I Like You a Latte {Completed}

35 | Executing the Escape

Once she felt that the car had gotten up to a high enough speed, Beverly opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could, "Holy shit!"

It had the intended effect.

Dennis barked, "What the hell?!" and slammed on the brakes, jolting an equally startled Red against his seatbelt and causing him to drop his phone somewhere on the floor.

Instead of trying to stay still, Beverly let herself roll violently, slamming her head once more against the back of Dennis seat. The movements made her stomach rebel, and she didn't stop the vomit from pouring out of her mouth.

"Noooo," Red whined, his face tinged with green. "Come on!"

"Shut up," snapped Dennis, his head whipping between Beverly and the road every several seconds. "Jesus. Red, don't throw up."

Red, who apparently had the squeamishness of a child, clasped his head between his hands and mumbled, "Right. Mhm. No problem."

"Red!"

"If we don't get rid of the smell," Red confessed, his voice small, "I'm going to toss my cookies, too."

"Ah, hell. Fine. We'll pull over at a gas station and clean it up, alright? Hold in your vomit, would you? God, I should've brought Mitch instead."

Red just grunted, and Beverly smiled to herself, bringing up a shaky hand to wipe the remaining throw-up from her lips.

Maybe she would get out of this after all.

***

The car came to a stop only five minutes later, and Red practically threw himself out of the vehicle. Dennis just scoffed at the other man, before shifting to pin Beverly with a sharp look. "We're going to move you to the front for a minute. Don't be dumb—you'll only hurt yourself worse."

A warning had never stopped Beverly before, so she just sent him a woozy thumbs-up, glad when he rolled his eyes and didn't show any sign of tying her up or throwing her in the trunk. He climbed out and walked around, opening her door and pulling her out (far more cautiously than when Red had thrown her in, thankfully).

He settled her in the front seat, and went to close the door, stopping only when he saw her hand held up. "Wai'!" she slurred. "Need fresh air. Pleas'. Else I'll thro'p 'gain."

Dennis scrutinized her carefully, no doubt trying to determine how truthful she was being. She must've looked less than threatening, however, because he just blew out a wary breath and left the door open before going off to find some, "goddamn stinking paper towels."

He disappeared inside the convenience store attached to the gas pumps with a final shout at Red to, "Watch her, stupid!" Once he was gone, Beverly shifted her head to the left and blinked twice to make the image of Red pumping gas become clear.

Although he'd replied to Dennis with a, "Sure, boss!" he was mumbling to himself as he messed with the pump, his attention not even slightly focused on Beverly.

Taking her chance, Beverly searched the rest of the station, her heart stopping in excitement when she spotted a man in his mid-forties at the next pump to the right. There was no telling how he would react to a strange girl covered in her own puke approaching him, but there was only one way to found out.

With one more glance at Red confirming that the other man was still occupied, Beverly pushed herself carefully off the seat, pausing once she was standing to catch her wobbly legs before they gave out beneath her. Once she was sure she wouldn't faint again, she lowered herself to the ground, crawling on all fours towards the unknown man.