Damn Good Reasons **DISCONTINUED - SEE NEW VER!**

Chapter 13 - The Grand Plan

The Lincoln purred as I put my foot down and flew past the Welcome to Chamberlain sign on the outskirts of the town. Ace made me drive because he said I needed the practice. Before we left, he spent an hour teaching me how to park, and I put a decent sized dent in the right-rear fender of the Lincoln by backing into the old Willys coupe in his front yard. After that, I couldn't argue that some practice would do me good.

The 40-mile drive helped me build some confidence, but just the thought of driving through a busy town like Chamberlain scared me. I pulled up at the first red traffic light and opened my door.

"Where are you going?" Ace asked.

"You can take it from here." I got out and walked around to his side.

"Cass, don't be a pussy," he said through the open window as I battled him to get his door open. "You're doing OK."

"I don't even have my license! What if a cop pulls us up?"

Ace raised his eyebrows. "Get back in the fucking car and drive."

By this time, the lights had turned green and cars were honking at us from behind. I huffed and then did as I was told before continuing to crawl along the main drag that was Summerland Drive.

Chamberlain far exceeds Castle Rock in size. Restaurants, diners and other food joints lavish the town center, and many of them are open until late, even in the middle of the week. It has a drive-in theater, a bowling alley, and the dance halls are the most popular in the region.

We cruised the strip for a while, and I noticed Ace looking intently into every parking lot and side street as if he was searching for something or someone.

"Pull in here," he said suddenly. He was pointing to a shopping center that had a long row of seven or eight shops, three of which were open food bars.

"Oh good. I'm starving," I replied. I turned off the main street and into the shopping center's parking lot that was out front, stretching end to end.

"Park right here, close to the exit."

There was a perpendicular park right in front of me, and I drove straight into it, thankful that I didn't have to try any tricky maneuvers. I turned off the ignition and looked out at the food bars. "It's not pizza, but a burger will do. You're paying."

Ace seemed to ignore me and opened the glove box to pull out a flathead screwdriver that was small enough to conceal in the palm of his hand.

"What's that for?" I asked warily.

"Come with me. Leave the car unlocked."

He got out and I followed suit, taking the keys with me.

"What are we doing?" I asked... or more like, demanded.

He walked around to me, took my hand and briskly led me out towards the left side of the parking lot. A strip of bush ran along the left edge, and I was dragged straight into it.

"Ace, this is a brand new dress!"

"Shut up and get down," he said, pulling me down to crouch on the dirty leaf litter.

"Are you gonna tell me what the hell you're up to?"

Ace looked out across the parking lot which had a bunch of vehicles clustered in the center where the food places were, and a few more sparsely scattered around them.

"You see that Chevy at the end of the line?" He pointed to a dark blue '55 with whitewalls and fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. It was in mint condition and so polished that it gleamed under the streetlights.