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  I turned the radio off, and I glanced over at Alicia. She had perked up again, and she was getting a devious look in her eyes. “What are you thinking, Alicia?”

  “I was just wondering if he was going to get off that bus at a hotel. We are going to follow them into town, aren’t we?”

  “Of course we are. Do you think I came all this way for nothing?” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. My hands felt clammy. I was acting fearless and confident, but I was really nervous and uncertain.

  A few minutes later, the buses and I were exiting the interstate for the city of Biloxi, Mississippi. I was tense again. Alicia was bright-eyed and ready for more excitement. “Don’t lose them, Brand. If they go to a hotel, are you going to get a room, too?”

  I hadn’t really thought about it. I had three hundred dollars in my pocket, but I wasn’t prepared to stay at an expensive hotel. “It depends on where he stays. I can’t afford a luxury hotel. Besides, he may not even be on the bus.”

  We were soon coming into Biloxi. The traffic wasn’t heavy, as it was four in the morning, so I wasn’t worried about losing the buses. I just didn’t know what I would do if they went straight to the Coliseum. I didn’t want to stay in my car until the concert started – if we could even get tickets. My thoughts were interrupted when the two buses separated. One moved into the right turn lane while the other one stayed straight. “What should I do, Alicia?” I tried not to sound too panicky.

  “Calm down, Brandy,” Alicia said in an oddly serene voice. “The Coliseum is to the right, so I would follow the bus that is going straight. Maybe it’s headed for a hotel. Maybe, Rick is on board.”

  The thought of seeing Rick again boosted my energy. I let my fears fade away, and I pulled up behind the bus. The driver might recognize my car, but it no longer mattered. I had to see Rick one more time.

  We followed the bus up two more streets. I watched as the bus began to turn right – just as the other bus had done. “What is going on?” I asked Alicia. “Do they know we are following? Are they trying to split up to lose us? Why didn’t he turn back there with the other bus?” Of course, Alicia didn’t know the answers either, so we just followed. Sooner or later we’d find out where we were going. The bus turned on its left blinker and slowed to a stop at a red light. I noticed a gas station on the right and a Mexican restaurant on the left. The restaurant was closed, but I suddenly had a craving for jalapeno cheese dip. The bus made a sharp left turn and we followed.

  The turn took us onto Biloxi’s Beach Boulevard. Directly on our right were miles and miles of sugar white beaches that bordered the Gulf of Mexico. I knew we were heading towards Biloxi’s Casino row, but I thought we were still a couple of miles away from the first casino when the bus turned on its left blinker again.

  “Looks like we followed the right bus,” Alicia yelled excitedly as the bus pulled into the driveway of the Richland Hotel. I cautiously continued down Beach Boulevard so the bus driver would not notice us. Alicia was agitated until she realized that I was about to make a U-turn at the next intersection.

  There was a BP gas station next to the Richland, so I pulled up to the pumps. “What are you doing?” Alicia asked.

  “I need gas, and they aren’t going to get away now. Whoever is in that bus is going to stay at that hotel. And I believe we are, too. Let’s just let them get checked in…”

  “I thought you weren’t going to blow your money on an expensive hotel. That one has “rich” right in its name.”

  “I’ve changed my mind. Anyway, I don’t have to blow my cash. I have my Visa right here in my wallet. It’ll be worth the price to be able to say I slept in the same hotel as Rick Hartwood…”

  “I have a plan,” Alicia interrupted. I felt a chill run down my spine at the mere suggestion of one of Alicia’s plans. “Why don’t I go on over and check us in while they are checking in? Then I can find out what room Rick is in. They’ll never guess that I’m the girl that was yelling at them earlier. You know how demure I can be if it serves my purpose.”

  I wasn’t sure it would work, but I agreed to Alicia’s plan. I handed her my credit card and she bounded lithely towards the hotel. I watched her until she disappeared through the huge beveled glass double-doors, and then I got out to gas-up my car.

  As I stood there pumping gas, I no longer felt the least bit worried. At first, I didn’t even notice the convertible that drove up on the opposite side of the gas pumps, but it was hard to overlook a Porsche Boxster – or the attractive torso that was leaning into it. The car was blue metallic with blue leather interior while the torso was clothed in an olive green polo shirt and green cargo shorts. He was wearing white running shoes and white crew socks. I could not see his face, but his hair was short and light brown. He appeared to be searching for something behind the front seat, and for the moment, I forgot about Alicia and Rick Hartwood.

  I couldn’t pull my eyes away, and before I realized it, the torso stood up and turned towards me. He looked straight into my eyes and his sandy hair gently fluttered across his forehead. His vibrant green eyes seemed to pierce me and his lips moved into a playful half-smile. He’d caught me staring at him, and I would have looked away if I could. But I couldn’t. I felt my heart racing towards some invisible finish line. I swallowed and I could feel the saliva moving in slow motion down my esophagus until it made a thunderous boom as it reached the pit of my stomach. I felt my face burning and my palms were almost dripping sweat. I felt as though I was paralyzed as I watched him start walking towards me. With a loud click, the gas nozzle stopped, but I kept my tight grip on the trigger. My eyes felt as though they were stretched ten times their normal size, but I was powerless to retract them. As he finally reached me, my mouth fell open to allow a tiny little gasp to escape.

