A shot at romance

Chapter 5 - safe heavan

Charlotte Crawford

Goliad City, Texas

1 Weeks Before

    "Alright, now get out of the car and walk twenty paces toward the door of that building. If you deviate from your path or suddenly stop I will shoot you. Do you understand?"

Charlotte nodded and slowly climbed out of the car. Restler prodded her back with the cold steel. Her face was twisted trying to hold back tears.

    I still have my gun. Maybe I can pull it out quickly and shoot him.

    "And in case you got any bright ideas," said Restler. "I got a level IV Ballistic vest under my jacket. Nothing short of a .50 cal is going to go through that, so don't make me regret giving you back your .... toy."

    "That's not going to protect your face," said Charlotte rebelliously.

    What the fuck does this guy want? He hasn't brought me into the cops ... is he going to kill me? Do I have a kill bounty? Wait, what if he is going to rape me? And then turn me in! No one is going to believe the school shooter who cried rape.

    Charlotte fell to her knees and started bawling. Tears streamed down her face as she laid down on the sidewalk. Restler kneeled down next to her.

    "Come on get up. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to turn you in but you gotta get up and walk," he said almost tenderly.

    "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to kill them. Stacy and Jennifer were my friends before and Ted never did anything to me and Mitch .... I loved him," Charlotte let it all flow out. All the emotions inside of her.

    "Mitch Harrison? He's not dead ... yet. You put three bullets into his chest but they all missed his major organs. He's currently in the hospital. Now please. Get up and walk."

Charlotte slowly pushed herself up onto her knees. As she stood up, Restler grabbed her under her arm and steadied her balance. Charlotte looked up and saw the building they were in front of.

    Is this his home? Why is he bringing me here.

Restler walked up in front of Charlotte and knocked on the door. Soon a slot opened beside the door and revealed a number pad. Restler quickly punched in short code and the door swung open.

    Now is my time to run. His back is turned. Wait, I could even shoot him!

    "You coming, Charlotte?" asked Restler as he peeked back. Charlotte, reluctantly, followed him in. The first thing she noticed as she entered was that the door was barred with 5 inches of reinforced steel, the second was the two other people inside the house pointing assault rifles at her.

    "Who the fuck did you bring in, Restler," screamed a woman's voice. It was too dark for Charlotte to see anything besides a figure. "Is this another one of your stripper girlfriends?"

    "Calm down, Maria," replied Restler. "She's fifteen. Her name is Charlotte."

    "Why the hell would you bring her here?" said a different voice. A young man's. "This is a secure safe house! What if she tells the Cartels! What the hell were you thinking .... Jesus Christ is that the Sherwood Shooter!"

    "Maria. James. This is Charlotte Crawford. She saved my life earlier tonight when the Cartels tried to jump me."

A blanket of silence followed. Charlotte could see Maria and James stiffen in their postures.

    "We gotta turn her in right now," said James. "The last thing we need is for the cops to be looking around here! We don't know how many of Goliad's cops are with the Cartels."