably the same girl. Large letters beneath the photo read “Have you seen this girl? If so please contact the police”. Oscar ripped the poster off the wall and looked at it carefully. Confirming his initial summary he scrunched it up and put it in his pocket. He then quickly walked out of the toilet back to the alley where, he could see, Lucy had begun talking to the group playing a game next to them. Oscar walked in a hurry, noticeable from the quickness of his steps. Upon reaching Lucy he grabbed her upper arm firmly, not so tight as to hurt but just as to force her to follow his lead.

‘We’re leaving Lucy’, he said briefly as he began to walk toward the steps. Reluctantly allowing him to take her, she offered her goodbyes to the confused group and responded,

‘What? What’s going on?’, Oscar briefly stopped and pulled the poster out of his pocket, presenting it for the girl’s viewing.

‘This is what’s going on, now quickly let’s go’ the two hurried down the stairs, the poster obviously enough of a prompting for Lucy to hurry on her own accord. As they got downstairs and began to walk toward the exiting hallway, a man behind the bar, spotting them shouted after,

‘Hey guys, you sure you don’t want a free drink?’ Oscar didn’t respond. This reaction worried him. It suggested the man was trying to keep them there, possibly as he had called the police. As the pair entered the hallway they could see all the way down to the glass entrance. Through it Oscar spotted a police car, with two officers getting out. Thinking quickly Oscar pulled Lucy aside, guiding her into a small jut-out where the door for the bottom floor toilet was placed. The two entered the toilet and Oscar locked the door behind them. Briefly, he rested his back against the wall, trying to gather his thoughts. In the distance he heard the police officers walking into the building.

‘Oscar, I’m really sorry’, Lucy was beginning to panic, ‘You were right, we shouldn’t have come here. It was a stupid Idea, I should never have…’ Oscar cut her off by grabbing her by the arms gently,

‘Lucy, a bit of advice that’ll go a long way. When you find yourself in situations like this, there’s no point grappling over how you’ve found yourself there. You just have to accept you’re there, forget all responsibility and emotion, and analyse the situation objectively. Come to a conclusion about what you can do to solve your problem’, Lucy stared at Oscar,

‘Do you have any ideas?’ she asked hopefully,

‘I’m thinking’, Oscar replied. Then suddenly a loud knock on the door,

‘Hey! It’s the police, open up in there!’, Oscar and Lucy immediately looked at each other before Lucy pointed over to a small indent in the wall running along where the door was, she manoeuvred over to the indent and slid to a sitting position. Oscar then placed the bin next to her and lay his jacket over both her and the bin. A crude disguise but all they had time for. He then unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans and walked over to the door, opening it slowly. As he pulled the door open he began zipping up his flies.

‘What’s the problem officer?’, he put on an American accent. Judging by the man’s reaction he hadn’t been caught out.

‘You alone in here sir?’ Oscar made a show of turning his head and looking around the rest of the toilet before looking back at the policeman and allowing a few seconds silence.

‘I think so’ the officer poked his head in, mimicking Oscar’s own movements. Satisfied he readjusted and stood in the doorway. He pulled out a picture of Lucy.

‘You seen this girl around?’, Oscar looked at the picture carefully.

‘Uh, maybe. Might’ve been a girl like that upstairs bowling’

‘You see a British dude with her? We think they might be travelling together.’

‘I don’t know, I think she was with a guy. What’s all this about anyway?’

‘Don’t worry sir we’ve got it under control. Just want to talk to them is all. Anyway thanks for your help and sorry for interrupting you. Have a nice day’ with that the officer walked off,

‘you too!’ Oscar shouted after him. When he was satisfied the man had rounded the corner he quickly went to where Lucy was hiding and puller her up, taking his jacket.

‘I’ve heard better American accents from Mexicans’ she scoffed. Oscar ignored her, but directed her out of the toilet, easing into the hallway. Having a look both ways he quickly started walking down to the end of the hallway. As he opened the glass door he had one last look over his shoulder, back into the building. He spotted a man in a plain black suit looking back at him, catching his eye, before beginning to walk his way, very calmly.

‘S**t!’ Oscar exclaimed.

‘What?’

‘We’ve been made. Quick.’ Oscar hurried Lucy out of the building and the two started walking briskly back to where they had parked the car. Looking over his shoulder again, he spotted the man about 250 metres behind them. Lucy looked back and spotted the same thing. Making it to the car they both got in and Oscar quickly started it, driving off.

‘Who is that? He doesn’t look like a policeman’ Lucy questioned.

‘That’s because he’s not’ as Oscar looked in his mirrors he spotted the man in a silver Volkswagen tailing about five car lengths behind.

‘Alright. I’m going to pull into a side alley, when I do I want you to duck behind the seats, you understand?’ Lucy nodded. When Oscar spotted the right sized street he did just that. He had to act fast, the man would be on them in a moment. He stopped the car and put the handbrake on, leaving the engine running. He then jumped out of the car and ran toward a large bin, placed inconspicuously to the side of the street under a trash shoot. He ducked below it and pulled out his pistol at the ready. Then he heard the engine of the other car. It quickly pulled in and drove right up to the back of Oscar’s car. The man was obviously confused. Oscar, still crouching, made his way up to the driver’s window, he then stood up suddenly, pointing his gun at the man. They stared at each other for a moment, eyes locked. The man had his hands by his head, then Oscar caught his eyes move toward the pedals of the car. The man slammed on the accelerator, and Oscar opened fire. The car slammed into his own, but Oscar fired two shots into the driver’s seat, accurately, and at once the sound of the revving engine died. Oscar made his way cautiously forward. The window of the car had been smashed, luckily his own had not. He opened the door carefully with his sleeve, shards of glass falling out of the window. He knew immediately the man was dead. He had a shot to his head and one to his chest. Glass was laying on his lifeless body. Oscar began to check the corpse, patting him down. He found a wallet and then a phone. He unlocked the phone, and noticing the model, held the man’s thumb over the home button, unlocking it. He scrolled through the texts, trying to make sense of them, then the phone started ringing. He answered it. No one spoke for a few seconds.

‘Hello?’ Oscar broke the silence.

‘Where’s Mark?’, the voice responded after a couple of seconds. Oscar looked over at the man’s body.

‘He’s unable to come to the phone right now’, the voice again waited a few seconds before responding.

‘What do you want?’, Oscar echoed the voice by waiting a few seconds.

‘Goodbye’ he then hung up. Before opening the phone up and snapping the sim card. He then heard a notification on his own mobile. Checking it he saw what he’d been waiting for. An address had been removed from the list. He got back in his car to see Lucy still hunched over in a ball. She unfurled as he got in.

‘What happened?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘I took care of it’ Oscar replied simply. Lucy looked over her shoulder at the car behind.

‘I see’ Lucy looked toward Oscar. He looked back, the engine and handbrake still on. They looked at each other for a few seconds, with confusion making its way across Lucy’s face.

‘Seatbelt!’ Oscar proclaimed. Lucy shook her head as she pulled the seatbelt across herself.

‘You’re such an a*****e’ she responded as Oscar chuckled to himself and drove the two back to their residence.

Author's Note

some intrigue with Oscar's hunters