Driven By Love (8 page)

Dean walked over to the bedroom downstairs. Sure enough, the dresser was filled with clothes that would fit him. Helen was really something and he could see why Jeri stayed close to them. He opened more drawers and found a dark, long-sleeved shirt. He was so happy to be rid of this monkey suit. He took the jacket off and hung it on the chair then ripped his shirt off. He heard a gasp and stopped to face the living room. Anne stared at him with her mouth open, which surprised him. Sure, he worked out every day but she had all sorts of men lining up to be with her, most of whom were as good looking as him but had something he lacked—lots of money.

"Um… I'm ready," was all that she could muster.

"Good, I'll be done in five minutes." He grabbed the dark shirt and put it on.

“Um, okay,” she mustered and bolted.

After Dean changed his pants he walked in and finished buttoning his shirt. He saw her eyes dart to his gun holster.

"You carry a gun?"

"Of course, I'm supposed to protect you."

"You're not going to shoot a squirrel if it came after me, are you?"

"Only if it had a knife and was going to stab you."

"That's not reassuring."

"It wasn't meant to be. Now are you ready?"

She inhaled. "Yeah."

"Okay, we get out and you stay right next to me. Do not try to do anything with their cars. Let them follow us. We can’t have any strange things happen, got it?"

"What!? No way! I can't stop them from following us!"

Dean tried to grapple the anger fuming inside of him. He grabbed hold of her arm and brought her gently close to him, mere inches from his mouth as he sternly enunciated, “Do. Not. Control. Their. Cars. Got it?” He grinned at the statement. “Or do I have to take off my shirt again to get you to cooperate?"

"Oh, you're funny," she said sarcastically and smirked as she tried to hide the color flowing to her cheeks.

His gaze turned cold and serious. "Are you going to follow my orders or not?"

Anne returned his cold gaze. "Seems like I don't have a choice."

He ignored her comment and kept his hold on her arm. "Good. Let's go."

They opened the door and Dean locked it right away. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and moved his entire frame behind her as she opened the car door and got in. He right away went to the driver's side and Hawk was already running.

"I don't know if I can get used to that," he muttered as he put the car in reverse. He moved about two feet and then glanced forward, shifted to drive and floored Hawk.

"What are you...!" Anne shrieked as he drove through her back yard and out to the beachfront. None of the camera crew saw that one coming and that was what Dean hoped would happen. He turned out to the right and then drove down to the nearest side street. When it ended he turned left and zoomed down another road.

"You are nuts! I can't believe you just did that! Hawk, are you okay?"

The engine revved again even louder and she looked at the dashboard in shock. "He loved that! He actually loved that! You are a bad influence on him!"

Dean smiled and looked at the rear view mirror. He could see that two news vans found them and were now about three blocks behind him so he had to try and give them more space to lose them.

"Hawk, I'm going to need you to leave us and take these turkeys on a wild goose chase so to speak. Take them around the area, then go to somewhere secluded like a park or forest preserve and then just park there and stay there until we get you. Understand?"

The windshield wipers turned on and then off.

"He says, ‘Yes,’" Anne said.

"I kind of figured that. Now let's see if we can find someplace for us to park and get out without anyone noticing."

"How about over there?" She pointed towards the church that was facing the lake. They could run in between the buildings and then come out when everyone was gone.

"Looks good to me." He glanced in the back and could see that the crew was far enough away to give them a chance to get out.

He stopped Hawk and jumped out of him. Anne was instantly next to him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind the church. Hawk chirped his tires as he zoomed away.

Anne and Dean hid behind the church and waited. Dean pulled Anne's hoodie over her head and leaned his body against hers. They heard the whine of another car as it zipped by, followed by another and then another.

There was silence and the only thing that Dean could hear was Anne's racing heart. He kept himself close to her just in case someone was still looking for them. From a distance, it would look like they were two teenagers hiding in the shadows making out. He tried not to think of Anne that way. Yes, she was attractive but he dated attractive women before and they didn’t have the same effect on him that she did. So why did he want time to stand still for that moment as he protected her body with his?

They heard another car approach and Dean leaned in more so their faces were a mere inch apart. The car drove slowly down the road and he saw the headlights shine down the road.

Dean felt her body tense up as the headlights slowly inched towards them. If the car stopped, he knew that Anne would do something drastic. Desperate to take her mind off the situation, he wrapped his arm around her neck and closed the gap between them as their lips crushed against each other. Without hesitation, she responded to him and cupped his face as they deepened the kiss.

