Free For The Least Of These by Jennifer Davis

taking. “Okay, if we can drive Sam.”
    Alicia, Skylar, and I traveled together through the Isle of Capri. I had thought earlier that I would like to go inside to the gaming floor, but now I was more than ready to leave and go see Rick.
    Outside, I gave my ticket to the valet and he soon brought Sam back to me. Skylar was still waiting for his vehicle, so he walked over as Alicia and I got inside. “This car looks very familiar,” he said.
    Alicia piped up, “It should. It followed you all the way from Pensacola.”
    I thought, if I kill her right now, a sympathetic jury would deem it justifiable homicide.
    Skylar’s eyes lit up. “ Crap! This is that car! Damn, I can’t take you to get Dylan if you’re driving that. They’d probably call the cops. Everyone on my bus thought you were stalking us or something.”
    I wasn’t sure if Skylar was kidding or not, but he was starting to worry me.
    “Brandy,” Alicia began, “you heard what Skylar said. We’ll have to ride with him if we want to meet Rick. I don’t want to get arrested, do you?”
    I wanted to scream, “Of course I do. I can think of no better way to end this miserable day than in a jail cell.” Instead, I just said, “No.”
    “I’ve got an idea,” Skylar was saying. “Why don’t I follow you back to the hotel? Then you can leave your car there and ride with me.”
    Alicia figured that she could read my mind, so she quickly said, “Let us think about it on the way to the Richland. Meet us over there, Skylar.”
    “Okay. I’ll be there shortly.”
    Once in the car, Alicia started pleading her case. “Brandy, just give him a chance. He’s not crazy or anything. I know he won’t kill us. And if he does, you never have to speak to me again.” Alicia’s logic was infallible. “Come on, Brandy. I mean, we know his name. If something happens, we can get the police to arrest him.”
    “It’ll be hard to tell the police his name if we’re dead, Alicia. But okay. I’ll do it. This trip has been one disaster after another, and the only possible good thing that could happen is that I might meet Rick tonight. I can’t give up that opportunity. I know, I know…it will never turn out the way I want it to. Rick has probably already left or something. But I can’t go home knowing that I didn’t try every possible way to meet him. This is probably my last hope.”
    “All right! Now that’s the Brandy I know!”
    Skylar pulled into the Richland parking lot shortly after we did. He was driving a powder blue 1990 Ford Ranger with a super cab. I didn’t know that much about trucks, but it looked a little snug for three people to fit into. Still, I remained optimistic. I handed Alicia the keys to Sam. “I don’t have anywhere to keep these. This dress doesn’t have pockets.” Alicia took them and placed them in her purse where she was already carrying my wallet. We headed over to the truck.
    “I’ll sit in the backseat,” Alicia offered. “It might be a tad snug for you, Brand.”
    Gee, thanks, I thought. But I didn’t argue either. The “backseat”, as Alicia referred to it, was little more than a storage area. It certainly didn’t qualify as a seat of any kind.
    Alicia got in on Skylar’s side, so I sat down in the front passenger’s seat. We drove along at a moderate pace, and I became lost in my thoughts of Rick. The truck jerked to a halt and I was a little surprised that we’d arrived so soon. I noticed that we were sitting in a parking lot in front of a bank.
    “I need to run up to the ATM,” Skylar said. “It’ll only take a minute.”
    Alicia had slid over to my side of the truck. “Brandy, can you let me out for a minute? My legs are really cramping up back here, and I can’t get Skylar’s seat to go up with the door closed.”
    I opened the door, flipped the latch on the seat, and helped Alicia crawl out. She seemed to be in pain, and I began to feel sorry for her. “Why don’t we switch places for the rest of