Somewhere Behind

Christopher Part X

The interior of the store looked better than the outside. There was no one inside as we entered, I looked at Dwayne then turned back to Natalya to check if she was okay. She was looking all around the store as if fearing someone might jump her.

We walked over to the counter and rang a small bell that was there, we heard some commotion coming from the back and then a man emerged through the door that led to the back of the store he was at least a foot taller than us with long greasy hair and a large tattoo running down his left arm.

He looked at us with an annoyed look, "Yes, what do you kids want?" he said distastefully.

I looked back at Dwayne, "Didn't you say he was your friend?" I whispered.

Dwayne slightly glanced at me and shrugged his shoulders, then turned his vision back to the man, "Isn't Alex here?" he asked.

The man stared at him for a second, "He had to go out for a supply run," he replied, "Now what do you kids want?" he repeated.

I turned to leave, there was no point in wasting any more time here, when I heard Natalya say, "Sir, we're looking for a particular bike can you tell us whose it is, you see these bikers stole my purse and it had all my cash and identities in it, I really need to find it," she paused for a second, "Your friend Alex knows Dwayne. He's a regular customer here, oh and here are a few pictures of the bike," she continued shoving the phone in the man's face before he could respond.

The man glanced at the picture on the phone for a few seconds and nodded his head as if he knew, then turned back to look at us, "I don't know what you kids are up to, but I suggest not messing with those guys, they come here a couple of times a week and they're not particularly pleasant company."

"Could you tell us where we could find them and who they are?" asked Dwayne.

The man laughed, "What! Are you planning on finding them?" he asked sarcastically, "I do know where they are but they're regulars here as well, you'd need to be a bit more special to get information like that," he continued with a devilish smile plastered on his face.

Dwayne looked at me and I realized what the man was talking about. He was asking for a bribe, I had a couple of dollars on me but that was for gas and food.

I looked back at Dwayne and pleaded with him silently, he got the message and dug into his pocket pulled out a fifty dollar bill and placed it on the counter.

"What? You think this is a charity?" the man said and spun around to leave.

"Wait," shouted Dwayne, and pulled out a hundred dollar bill from his pocket, he proceeded to place it on top of the fifty dollar bill.

The man paused and looked at the cash, "That's more like it," he said, and was now all smiles, "So, what do you need to know?"

"Where can we find these guys?" I asked harshly.

"Well first of all you need to know that these guys aren't your common thieves, they work in gangs and have a way of taking care of anything that displeases them, so don't say I didn't warn you," he said pausing, "Okay, so basically they don't live in this area, they live out of town somewhere near Willow Springs past the Angeles National Forest and they don't take kindly to trespassers since there are no sheriffs in that part, it won't be an easy task finding them," he said.

I realized the depth of the task and felt an uneasiness in the bottom of my stomach, disregarding the feeling we thanked the man for his help and left the store.

As soon as we were out of the store, "So that's that then, how are we supposed to find her now?" asked Dwayne.

"C'mon the guy said that they were somewhere near Willow Springs," I argued.

"Chris," Natalya whispered, gently touching my shoulder, "You heard what the man said, let's just go and inform the police."

"You guys can go do what you want, you saw how the police did nothing to find Spencer, huh Natalya? Did they find him, after he murdered your dad?" I yelled.

The slap came so fast I could barely react, "Don't you dare talk about him," she hissed and ran towards the car sobbing.

"That was harsh man, you didn't have to say that," Dwayne said after she had left.

"Yeah I know man, I better go and apologize to her," I said and trudged off towards the car.

I slowly opened the car door and climbed in and sat next to Natalya, "I'm sorry for being such an ass Natalya," I muttered, she turned away from me and focused her gaze on a speck on the window. "It's just that I'm frustrated as well, with Angel being kidnapped and all that's going on, I just took it all out on you, I'm really sorry," I continued.

Natalya slowly turned to me tears streaming down her face. "You shouldn't have said that to me," she whispered.

"Yeah, I know Uncle John was a great man, I'm sorry," I said and hugged her.

She hugged me back and whispered into my ear, "We'll find her."