Chapter Seven - The Check Out!

 

Chapter Seven

 

Beth held onto my hand, her fingers tracing nervously over mine while the taxi moved into the right lane avoiding the traffic toward town. The taxi driver was a little Asian man with a French moustache, which I thought looked too heavy against his small face. He remained quiet and didn’t ask questions, but that was only because he could catch a glimpse of Beth and me holding hands in his rear view mirror. I had been on this rout many times before and I noticed him taking the long way round. For money or entertainment, I couldn’t be sure but I would bet the later.

 

 

It had been two days since Beth turned up at my doorstep, spilling the fate of Michael and since then we’ve loved, fought, laughed and cried. I would be lying to say I didn’t love her as much as the first time I saw her but now I was risking my own life to save her.

 

The wheels screeched and Beth’s fingers fell out of mine as the driver slammed on his breaks throwing us forward. The driver honked his horn at the youths who crossed the road without looking, one of which stick his finger up as he passed. Beth’s eyes widened as the driver started cursing and grunting something unrecognisable.

 

 

Beth’s hand came to rest in mine again as the car began to move. She didn’t need to look at me as her fingers flexed in mine, words came silently as her hand slipped out of mine onto my thigh. I looked up to see the driver’s eyes paying more attention to us than on the road and still I dared her to go further.

 

 

My eye lids felt heavy as she began to caress me. She still made me shiver under her touch, I was intoxicated by her – the scent of her alone was enough to make me run away with her! My eyes jolted open when the Taxi pulled along the curb.

 

 

“That’s twenty five dollars!” the driver said turning to face us.

 

 

His moustache twitched impatiently as Beth reluctantly removed her hand from my leg and reached for her back pocket. I stepped out of the car and looked up at the length of the building. There it was, Houston Hotel, just as I remembered it.

 

 

“Sweetie?”

 

 

Beth’s voice forced me to look back at her to see her thank the driver as he slammed down the boot. She smiled at me reassuringly and lifted the bag over her shoulder. I hadn’t noticed them pulling the luggage from the boot. I’d lost minutes in what felt like a few seconds of remembering my last visit here.

 

 

“You OK?” She asked as she came to stand beside me, suddenly shorter with the bag weighing her down.

 

 

“Yeah” I sighed. “Here, let me take that” I said reaching for the bag on her shoulder.

 

As we moved side by side into the hotel I noticed something different, the lighting was considerably brighter, as if someone had taken notes on my first impression of the lobby on my very first visit. I stopped to hike the bag a little more securely over my shoulder and looked over at the small queue forming by the reception desk. Just as I went to move forward Beth stopped me with a hand on my arm.

 

 

“Look who it is. Our timing couldn’t be more perfect!” she cackled and made a nod toward the lifts.

 

 

I looked over to see a thin figure of a man rolling a luggage cart backwards out of the lift. Then the cart got stuck, the lift doors tinged and attempted to close repeatedly against him and the cart.

 

 

“Charlie!” I pouted, though unable to help myself grinning at him and his sorry state.

 

 

“Come on!” Beth hit my arm playfully and moved ahead starting for the lift.

 

 

I hadn’t had a chance to see her face yet to distinguish her feelings about Charlie and we’d only spoken briefly about his part in the deal with Michael but I had a feeling by the way she swivelled her hips toward him that it wasn’t good. I followed her – of course, and got there just in time to see Charlie’s face as he caught sight of us.

 

 

“Holy… Beth?” he held his hand to his chest with a fright.

 

 

Beth stopped, folded her arms and cranked an eyebrow.“Hi Charlie” she cooed.

 

“Look, I have a kid at home who needs his…”

 

“You have a kid?” I asked, somewhat concerned with the idea.

 

 

The lift tinged again trapping the cart. He turned in frustration, wiping his brow before pulling on the luggage cart, hoping to free it. “Well, it depends on whether you plan on hurting me or not” he said to Beth and gave the cart another yank with no success.

 

 

“No, Beth wouldn’t hurt a fly it’s me you need to watch!” I corrected him.

