Crash Course

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Chapter 25

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He wanted to get out of there. Out of the hospital, out of the town, out of the state. But right now, out of this room would suffice. Howie stared at the casually dressed, more than slightly overweight officer that sat easily in the chair across from them. The man was the epitome of lethargic. AJ leaned against him with a sigh.

"Get me out of here," AJ mumbled. He shut his eyes and ignored everything else.

"Well, boys . . . " the chubby man started, writing slowly on his small white pad with a stubby pencil. He had gone through almost three pages of it in the time they'd been in the room. He trailed off mid-sentence as if writing took up the entirety of his concentration. Nick cast a long look at Kevin who just shrugged.

The silence went on for almost a minute. Brian glanced at the other guys' expressions and drummed his fingers on the arm of the couch impatiently. "Ahem," he coughed loudly. Officer Chub looked up suddenly from his writing.

"Oh." Pause. "Well, boys, I think that's about it." Another pause. "Thanks for your cooperation in this mess." He smiled at them and got up with some effort from his seat. "That's all the questions we have."

"God," AJ muttered when the man was out of earshot. "And they wonder why there's damn criminals running this town, huh?"

Nick rolled his eyes. "That guy was dumb. What was he writing anyway, a book?"

"Looked like it," Brian replied. "He was thick." He shifted in his seat. "Can we leave now?"

"Yeah." Kevin nodded. "Lemme just try and give Donna a call to see where we have to be." The other guys just groaned and stared at him tiredly. "What?"

"I don't wanna have to be somewhere," Nick mumbled. "Let's just go home."

"Yeah," Howie filled in. "We need a break."

"Guys, I know. Don't worry, we'll get one." Kevin ran a hand through his hair. Forget even requesting a break, he was demanding one. Donna would just have to give it to them. It was going to take more than a day or two to recover from the course they had been dragged through during the past few days of hell.

"You know, that was close," Brian spoke up suddenly. There was no answer, but the guys silently agreed, thinking the same thing. The past few days now seemed like one long nightmare. It almost didn't seem real, but nonetheless, they all realized it was going to be hard to forget. A bad memory that followed like a shadow.

Nick shook his head and tried not to think back. "I just wanna forget about it."

"Me too," AJ agreed.

"Well, we're all still here." They all felt the same thankfulness that was evident in Howie's tone. Kevin nodded in agreement and threw an arm around Brian.

"Right. Let's try and get back on track."

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"Frank, man . . . you okay?"

The large man sat up with a groan, rubbing his tender head. He looked around carefully, not recognizing his surroundings. "I think so . . . Where are we?" His gaze focused on the van outside the small house. "I thought-"

"Don't. Forget it Frank, we're out of here."

"How?"

"I told you man, I've got a few . . . connections. Just forget it, okay?"

Frank nodded, the pounding in his head fading slightly as he stood slowly. "Sure, sure. No problem."

"Good, come on. We don't have a lot of time."

"For what?" Frank looked at his friend with a frown.

"To get out of town," the man answered with a roll of his eyes. "C'mon, Frankie, don't play dumb now. Jill's not around anymore. It's just me and you. Let's start fresh."

"Sounds good to me," Frank replied easily, following his friend out the door. He left it unlocked- they wouldn't be returning anyway. "So what exactly's our plan of action?"

"Don't worry, man. I've got it all covered . . . Jill's not here to screw us up this time."

Frank nodded as a smile spread across his face. Things were definitely looking up.

The End