Saturday, September 3, 2011

Handful of Sand Chapter 41 Page 1

It was Wednesday, the evening of the day after Sandy had left the police safe house.

She had been fortunate to escape the armed assassin that had intruded into her bedroom. There would probably be more coming. It was good that she had her friend Selina to keep her safe.

At that moment, Sandy was seated with Selina in a red convertible parked in the open air parking bay of a budget hotel. Selina had exchanged her previous car for that new vehicle during the early hours of the morning.

The convertible's top was up to protect them from the raindrops. It had been raining since the late afternoon, with thunder and lightning. The sky was dark and the street lamps were on.

Selina applied the handbrake and turned off the engine. She got out of the car with an umbrella. She went over to Sandy's side to shield her from the weather as the teenager emerged from the vehicle.

At the sound of the thunder, Sandy winced. She took a deep breath. Selina patiently waited for her to regain her composure. Then they went to the trunk for their bags.

Selina looked different that day. She had a few wrinkles on her face and she had graying hair. She had sagging breasts beneath her sweater and a wide bottom under her full skirt.

Sandy knew it was all fake. Earlier, she had seen Selina enter a restroom a tall young girl, only to emerge later an older woman of average height. Sandy would not have recognized her friend if she had not been called by name.

On the other hand, Sandy was dressed in a jacket, shirt and cargo pants and she carried two heavy travel bags - one green and one brown leather. Selina had replaced the duffel bag so that their luggage would match their outfits.

They looked like an aunt and her niece. Or a middle-aged woman and her baggage-carrier.

At the hotel counter, Selina registered and received her room keys from the desk clerk. "Come along, dear," she called Sandy in a dignified voice as she led the way.

Once they were in their room, Sandy dropped the bags in the corner and sat on one of the beds. Her wet hands and clothes dampened the cover of the bed. "What are we going to do now?" she asked.

Selina started rummaging through one of the bags. "We'll rest here for the night," she said, "let the detectives find the people after you. We'll just concentrate on keeping you alive."

"Did you find out anything about what happened last night?" Sandy asked. She knew that Selina had contacted one of the detectives earlier that day.

Selina glanced at Sandy. "Officer Murphy is critical in the hospital," she reported, "They arrested one of the men but couldn't get any information out of him."

Sandy lowered her eyes when she had heard about the policewoman. Of all the plainclothes cops who had watched her, Officer Murphy had been the closest. She should buy the cop a good gift once she had her inheritance.

Selina pulled a small blue bag out of her luggage.

"Do the cops know where I am?" Sandy asked. She took off her wet jacket and dropped it beside the bed.

"They know you're with me," Selina replied vaguely. She took a few articles of clothing and the blue bag and went into the bathroom.

Sandy got up and stood over their luggage. The green bag was still closed while the brown travel bag was where Selina had left it. As the teenager leaned closer for a peek into the brown bag, thunder boomed outside. Sandy jerked back in surprise. She glanced at the sliver of darkness through the slit between the curtains. She failed to make anything out beyond the falling rain.

Then Sandy turned her attention back to the bag.

The girl had seen bits and pieces of Selina's possessions. She had seen wigs, hair extensions, clothes of different quality, makeup. However, she had yet to see anything resembling a weapon. She had not seen any firearms or even knives.

There was the sound of the flush in the bathroom.

Sandy noticed a small aerosol can near the opening of the brown leather bag. Curious, she picked it up and saw from the label that it was deodorant. She held the nozzle close to her nose for a sniff but could not smell anything.

Feeling adventurous, Sandy decided to give it a try. She slipped the can under her shirt and directed the nozzle at her armpit. Then she gave the can's actuator a good press.

Sandy screamed. Her armpit was suddenly very painful, like it was on fire. She pulled her hand out and dropped the can.

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