Ransom X

  Chapter 28 Conjugal Visit

  Mac filled up the tank; his hands clamped regretting the cold metal pump that no longer had a clip to hold the flow steady. He had to do it the old fashioned way, standing over the nozzle, smelling the methyl fumes with his cigarette ash dangling an arms length away from ignition. If Darwin were right, a fireball was imminent. CLICK, the tank was finally full.

  He handed over the cash to the aging clerk. “Thanks, come again.” Something about her tone made him want to steal something on the way out of the store. He fought the impulse, because Blade would kill him for even thinking about it. Mac wondered if the news of his slip up had trickled back to the home base. He forced himself to put it out of his mind. Anyway, the only news that arrived at camp was through the TV, and until he picked up the mail and got it back there, there was no reception. The thought steadied him as he tucked a chocolate covered snack cake into his pocket and left the gas station.

  Mac scanned the landscape. His head turned back and forth walking to the van. Someone looking at him might think he was afraid of detection, or nervous about the stolen snack cake, but it was really Mac’s clumsy way of looking for someone. He didn’t have a lot of practice at being discrete.

  Mac pulled the van into the parking lot of a mail-it store, pulling up his pants twice before entering. He came out moments later with a package, almost an arm in length. He delicately placed it on the seat next to his, as this was precious cargo. This was the key to getting his beloved TV back in operation. Only one more errand left.

  He cruised around the back alleys, knocked on the doors to gas station rest rooms. She couldn’t be far away. This is where he’d met her; this is where he’d dropped her off. She said she’d wait for him. She couldn’t be far.

  After almost an hour he found her, huddled in the back alley behind a Wal-Mart store, face masked off by hood strings pulled tight. Her legs tangled and she almost fell in her excitement to get to the van. “Mac!” she screamed. Mac grabbed her in a bear hug and pulled her in through the passenger window.

  He pulled the hood back and her bright orange-streaked hair fell down around her shoulders. It was the first time he’d looked at Darci in a long time. He kissed the piercing above her right eyebrow.

  “Dove, you’re sitting on something important.” He pulled the package out from under her, copping a feel. “Well that was worth it.”

  Darci laughed.

  “Not that you could do much damage, what do you weigh? Fifty pounds?” he pulled her onto his lap, light as a feather. She squished into the round mass, and Mac made a clumsy fish for a compliment, “You could fit in my belly, you tasty dove.” he was at least four times her weight, but a beaming smile made it clear that it didn’t matter a bit to Darci. He was her man.

  “I guess I need a big man to hold on to, to keep me from blowing away.”

  His mood changed. He buried his face into her stomach, like a petulant child “I thought you’d given up on the plan, I couldn’t find you.” Mac complained.

  They talked in the warm van, and Mac fed her a snack cake. All was forgiven, but Mac only had a few hours.

  The van rolled away with promises about the future still lingering in Darci’s ear. She just had to stick to the plan and Mac promised that she wouldn’t be forgotten. She shivered, although not from exposure. She was thinking of that future reward – and somehow it felt equal parts a threat. Maybe in her gut she knew that her involvement with Mac would end up being a bounty on her pretty little head.