  “Do you live around here?” Rick Hartwood asked.

  “Uh…um…no,” I somehow managed to say.

  “Are you okay?” he asked with some concern. “You look pale. Have you breathed in too many gas fumes? Here, let me finish pumping your gas for you.”

  He moved my hand from the nozzle, and his warmness coursed through my body. The sizzling heat that was overtaking me brought me back to my senses – sort of. My paralysis was suddenly replaced with passion like I’d never known before. I found it difficult to move aside, but I was blocking him from Sam’s gas tank. I reluctantly walked out of his way.

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “This is some car you’ve got here. I haven’t seen a Gremlin in years.” He peeked inside the window. “Is it a 5-speed?”

  “No, it’s a 3-speed.” Somehow talking about Sam calmed me a bit. “It’s a V-8. It can move when it needs to.” I shivered as I imagined him saying, “Like when it is chasing a bus?” I quickly moved on, “So why did you ask if I lived around here?”

  “I’m looking for the Grand Casino. I was hoping you could tell me where it is.”

  I said, “I know where it is. Just keep going east on this road. It’s just a couple of miles down. You can’t miss it”

  “Are you here to gamble?” he asked as he returned the nozzle to the pump.

  “No, I’m going to see Rick Hartwood – if my friend and I can get tickets this late.” The name just rolled off my tongue as though I didn’t have a clue who he was. “She’s over at the Richland trying to get us a room.”

  Rick looked puzzled, but he was clearly used to pretending to not be Rick Hartwood. “You must have planned this at the last moment,” he said finally.

  I was amazingly cool. If he could pretend he wasn’t Rick, why couldn’t I? “Yeah. We saw him earlier in Pensacola, and the concert was so phenomenal that we decided to try to see him again.”

  He looked uncomfortable. “You know the concert isn’t until Sunday night?”

  “I know. How did you know? I mean you’re clearly not from around here.” I felt in control now. This was just a man like any other. I could handle him.

  I started to ask his name, but he walked bac
k towards his car. “Thanks for the directions, ‘Brand’.” He said my name in an amusing sort of way – reminding me of Alicia. Funny, I didn’t remember telling him my name. He went about pumping gas into his handsome sports car; then he added, “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

  After retrieving my receipt from the gas pump, I bravely walked over to him and said, “By the way, you didn’t tell me your name.”

  “No, I didn’t,” he said. He paused, and I almost believed he was going to leave it at that. “My name is Rick Hartwood, but I think you already know that.”

  I felt my throat tightening and my heart racing. I closed my eyes tightly. I didn’t know what to say. I heard him saying, “Brandy, are you okay? Brandy?”

  I opened my eyes slowly. Alicia’s face was only two inches from mine. “Brandy,” she called. “Brandy, are you okay?”

  My forehead barely missed the steering wheel as I jumped up in alarm. “You aren’t Rick Hartwood,” I stammered.

  Alicia looked herself up and down. “You’ve got a point there. Is this a delusion you’ve been having for a while now, or is it something new?”

  I wiped the sleep out of my eyes. “Did you get the room?”

  “Sort of. Well, actually, no. Not at the Richland. They claimed they had no vacancies, but I think they thought I wasn’t good enough to stay at their cheesy hotel. They did point me to a courtesy phone and a phonebook, so I called around until I found us a room. Looks like you need one, too. Have you been asleep the whole time or did you pump some gas?”

  I had to check the gauge to be sure. “Yeah. I’ve already pumped the gas and paid for it.” Thank God for pay-at-the-pump gas stations. “So where are we staying? The Grand? Beau Rivage?”

  “The Rest Inn.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding…”

  “Look on the bright side, Brand. It only costs thirty dollars per night. And we get a view of the Gulf.”

  “My bedroom window back home has an extraordinary view of Perdido Bay. I doubt they can outdo that for thirty dollars. Oh, well. I’m terribly sleepy, so I guess it will do. Where is it?”

  “Anxious to get back to that dream, eh? Maybe you should look at a picture of Rick before you go back to sleep. He really doesn’t look like me at all.”

  Alicia pointed me west on Beach Boulevard. We drove several miles – past the Coliseum and far away from the bright lights of Biloxi. In fact, it became darker and darker as we drove along – a fact I pointed out to Alicia.

  “I noticed that too,” she commented. “But you know we are going west. We’re getting farther and farther away from the sun…”

  “The sun doesn’t even come up for another two hours,” I reminded her.

  At a street named “Pembroke”, we turned right. Right. The opposite side of the road from the Gulf. Less than a block into Pembroke, we saw a half burned out sign that said “Rest Inn”. The words were twisted so that they resembled a smile. The sign had a familiar look to it. “Isn’t there one of these in Pensacola?” I asked.

  “See, see,” Alicia said. “You were getting upset and it’s a chain…”

  “I don’t think two motels constitute a chain. One of them probably copied the other one – although I can’t imagine who would think the name ‘Rest Inn’ would attract customers.”

