Run For Your Life (Book Two)

Chapter Nine

            We drove through the streets of Tampa, searching for any sign of Nicole being there currently or previously. We’d been driving around for hours and couldn’t find anything. “I’m gonna get out and ask around, you keep driving.” I told Riley. He stopped the car and I jumped out. Riley gave a reassuring smile and I shut the door to the SUV. He drove away and I stood on the sidewalk and stared at all the people. “Excuse me” I said, walking up to an elderly couple. “Have you seen this girl?” I held out a picture of Nicole. They couple glanced at it and shook their heads. I frowned and walked off. I walked down the sidewalk asking everyone I passed if they had seen her. Everyone said no.

            I was getting tired but I hadn’t heard anything from Riley yet so I kept walking. I got to a diner and decided to go inside. I went into the bathroom and washed my hands. I splashed some water on my face to wake me up. I took a look at myself in the mirror. I had bags under my eyes, probably from a lack of sleep mixed with all this stress I’ve been putting on myself. My blue eyes that everyone always said shined so bright were dull and dark. I put some water on my hands and ran them through my hair, trying to make it look more presentable. I dried my hands and took a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom.

            I walked up to the counter and sat down on one of the barstools. “What can I get you, sugar?” A short, heavyset lady asked. Her curly, blonde hair was cut short kind of like my grandma’s. She had a pair of round glasses that rested loosely on her nose. She pushed them up and looked at me. “I’ll take some coffee, please.” I said. I don’t usually drink coffee from anywhere but Starbucks, but right now I could really use the energy boost. She walked back towards the kitchen and yelled something. She took a plate to another customer and then brought me a mug of steaming hot coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. “I didn’t order any food.” I said.

            “You look like you could use something to eat” she said. “It’s on the house.” “Thank you.” I said, smiling. The lady smiled at me and walked away. I took a sip of my coffee, it burned going down but it was refreshing to drink. I pushed the eggs around with my fork and ate a piece of bacon. It was hot and crisp and my taste buds went wild as soon as it touched my tongue. The eggs on the other hand didn’t look anywhere near as appetizing. I took another sip of coffee and the lady came back over to me. “You sure don’t eat much.” She said, refilling my mug. I shrugged. “I just have a lot on my mind.” I told her. “Anything I can help you with?” She asked.

            I shook my head. I wish she could but if no one else had seen Nicole or her father, why would anyone in the diner have seen them? I took another drink of my coffee and the lady kept staring at me. “What's that in your pocket?” She asked. I looked at her confused and she pointed to Nicole’s picture that was slightly sticking out of my shirt pocket. “It’s a picture of my girlfriend.” I told her. The lady nodded slightly and went back to work. I finished my coffee and pulled a few crumpled dollar bills out of my pocket. I left them by the plate to tip her and I started to walk off but then stopped. “Excuse me” I said. The lady walked back over to me. “Have you see this girl?” I asked. The lady studied the picture and then pointed somewhere behind me.

            I turned around and found Nicole sitting in a booth in a dark corner of the diner. “Thank you!” I cried. I ran to the other side of the diner and slid into the other side of the booth. “Nicole!” I cried. “I’ve missed you so much!” Nicole looked up at me. Her red hair was tattered and the color was starting to come out of it. Her eyes were dark and full or terror. A permanent frown was plastered on her face. She didn’t seem sad though, but she wasn’t happy either. She seemed almost… numb. “Nicole, let’s go. We can get out of here.” I said. Nicole didn’t say anything. “You’re dad isn’t around, we can go and get you back home and we’ll be together again.” Nicole still didn’t say anything.

            “Nicole…” I said. I looked at her, a little harder this time. Nicole didn’t even seem to be looking at me; she seemed to be looking through me. “Nicole…” I said quietly. Nicole’s dad appeared next to the table. “Well, well, well” he said. “If it isn’t Mr. Pretty Boy.” He smirked. “Nicole isn’t going anywhere.” He grabbed her wrist and jerked her out of the booth. I grabbed her other hand and held onto it. “She’s coming with me.” I said. He threw his head back and laughed. “It’s funny that you think she even has a choice.” He said. He began pulling on her wrist to drag her away. “Nicole!” I screamed, hoping to break her out of her trance.

            Her dad tugged on her wrist tightly and her hand slipped out of mine. “Nicole!” I yelled again. He began dragging her out of the diner. Why wasn’t anyone paying attention? Why wasn’t anyone helping me? I ran out of the diner after Nicole and her father. I watched as her dragged her to the car and shoved her in. She moved like a life-size ragdoll; just moving wherever she was thrown or dragged. He looked at me and laughed before getting into the car and driving off. “Nicole!” I screamed again. I tried to run after the car but I wasn’t fast enough; I couldn’t keep up. “Nicole!” I screamed again, but it was too late. The car was out of sight and she was out of my reach again.

            Beeping filled my ears and I heard the voices of multiple people. “Is he okay?” I heard Riley asked. “Hard to say.” Someone else said. “What's wrong with him?” Toby asked. “I don’t know.” “Why the fuck don’t you know? You’re a doctor!” Riley shouted. I heard shuffled footsteps and then someone shook me and I opened my eyes and came face to face with Riley. “Where’s Nicole?” I asked. Riley frowned. “Connor…” he began. Oh no. That was ‘I have bad news’ face. He gets it from mom; that was the look she had on her face when she told us that Captain had died. “Where is she?” I asked again. “Connor that was a dream.” Riley said.

            “You didn’t find Nicole at all. You started screaming her name and thrashing in your sleep and all the machines went off. Toby and I panicked and screamed for the doctor.” Well, that explains all the voices that I heard. I sighed. “So she’s still gone?” I asked. “Afraid so.” Riley said. I frowned. Life just keeps getting better. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV; there was no way I was getting back to sleep now. “Are you gonna be okay?” Riley asked. I looked over at my brother; his eyes were filled with worry and concern. “I always am, Riley” I said. “I always am.”