Damaged Goods

Chapter 9- Hard on the Ears but Easy on the Eyes

For the motel room being as shitty as it was, Aria woke up feeling strangely refreshed. Marcus was sprawled out across her, his arm and leg draped securely over her midsection. Even in his sleep he had her back, she thought. This beautiful specimen beside her was growing on her each day, and she found she liked having him around.

He was fascinating in his sleep, his mouth slightly parted, taking small shallow breaths. His eyelashes fluttered every once and a while, the long lashes touching his eyebrows. He was mumbling in his sleep, unintelligible words, but ever so often Aria would catch a few; "I'm so sorry" and "please forgive me" seemed to be the ones he repeated more than once.

Was he having a nightmare? Should she wake him?

"Marcus. Marcus wake up," Aria whispered.

In the blink of an eye Marcus shot up out of bed, his hand reaching for his hip as if to draw a gun. He looked around rapidly, searching for a threat. Aria didn't know whether to laugh at his face, comfort him for being so high strung or cry knowing they had to constantly keep their guard up.

"Are you alright, Aria?" Marcus questioned, looking at her worriedly.

"Of course," she said smiling, trying to help him relax. "It just sounded like you were having a bad dream, I was making sure you were alright."

He looked slightly uncomfortable, but just smiled in return. "Yep, I'm good. How about we get a move on since we're both up. Breakfast is on me."

Aria groaned remembering the only place to eat in this town was a McDonald's that should've been flagged by the CDC, FDA or Health Department. How they lived through that once she will never know but she sure wasn't taking the risk a second time.

"I've got some cereal bars in my bag, that can hold us off til we find somewhere down the road," she suggested.

-- --

After her morning routine to get up and around, they hit the road again. Marcus insisted on driving this time, and Aria suspected he just liked the control. She wasn't a poor driver, he just seemed to need the satisfaction of making the calls. She didn't have a problem with it, hell, she didn't even know where they were going other than south. She turned on the radio, glad to see they both shared the taste for classic rock when it was automatically playing AC/DC through the speakers. She sang along loudly, belting out the music to Shook Me All Night Long.

Aria was a terrible singer, borderline God-awful but she looked happy for the first time in days, so Marcus just continued to drive and allow her this moment of fun. She might have been hard on his ears, but she was easy on the eyes. Her yellow sundress fit snugly around her midsection, accentuating her pert chest and flat stomach. The song choice wasn't helping either and Marcus found himself shifting uncomfortably in his seat. When she started shaking her head wildly to the beat, her hair flying around her face, he gripped the wheel tightly, knuckles turning white to keep him from reaching out and brushing the stray hairs out of her face.

Seeing a turnoff for the next exit, he nearly rolled the car yanking the wheel to the right. He had to get out of this car and away from her now!

-- --

As night drew closer, Marcus got a bad feeling trouble was near. He had learned by now to trust his instincts and now wasn't the time to stop. He needed to be driving again. They had switched around lunchtime to give him a break but now he was desperate to be back behind the wheel.

"Pull over here, Aria, my turn to drive," Marcus demanded.

Aria replied off-handedly, "I'm fine but thanks. I promise I'll tell you when I need a break."

"Aria that wasn't a suggestion. Stop the car," Marcus snapped.

In her surprise, she slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel towards the shoulder of the road, narrowly missing a semi in the lane separating them. It blared on its horn, clearly agitated with being cut off like that.

Marcus ripped open the passenger door, jumped out and sprinted to the driver's side door. He pulled it open, lightly pushed Aria across the console to the other side and jumped in. After she shut the door they sped off into the night.

He checked the rear view mirror and sure enough, headlights flashed back into his eyes.

"What's going on, Marcus?" Aria asked.

"Don't worry about it, just hold on," Marcus said.

The silver car picked up speed, rapidly gaining on them. Marcus slammed down on accelerator and the car roared to life and bolted through the traffic. The sports car followed suit and within seconds was inches from Marcus's bumper.

"Oh God! Marcus go faster! You have to go faster! " Aria shouted.

"There is no way our SUV can outrun that Mercedes Aria. We need a plan, fast," Marcus argued.

He switched lanes, barely missing a car and pushed the pedal down as far as it would go, hoping to gain a couple more miles per hour. The Mercedes wasn't phased as it weaved through cars and swiped the rear bumper of the SUV in an attempt to spin it. Marcus gritted his teeth as he tried to keep the car straight and Aria screamed. This might have been a small sports car compared to a Range Rover, but speed, agility, handling and being more compact to squeeze between cars was a major advantage for the Mercedes. The Range Rover was sturdy, built like a tank, but Marcus knew they would need more than that to come out of this alive.

"Climb onto my lap," Marcus suggested.

"Are you insane? This is hardly the time for a quickie Marcus!" Aria yelled. The nerve of this man!

"Get into my lap and switch me places. You're going to drive," he clarified.

"I can't drive right now! We will crash," she insisted.

"Unless you know how to shoot a gun at a moving target the move!" He said.

Crawling across the console once again, Aria straddled Marcus's lap and began awkwardly maneuvering to face the wheel while allowing him to squeeze through and get onto the passenger side.

Marcus wasted no time jumping over to the other seat and pulling open the glove compartment. Inside was a 9mm loaded and waiting for the chance to wreak some havoc. He flipped off the safety, rolled down his window and demanded Aria to keep driving.

A gun fight broke out as soon as the barrel of the gun was stuck out the window, a barrage of metal flying in all directions. Other drivers on the road slammed on their brakes to avoid getting hit and Aria focused in on the reckless driving she had to do to avoid being caught. Marcus leaned out the window firing at the front of the Mercedes as a bullet whizzed past his head and shattered the mirror behind him. He cursed loudly as shards of plastic flew in all directions and aimed the gun for the tires.

After reloading his gun with a new loaded clip, he aimed again at the tires and after a few failed attempts because of Aria's swerving, lodged two rounds into the front wheels. The silver Mercedes went spinning out of control and rammed into the concrete divider of the highway and flipped upside-down over the barrier.

"Stay here and don't move," he ordered Aria who only nodded in response.

He opened the door and climbed out, gun ready, as he carefully approached the demolished car. He recognized the driver as one of Mason's goons he'd worked with in the past. He was hanging upside down from the seat belt, groaning and trying to open his eyes. Marcus wasted no time aiming the gun at his head and firing off two shots, ending his life. Removing the man's identification and cell phone, he proceeded over to the passenger side. After checking his pulse and determining he was already dead, he did the same, removing his ID and his cell.

He quickly returned back to the car and Aria. Closing the door, he gently grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly, then pulled it up to his lips for a quick peck. She smiled slightly, just relieved to be alive and he took off, wanting to be gone before the cops showed up and together they disappeared into the night.