Free In the Unlikely Event... by Saxon Bennett Page B

her backpack and pulling out a first-aid kit.
    “Where’d you get that?” Chase asked.
    “Addison set it up for me.” Bud pulled out a Dramamine patch and slapped it on Chase’s wrist. “This will help—just give it a minute.”
    “Please, don’t puke in my car,” Donna said. “Vomit is extremely difficult to remove.”
    “And it smells disgusting,” Bud said.
    “What did you have for breakfast?” Donna asked.
    “An omelet,” Chase replied. Just thinking about it made her queasy.
    “Double disgusting,” Donna said, turning off the bumpy dirt road and onto Highway 41.
    “I’m so glad everyone is concerned with my welfare.”
    “Oh, we are, baby,” Gitana said, patting Chase’s head.
    “Now, I understand how Jane feels when she’s going to puke in the car and I pat her,” Chase said.
    “Who’s Jane?” Gitana said, glancing over Chase’s head and out the rear window.
    “Our dog, duh,” Chase said.
    “Oh, that Jane. Well, at the moment your head is your most accessible part.”
    “We need a plan,” Donna said, as she exceeded the posted speed limit, Chase noticed.
    Gitana noticed as well. “What about that police officer we…uh saw on the way in?”
    “We’ll just have to take the risk,” Donna said.
    “So do you have a plan yet?” Chase said, hoping five seconds was long enough for Donna to come up with something. She felt less nauseous. The Dramamine must have kicked in.
    Donna hit the steering wheel with her palm.
    “Eureka!” Bud said.
    “I’ve got it. Louie can pick the lock on the handcuff. Fuck sawing the chair.” She glanced at Gitana apologetically. She slowed down and flipped the car around.
    “Where are we going?” Gitana asked.
    “Santa Fe, to see a friend of mine.”
    “A friend who picks locks? Is he a locksmith?” Chase said.
    “In a manner of speaking,” Donna said.
    “Can he get me out of them?” Chase said.
    “I’m hoping,” Donna said, still holding the car at a solid eighty miles an hour and periodically glancing in the rearview mirror.
    She did slow as they approached the outskirts of Santa Fe, which Chase thought prudent considering how difficult it would be for Donna to explain why she had a woman handcuffed to a chair in her backseat.
    “Are you feeling any better?” Bud asked, taking Chase’s free hand and squeezing it.
    “Yes, thank you for being concerned.”
    “We are ALL concerned,” Donna snapped as they exited onto Old Pecos Trail.
    “I wasn’t saying you weren’t,” Chase said.
    “I’m sorry,” Donna said. “I’m just so stressed out. What with the dildo thing and now this.”
    “The dildo thing?” Chase said.
    “Let’s not get into that just now,” Gitana said.
    “What dildo thing?” Chase said, looking at Bud and wondering if she should be asking about dildos in front of Bud.
    “I’ll show you the footage later. It’s pretty funny,” Bud said.
    “You’re filming dildos?” Chase said, her voice getting high-pitched.
    “Stop talking about it, right this minute,” Gitana said, shooting both Bud and Donna warning looks.
    “She’s right. We’ll explain later,” Donna said. She glanced in the rearview mirror and then made a quick right into a narrow street that resembled an alley. It dead-ended at a solid adobe wall. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
    “What is this place?” Chase said.
    Donna was out the door before Chase could make any further inquiries.
    Bud piped up, “It looks like a den of iniquity.”
    “I’m thinking Donna has a checkered past,” Gitana said, rolling down the window and peering out to get a better look. Chase wished she could see.
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Bud said.
    “Why?” Gitana asked.
    “Because we’re under survelliance,” Bud said, scanning the building and then pointing discreetly to the small video camera hidden by a ristra.
    “What the fuck kind of place is this?” Chase said, squirming around in the chair trying to get a better look at the