The Court Chronicles (A Blog Novella) - Part III, Chapter 25

Chapter 24

"Shit! He's gonna kill us, boss!" panics Jay.

"What!" screams Adrianna.

"Relax, calm down. I'm not going to kill you. There's just been a change of plans," assured the cabbie.

Garret was fed up with all these changes that he didn't consent to. He was also too tired to fight it and figured he needed to be the calm one since Adrianna and Jay were freaking out.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Garret.

"I don't even know, sir. I was told that I needed to take you to this address and drop you off."

"Well, just ignore it and take us to the airport, asshole!" Jay wasn't having it.

"I wish it was that simple, sir, but they have my daughter," the cabbie was fighting back tears.

"Who has your daughter?" asked Garret.

"He identified himself as El Chulo, but that's all I know. I was told to intercept this fare, pick you up and bring you to this location. If I don't then they kill my daughter."

The silence in the cab was deafening and it stayed that way until they arrived at the destination. It was in the middle of nowhere. All you could see, for miles, was desert. There was a small Toyota Corolla, had to be late 90s, parked in the middle of the desert.

"Okay, here it is. You can get out now," said the cabbie.

"Bullshit, I'm getting out," objected Jay, "there's nothing around here."

"El Chulo said to tell you that you hold the key to get to Veronica," said the cabbie.

"Now what the hell does that mean?" asked Jay.

"I don't know, could be some sort of riddle or something," pondered Garret.

"Yeah, like Batman style. You know, when he had to figure out the Riddler's shit," offered Jay.

"Maybe, okay everyone, think," said Garret.

Jay offered a suggestion which was quickly shot down and then Garret offered another one that didn't fare well either. As Jay and Garret exchanged ridiculous explanations, Adrianna went into her purse and pulled something out. She cleared her throat and dangled the keys from the package in between Jay and Garret.

Jay and Garret looked at the keys, Adrianna, then eachother and hung their heads. "Yeah, forgot about these already? Geez, and you're supposed to help find my daughter?" asked Adrianna.

There was nothing Jay and Garret could say, she was right. They needed to get their heads out of their asses and start being smart. Adrianna opened the cab door and exited as Jay followed her. Garret reached into his pocket to pay the fare, but the cabbie waved him off. "All I want is my daughter back."

Garret nodded and exited the cab as well.

Once outside, the cab sped off leaving a cloud of dust. After the dust settled the trio made their way to the car. Adrianna chose the key that resembled a car key and took a deep breath. She looked back at Garret and Jay before inserting it into the driver side door lock. The key slid in with no problem and as soon as Adrianna turned the key, the car doors unlocked. Jay opened one of the rear doors and hopped in. Adrianna turned to Garret and handed him the keys, "You drive," she said and then got in to sit shotgun. Garret slid into the driver seat and closed the door.

Once inside, Garret found a GPS system and a cell phone. "Adrianna, hand me that SIM chip, it has to go to this phone." Adrianna handed over the SIM chip and Garret inserted it into the cell phone. The phone immediately started to ring. Garret answered quickly.

"Hello?"

There was heavy breathing on the other end before someone finally said something," Hola, Garret," this guy obviously didn't speak a lick of Spanish judging from his bad accent.

"Who are you?" asked Garret as Jay and Adrianna did their best to hear what was being said on the other end.

"Turn on the GPS system, choose 'Go Home' and follow the directions."

"Where are you taking us?"

"When you arrive, you will receive further instructions," and just like that, the line went dead. Garret looked at the phone and saw that the call had come from a restricted number.

"So what's the deal, boss?" asked Jay.

"We drive."

************************************************

Veronica opened her eyes to find an overweight nurse staring down at her.

"Good morning, sunshine," said the nurse, "glad to see you wide awake."

Can this heifer be more annoying? thought Veronica, Where the hell am I? Where's Garret and Jay?

Veronica tried to speak, but it hurt too much. "Oh honey, please don't try to speak, it'll just hurt more."

Great, now I can't even speak? Damn, my head hurts and these lights aren't helping. Let me see if I can at least get a pen and pad to write on to communicate to this woman.

Veronica motioned for the nurse to bring her a pen and pad. The nurse immediately understood and handed her a pen and piece of paper from her pocket. Veronica immediately started to scribble something down.

Where is Garret? She showed the nurse.

"I don't know who Garret is, honey."

This frustrated Veronica even more and she started to write something down again.

When can I go home?

"Not until the doctor clears you and we have some more tests to run."

Veronica throws the pen and pad on the ground in frustration. The nurse picks them up and walks up to Veronica's bedside. "I'll get you some water." With that the nurse leaves the hospital room.

Veronica has no idea what's going on and how long she's been out of it. The last thing she remembers is trying to escape Vazquez, then nothing. She fights it, but a tear rolls down her cheek.

It wasn't suppose to be this hard.

"Mija, you're awake!"

Veronica turns and sees the last person she wants to see right now.