Charliee

Chapter 3

Come with me.’
Thomas was quiet for a long time. He had just finished offering to drive her to the station when she had spoken. ‘What are you talking about?’ he replied.
‘When I leave, you should come with me.’ Apparently no more information was coming.
‘I don’t know you,’ he answered, a bit brusquely; ‘I don’t even know where you’re going. Do you?’
‘No,’ she said softly, and then louder: ‘What does it matter? I’m going, and you shouldn’t stay here.’
‘I’m not running away with you, if that’s what you have in mind. I have a life here.’
‘No, you don’t.’ Charliee was staring at the floor now. ‘Not anymore.’ Thomas felt an inexplicable rush, similar to anger. Something about her tone was setting his teeth on edge. The light, carefree give-nothing-away quality he had found so appealing before had vanished.
‘I think you need to tell me what’s going on… now.’ He fought to keep his voice neutral.
‘I can’t stay here… and neither can you. Not now.’
There was that rush again. One more time and he felt he would lose control.
‘Why not? What aren’t you telling me?’ She lifted her eyes again, just for a moment, as if deciding if he really needed to know.
‘There’s a group I was involved in. Sort of a big deal, at least, they were. They probably won’t be anymore.’
‘Because…?’ his tone was markedly impatient.
‘Because, I took something, something they’ll have a hard time doing without.’
‘And what would that be?’ Something in him said he didn’t really want to know. Another part of him said he didn’t really have a choice.
‘$100 million.’ Thomas tried to laugh. It was a joke, some sick joke to get him to buy her train tickets then leave him standing on the platform.
‘I think you should go now,’ he said, moving towards the door.
‘You really can’t afford to not believe me right now,’ Charliee said, almost pleading.
‘No but you can afford it, can’t you?’ he bit back, ‘you can afford a lot with 100 mil!’
‘This isn’t a joke! The money’s real and they’ll be coming for it. They might have seen me get in the car with you and they’ll be coming. We have to go.’
‘I’m not going anywhere, especially not with you.’
‘I’m trying to save your life, you know?’ She spoke slowly now, like tip-toeing. Thomas closed the door which he’d been holding open and moved close to her, not moving his stare from her eyes.
‘Are you threatening me? In my house, after all I’ve done for you?’
‘You’re in danger, and it’s my fault! I had to get away and I didn’t know how and now I’m trying to make up for it.’
‘Give me one good reason why I should believe you.’ It was the last thing he said before two shotgun blasts tore through his window.

Ten minutes later Thomas had barely moved from the space next to the couch where he’d taken cover from the two shots.
‘You wanted proof: there’s your proof!’ Charliee’s voice was completely different now, purposeful and urgent, with none of its secretive trademarks.
Thomas responded with hushed voiced. ‘If they know you’re here, why don’t they just come and get you?’
Charliee crawled towards the couch. ‘That was a warning. He wants me to go back to him. He doesn’t want to storm this place, but he will, trust me.’
The idea of trusting her right now seemed like a poor suggestion in Thomas’ mind.
‘He? Who’s ‘he’? I thought you said you stole from a group.’
‘He… is Lucien. Lucien Lordes, and he’s the leader. He’s the reason I was involved with them in the first place.’
Thomas had a feeling he didn’t like where this was going. ‘So you and Lucien, you were together?’ Charliee nodded. ‘And then he introduced you to this, what, gang?’
‘Something like that. The point is he trusted me and when I decided to leave it seemed sensible to take a little money that I helped earn. Lucien wasn’t just going to give it to me so….’
‘You stole it.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Uh huh.’ Nothing about this seemed sensible to Thomas. He wondered if it would to anyone. He felt a surge of panic when he saw Charliee move towards the window.
‘What are you doing?!’ he yelled, still in hushed tones.
‘It’s ok,’ she said, speaking normally. ‘We have until nightfall.’
From the look of the sky out the window, Thomas decided that would be in about an hour, maybe two. For a moment he considered asking what would happen after nightfall, then thought better of it. She was staring at him now, watching him sit with his back against the side of his furniture.
‘Look,’ she said, ‘I think I’ve proven I’m not making this up. Now are you coming with me or not?’
Thomas rose to his feet, the need for action giving him some new-found courage. ‘And how exactly are we supposed to get out of here? I assume they’re waiting for us.’
She smiled at him. Right now her smile, charming though he’d found it just a few hours ago, was the last thing he wanted to see. ‘I have an idea,’ she said. ‘Give me your phone.’

The two of them waited by the door, a backpack each at the ready. Thomas was annoyed that even under the circumstances he had found it difficult to decide on only one piece of luggage. Somehow he had managed to solve the issue without Charliee saying anything. Tense minutes passed as the sun crept lower into the horizon. Finally, they heard what they’d be waiting for.
‘Now,’ she cried out and he hit the button on the automatic locks to his car. As they ran out towards of the house, Thomas looked down the road. In the distance on one side were two police cruisers, sirens in full effect. In the opposite direction were two black four-wheel-drives, with no plates, driving as fast as they could go.