Vanessa leans her head against the glass, as she hazily watches the open field stretch across the horizon. "We got less than a hundred miles left" Mikey speaks but all she does is roll her eyes. "Why are you even taking me to California?" she mumbles, keeping her gaze out the window. He pauses for a second, "I got some business to take care of and then I'm gonna deal with you" This makes her turn to him this time, "What are you talking about?" He kept one hand on the wheel, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, "I've been thinking and you've done more harm than good for me. So now I am going to make you someone else's problem" Her chest tightens, knowing what he was going to do. She clenches her jaw, looking out to the long highway, fear building up in her chest.
They stop at a gas station, finally crossing over the state line to California. "I'll be back" Mikey mumbles, stepping out and moving to the back of the car to fill the gas tank. Vanessa watches him, waiting for him to enter the store so she can reach for his phone again. She looks around seeing the whole parking lot, sighing that it was empty. She couldn't call for help.
He puts the pump inside the car and starts walking toward the store. Vanessa bites her lip, watching him disappear into the building before leaning between the two front seats to reach for the phone. She grunts angrily realizing she threw it far so now she couldn't reach it. "Fuck" she mumbles as she winces, her wrist raw from the handcuff that bound her to the car door. She twists her body as she sticks her hand toward the phone that lay under the car seat. She groans, stretching her arms out as far as they could so she could reach under the seat. She feels her fingertips on the phone, leaning back a little more to give her a better grip, as she tried to ignore the pain of the spikes of the metal cuffs digging into her skin. She breathes out in relief as she clutches the phone in her hand, her body humming in excitement and fear as she began to dial Chip's number again. But that relief is replaced with terror as Mikey runs out of the store, a look of rage on his face as he makes his way toward the car. "Vanessa?" Chip's voice says. "Chip! We just left Ehrenberg Arizona!" She locks the car as he is screaming at her to open the doors, his fist pounding on the window. "We're at a gas station off Route 95! We already crossed into California! Please Hurry!" Vanessa tells quickly into the phone as Mikey unlocks the door. "Fucking whore!" he yells as he tries to take the phone from her. She grips it tightly, unwilling to let it go, "Please! He's gonna sell me!" she cries before he rips the phone from her hand. He then punches her in the face, knocking her out cold.
Chip grips the phone as he hears Vanessa crying and screaming. His chest tightens hating that he wasn't there to help her. He starts driving faster, realizing that he was a few miles from Ehrenberg. His heart drops when she said he was going to sell her. He couldn't let that happen.
Half an hour later he makes it to the only gas station off Route 95, and he rushes into the store, hoping the clerk saw anything. "Yeah, some guy came by earlier with a girl. I didn't think anything of it until he ran out all crazy. I saw the whole thing, he punched that poor girl in the face" he says, a look of guilt on his face. "Where did they go?" Chip asks him. "Uh, I watched him drive off to Highway 10. That was about half an hour ago. That's the big freeway that takes you to Los Angeles" he says and Chip thanks him before running off back to his car, racing off to the highway to hopefully catch them.
Vanessa slowly starts opening her eyes, instantly hit by a huge migraine. She groans, slowly sitting up to see her still stuck with Mikey. She looks out the window, seeing they were surrounded by mountains. "You're awake," he says, glancing at her before looking back at the road. Her hands are trembling slightly as she touches her bloody nose. It was sore after he punched her. She sighs, wiping the blood with the back of her hand. "Here," he says handing her a dirty rag from the back seat. She snatches it angrily from his hand before wiping her nose softly, trying not to push too hard to prevent the pain. "I'm sorry," he says. She scoffs, ignoring him as she looks out the window. "I really am. I didn't know how else to shut you up. You were screaming like a fucking psycho" "Because you fucking kidnapped me" she says through gritted teeth. "Oh please, don't act like that guy made you fucking happy. I took care of you" Vanessa only clenches her jaw, feeling too weak to argue with this psychopath.
A couple of hours went by and it was now 3 in the afternoon. Chip finally made it to southern California. Los Angeles was only a few towns away. He gripped the steering nervous about what's to come, praying that Vanessa was okay. He was tempted to call her but he discards the thought knowing Mikey probably took the phone by now.
Vanessa remained quiet the entire way and now they finally made it to Los Angeles. She picked at her nails, her stomach churning at what would happen to her after today. She wasn't sure how she would even make it back to Chip. She took a breath, trying to convince herself that everything would be okay. But it was hard to keep that hope when she realized where they were going.