Dean felt like he was on a different planet as she grabbed hold of him and their tongues danced a dance of ecstasy. Everything and everyone around him disappeared. There was only Anne and she filled every pore of his being.

Then Dean’s mind woke up and tried to rationalize with him as to why this was wrong on so many levels, but he ignored it as he held on to Anne like a shipwrecked survivor holding on to a life raft. Her scent permeated through all his senses and made his body harden. No women in his past had an effect like this on him. He couldn’t explain this at all and it scared the hell out of him.

The headlights blinded them for a second but they both didn’t notice as they continued to kiss. The car drove down the street and the lights diminished.

Eventually, they pulled apart, panting. Dean still kept his body close to hers and listened around them. The crickets chirped around them. It would be so easy to just stay there for another few minutes and try to figure out what just happened between them.

Anne’s voice still sounded breathless as she whispered, “We better go.”

Slowly, he lifted his head up to assess the area. His eyes adjusted to the darkness that surrounded them. He let his senses stretch out around them and found that no one was around. Based on their location, it would take them a good thirty minutes to get to the police impound.

"It's clear, but stay close to me just in case."

He moved aside to let her step out. He pulled his arm over her shoulder and brought her close to him. They had to blend in as much as possible to not raise suspicion. She pulled her hoodie down more and moved closer under his arm.

“Are you sure Hawk will be able to lead the paparazzi far enough away from here?"

She nodded under him. "Yeah, he knows all the roads around the town, and he'll find a way to get them all confused."

"Good. So tell me, when did you learn about your gift?"

"Right when I turned thirteen." She kicked a rock on the sidewalk. It spiraled away and hit a tree trunk before it landed on the grass.

"My mom and I were driving from the store when a dog ran right in front of us. I put my hands up and the car stopped instantly before my mom even hit the brakes." She looked back at the ground as if embarrassed. "It freaked my mom out completely. After that, I started to notice that when I was angry or really sad cars would just flock to me."

"Just like at the hospital?"

"Yup. I also started to develop headaches after that."

"Migraines?"

"Yeah, similar. Turns out that I need to be close to cars at all times. The more cars, the better I felt."

"That explains why you have your own house in town."

She nodded. "My parent's house is too far away from the city and there's not enough cars there. I would get headaches the next day and they wouldn't stop until I was in a car or somewhere where a lot of them were."

"Interesting."

"No, painful." She poked back at him.

"No, I'm not talking about your headaches. I'm talking about your gift. Sounds to me like you need the energy the cars generate to balance yourself out."

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

They stopped at an intersection and Dean looked at the signs to get his bearings. He led her left, and continued to pry for details. "So, what else can you do?"

"What, that's not enough?"

He flashed her a smile. "I can handle anything you throw at me."

"How about a Mack truck?"

"You can lift a truck?"

"No, but I can ask one to run you over."

"I'm so hurt. Remember, I'm here to protect you."

"I can protect myself just fine, thank you. So tell me, Big Shot, what other powers do you have besides breaking into beautiful women's homes?"

He chuckled and looked around the area again before he lowered his head and whispered to her, "I can track people."

"How?"

"I have to touch them and send out a tendril of energy, which stays with them. With that I'm able to see where they are."

"Like a map on the Internet?"

"Similar. I can tell how far away they are and in some cases I can see what they see."

"Wait a second.” She stopped and turned to look up at him. “So if you touch me right now you can track me?"

"Only if I want to track you, which I do, but I would never do that to you unless you give me permission."

"I'm just afraid that you'll just pop in my head and look at me when I'm naked."

He stifled a groan as his body reacted to that statement. He still felt the lingering kiss on his lips and her scent still surrounded him.

Another couple turned onto the street and began to head towards them. Dean grabbed Anne tight against him and put his mouth to her ear. "Act like I'm saying something funny."

She giggled on cue and pushed him slightly away.

Dean moved her to cross the street and they ran across to get away from the couple before they recognized Anne. As they reached the other side of the street, Dean's arm covered her shoulder and he made sure her hoodie hid her face from the strangers.

"That's why you're my baby," he muttered loud enough for them to hear.

Seeing that they were just a couple in love, they ignored them and moved further away.

Dean and Anne both continued to walk down the street and Dean led them to the left. "That building over there." He motioned with his head towards the direction of a huge warehouse with no signs or any markings at all to give a clue as to what was in there. It was a two-story tall brick building with wooden white frames that were worn out and flecked with peeling paint.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Stan gave me a tour of the facility once. All cars under investigation go here to be examined."