 

 

Charlie looked up “then yes, I have children, two in fact…no four, and a wife! I’d be missed!” he said speedily.

 

 

Beth sighed and moved forward looking at the cart.“Relax Charlie, I’m not going to hurt you!” she laughed. “Here, let me try” she said pushing him aside and placing her hand on the cart. With one hefty pull she drew it out of the lift allowing the doors to ting once more before closing.

 

 

Charlie watched in surprise and coked me in close enough to whisper “I see why you like her.”

 

 

“There!” Beth said aimlessly whilst dusting her hands off. She looked up to see us both gawking with adoration. “What?”

 

 

“Huh? Oh, nothing” I shook it off with a smile.

 

Beth let it go, instead she directed her attention back to Charlie, “So, Charlie, Chaz, you little hunk you, you owe us a favour!” she teased punching him gently on the shoulder and with stern face dared him to ague it.

 

 

“Ah, I do?”

 

 

Beth looked at me and I looked at Charlie, “Yeah, you do actually” I nodded softly.

 

Charlie hesitated, thinking back to how he had lied to us in the past. “Ah, I do, you’re right” he agreed, solemnly searching both of us for forgiveness. But for true forgiveness he had to repay his debt and that would set us free.

 

 

***

 

 

“Charlie?” Beth’s voice echoed over the heat wave hitting the Caribbean cost.

 

 

I lifted my head up from the sun-lounger and looked over my sunglasses at her. She was fighting her way through the white sand with two ice-cream cones in her hand. I pushed my shades up to rest on the top of my head and sat up to take my ice-cream as she joined me.

 

 

“You know, I will never get used to the name Charlie Batten.” I mused and licked the white cream now melting and dripping down the cone. We‘d used his bank account to transfer a large amount of Michael’s money from the business, and Beth and I had signed for it with the knowledge that Charlie would be linked to Michael. She‘d been teasing me with the name ever since.

 

 

“Poor Charlie, you think he’ll have found out by now?” I asked.

 

 

“The name - I think it suits you and anyway don’t feel bad about him.” she waved a careless hand at me, “right about now he will be driving his Porsche Carrera across the Golden Gate Bridge without a care in the world.”

 

 

“Poor, Charlie!”

 

 

Beth laughed softly and sat down on the sun-lounger opposite me. Her skin was already a stunning bronze glowed in the sun. I couldn’t help but watch her licking and nibbling on her cone, knowing how good it feels to be at the mercy of her tongue like that.

 

 

“You know he will get pulled over don’t you?” I offered her the truth, in the hopes she’d see where I was coming from.

 

 

Beth looked away at the ocean, the breeze blowing the loose strands of her hair in her face. Sweeping them away with her free hand she looked back at me, sorry for what she was about to say. “Yes, I know.”

 

 

***

 

 

Meanwhile while driving across the Golden Gate Bridge toward San Francisco, Charlie revelled in the girls screams coming from the back seat of his red Porsche. That's until a set of blue lights pulled him over. Charlie watched in the rear view mirror as the cops stepped out of their car and made their way toward him with their hands already on their firearms at their waists.

 

 

Cranking his neck, Charlie looked up at the offers now looking down at him.

 

“Sir, please turn the ignition off!” a cop ordered.

 

“What seems to be the problem officer?” he asked nervously.

 

 

“Your name, please sir?” came the officer.

 

 

“Charlie Batten”

 

 

“Is this car registered to you sir?”

 

 

Charlie coughed, held his chest and apologised before answering “Yes officer."

 

 

The officer looked to his colleague, reassured he looked down at Charlie “Do you know a man called Michael Staines, sir?

 

 

“Michael Staines?” Charlie looked ahead, confused. “No?” he said, hoping that was the correct answer.

 

 

“Sir, Michael Staines was found dead at his home last week under suspicious circumstances and we have reason to believe you are driving his car, please step out of the vehicle with your hands above your head.”

 

 

It was only then that the truth suddenly dawned on him, he’d been set up!