"Looks creepy to me."

"I'll be with you and I’ll protect you."

She wiggled away from him and slapped his arm. "I told you, I don't need you to protect me." To prove her point, she started the two cars parked in the street.

Dean's eyes widened in alarm. "Quiet! You want everyone to find us here?"

The cars engines died. "Relax, Hawk probably has them half across town by now. Geez, you're uptight."

"Let's see what Evan's car says." He tugged her arm and she walked right behind him.

He looked around the building he saw the side door of the facility.

They walked up to the warehouse door and he placed his hand over the lock. In an instant, it unlocked, and Dean opened the door.

When they walked into the building, Anne decided that she didn’t care how much trouble she would be in if they were discovered. Her only concern was finding out the truth.

For such a huge warehouse there really was not that many cars. Instead, there were police cars and two police boats being stored there. In the far corner of the warehouse Anne could make out a bunch of crushed cars.

"That's got to be it," she murmured as she walked in that direction.

Their footsteps echoed across the building as they approached the wreckage.

When they reached the wreckage, she could see that there were three cars there. Instantly, she recognized Evan's car and ran over to it.

She hesitated a moment as memories of the last time she woke a dead car came flashing back to her. It was her junior year in high school and she and her friend Rachel Simmans decided to go to a party at one of their friend’s house. Anne decided to meet Rachel at the party once she was done at work. Unfortunately, she had to stay late at work because some patrons didn’t want to leave. By the time she got to the party, there were squad cars all over and half a dozen kids were arrested. Anne was secretly grateful that she wasn’t involved in that mess. She didn’t like to drink or do any drugs, especially since she had to keep her powers a secret from everyone.

She called Rachel to see if she was all right but instead she got her voicemail. Since Rachel was known to do spontaneous things on occasion, Anne waved it off as Rachel just being Rachel.

The next day, though, she got a call that shook her to the core. Rachel crashed her car into a tree right and died at the scene. Everyone said that she was slightly intoxicated and freaked out when she heard the first squad car pull up. Running out the back, she jumped in her car and drove like the devil was on her tail and lost control a few miles down a side road.

The memory of the pain that filled her heart came back. She had such a hard time believing that Rachel would have been that reckless. Anne needed to know the truth and she knew that it would be in Rachel’s wrecked car.

When she went to the police station, she tearfully asked Stan if she could see Rachel’s car for some sense of closure since Rachel’s casket was closed and everything to her seemed unreal. With a heavy heart, he reluctantly brought her into the garage where it was stored under a tarp.

“Can I have a moment alone please?” she asked him as tears streamed down her cheeks.

He nodded and left her and she timidly lifted the gray soiled tarp. There was Rachel’s red coupe, all crumbled with the windshield torn away and airbags deflated.

Her hand shook as she gently placed it on the only smooth surface on the car, “Please, tell me what happened.”

Nothing happened, and she crouched down and rested both her hands and forehead against the car as tears began to come down again and again until she felt like she couldn’t cry anymore. When she stopped she looked back up at the car. Her sorrow was replaced by fury and she lifted her hand and smacked the hood as hard as she could. That’s when she noticed the soft humming that steadily became louder and images flashed in her mind.

Rachel running in and fumbling with the keys to start the car. Rachel hitting the gas so hard that rocks sputtered everywhere and cause the car to swerve. The car increasing speed down the road as Rachel laughed. “Stupid cops! No way are they going to catch me and arrest me!” Her speech was slurred and she kept on accelerating down the road until… she crashed right into a tree.

The next thing Anne knew Stan tried to revive her and she rubbed her head where she hit it on the way to the floor. Her head hurt for days after that.

Anne tried to shake the memory away. This was the only way she would know for sure what happened to Missy and Evan.

As she placed her right hand on Evan’s car, she closed her eyes and tried to remember what she did the last time. She focused her energy towards it to try and wake it. In an instant there was a humming noise that came from it.

Her eyes opened and she spoke to it, "What happened? Tell me everything."

The hum started to develop different tones and pitches as Anne nodded. Her eyes then widened, "What? Where?"

Then she looked at Dean. "He says he was in the parking lot waiting for Evan and Missy and some guy came and get under him and did something to his brake line."

"Where?"

"Passenger's side in the front."

Dean looked at the car. It was crushed badly in the front from the impact but there had to be a way for him to squeeze and take a look. He crouched down and rolled on his back to look at how the car was sitting. So far, it looked like it was in no danger of falling on him. The whole frame was put up on stands and looked very stable. He slowly inched his way under the front wheel. It was crushed from the impact but he could still see the brake line.

"Can you hand me a flashlight?"

"Where is it?"

"I think I saw one over by the workbench."

Anne let go of Evan's car and the hum still continued. She found the flashlight and handed it to Dean. "He's worried about Evan. He said he tried to warn him in the parking lot, but he didn't listen to him."

"Evan was probably more preoccupied with Missy."

"Yeah, he thinks so."

Dean shone the light onto the brake line. With the front so damaged anyone would have just mistaken the damage as part of the accident, but since he was specifically looking for something he found it. The brake line was crimped, there were indentations from the tool used to create the damage. It looked like it was purposely crimped to let the brake fluid bleed out slowly instead of right away so that the driver would have no way of knowing that there was a problem until it was too late.

"Not good," he said as he looked at the line.

"What? What do you see?"

"Brake line was purposely damaged by someone." He slid out from under the car and looked at the car again, which still hummed. "Now we need to figure out who and why."

Anne was visibly shaken by the news. "Why would anyone want to hurt my sister? She's the nicest person that I know!"

Dean got up and grabbed her by the shoulders to face him. "We're going to find out, Anne. I'm going to need you to find out from Evan's car anything you can. What the guy looked like, what he was wearing, did he see the car he was driving… anything will help."

She looked at his car and closed her eyes. It felt like her body went into a trance as he held her. The hum once again got louder and the pitch changed slightly. The car's interior lights went on and one of the headlights that was still attached began to pulse. Anne lifted her palm up towards Evan's car and the hum changed again. He let her go when her hand began to emit a crackling sound and he saw tiny sparks dance around her entire hand. Then, within an instant, Anne started to swoon and Dean grabbed hold of her before she fell to the concrete floor.

"Anne!" he called to her as he gently brought her down to the floor. "Talk to me, what's going on?"

Her eyes opened and she looked very dazed. The hum ceased as did the flashing lights from Evan's car.

"What happened? You fainted there for a minute."

"I'm sorry." She moved some stray pieces of hair away from her face. "I'll be okay. I'm going to need some aspirin soon."

"You scared the hell out of me. What was all that? I've never seen anything like that before."

She slowly started to sit up. "It happens when a car doesn't have its own power."

He looked so confused she couldn't help but smile. "Usually, when I talk to cars they are able to run by themselves, they have a working engine and gas and are able to generate their own power." She started to rub her temple. "When they don't like in this case, I'm the one giving them power and it takes a lot out of me." She rubbed her forehead. "And a killer headache."

She leaned her head down and took some deep breaths.

"Stay here. I'll go and find some aspirin. Are you going to be okay for a few?"

"Yeah."

He ran off to the office in the far corner. He placed his hand on the lock, opened the door and walked inside. They should have a first aid kit somewhere and there was always some sort of pain reliever there. Sure enough, he found the kit on the second shelf in the front of the office. He popped it opened and found a foil packet with two aspirin. He grabbed one packet and closed the kit. In the corner he saw a case of bottled water, grabbed one, and headed out of the office.

Anne still sat where he left her with her head in her hands. He leaned down and ripped open the packet.

"Thanks." She grabbed them and the opened bottle of water he handed to her and drank them down.

"Anything else I can do?"

"No, I'll be fine. Just give me five minutes."

Getting up, he walked over to Evan's car and he looked at the damage. When Anne glanced back at the car she could see that it was obvious that it hit the median head on, maybe going sixty or seventy mph. It was amazing that it was still intact as much as it was. The front of the car was crushed. Part of the engine was pushed into the firewall yet somehow managed not to puncture through it. Both airbags were depleted, and Anne shivered at the thought of Missy and Evan being in the car. Anne started to get up, and Dean was instantly by her side and held on to her. It felt good to be held again by a man, a real man, not one who threw money around to make him look good.

"How about we get out of here? I have a small boat docked at a pier not far from here we can stay. No one knows about it except Jeri and your Dad."

Anne knew that she looked terrible, but she needed to push on so they wouldn’t get caught. When he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, her body started to tremble.

Keep it together. The pier shouldn’t be too far from here.

About a block away from the boat, Anne's legs buckled and Dean caught her before she hit the cement. He lifted her into his arms as she laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry." Her breath whispered against his neck.

"It's okay." The world around her went black.