  “I think the name is sort of cute. Rest Inn – restin’, get it?” Alicia’s comment didn’t even deserve a response.

  The parking lot was tiny. There were only ten or so parking spots, and all but one was filled. I stopped near the office and went up to register. The door to the office was locked, but there was a bell, so I rang it. I could see inside the office and the décor did not impress me: two black Naugahyde sofas attached together by a cast aluminum Formica-topped table. Even in the dim light I could make out the coffee stains on the table. Suddenly, the door to a back room opened, and a man clothed in only his red-heart-covered boxer shorts appeared. I was startled, and I began plotting my escape as he approached the door. Instead of opening the door, he opened the window on the door and stared out at me through bloodshot eyes. I noticed that he was of Indian descent even before he spoke with his thick accent.

  “May I help you?” he inquired. He scratched at his beard stubble and yawned.

  “I need a room. We called earlier.”

  “Oh, yes Mum. We have one room available. Number 10 at the end. Thirty dollars. Cash only.”

  I signed in and paid him, and he handed me the key. “Check out is 11:00 in the morning. After that, another thirty dollars.” I nodded and turned to go. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him pick up a phone and start dialing.

  “Okay, Alicia,” I said as I got back into the car, “We’re in number 10.”

  As we pulled up in front of our room, I noticed the door of number 9 opening just a crack. As we got out, the door opened even farther and I got a good look at the room’s occupant. He was a man of about thirty-five with shoulder length brown hair and a bushy mustache. He was wearing a yellow shirt unbuttoned to the waist, gray slacks, and flip-flops. He moved out of his room so that he was blocking the door to our room. He had a huge, depraved smile plastered on his face. Since I had the key to our room, I was in the front, and I was the one he addressed. “Hello, Baby. Would you like to take a ride on my bed?”

  I avoided eye contact, as I said, “No, thank you. We aren’t interested.” I tried to hide the fact that he was making me intensely nervous. I pushed past him as he continued to ogle me, and he moved out of my way. I quickly unlocked number 10, and Alicia and I rushed inside. I slammed the door as he approached it. As I turned the deadbolt, he began banging on the door with his fist.

  “Come on,” he yelled. “I’ve got twenty dollars for one of you. Come on.”

  I turned around and eyed Alicia angrily. “So this is the wonderful Rest Inn with a Gulf view? That guy thinks we are hookers.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Alicia answered in her best innocuous voice. Too bad I saw right through it. “He just wants us to become hookers. He doesn’t think we are right now…”

  “Thanks for clearing that up for me.”

  “Does he really think I would sell my virtue for only twenty dollars?” Alicia asked. She sounded deeply insulted.

  “Why not?” I asked. “You’ve given it away to worse than that.”

  Alicia hit me with her purse. “If you weren’t my best friend…you are such a bitch sometimes.”

  “Takes one to know one,” I said playfully.

  Alicia broke into a wide smile. “We’d better get some sleep. Do you think one of us should keep watch?”

  “Just make sure the window is locked. I’d almost like to leave, but I’m afraid to walk past him again. I’m going to the bathroom.”

  Inside the bathroom, I could hear our “neighbor”. “I know you’re in there, Sweet Thang. Daddy’s waiting for you to come on over.” The first thought in my head was the shower scene in “Psycho”. I began searching the walls, looking for a hole that he might be using to watch me. When I satisfied myself that there were no holes, I realized that he was just talking to himself – he had no idea that I was in the bathroom. In fact, he was still talking, but I was no longer able to make out what he was saying. Then from the next room, I heard Alicia say, “Oh, no.”

  “What’s the matter?” I asked. As I came out, I pulled the bathroom door shut, thinking it put distance between that weirdo and us.

  Alicia was standing beside the window. “Maybe I’m overreacting. Come here and take a look.” As I reached Alicia’s side, she pointed to the window and said, “The lock has been removed. Not broken. Removed with a screwdriver or something. And there is a cement block placed right under the window.”

  “A cement block?” I wondered what a cement block had to do with anything.

  “Yes. Don’t you see? The window is high enough outside that it would be hard to climb into. But someone put a cement block out there. Now it would be easy to climb into the window.” I began to see where A
licia was going with this. I also began to wonder if I had been set up in the beginning. I remembered the desk clerk using the phone as soon as I finished checking in. Who would he be calling at this hour? Maybe he was calling his friend to let him know that a woman was checking into the room next to his.

  “What should we do?” I asked Alicia. “What if he comes in while we are sleeping?”

  “We have to get some rest,” Alicia replied. “And what about tonight? Where are we going to find another room?”

  I grabbed my purse. “I’ll take my chances sleeping in the car. I don’t trust that rube.”

  “Huh?” Alicia looked bewildered. “How do you know his name is Rube?”

  “It’s a saying, Alicia. I don’t know his name. Never mind. Let’s get out of this dump.”

  “Are you going to get your money back?”

  “No. I think the guy at the desk might be involved.” I paused long enough to share my theory with Alicia. After that, we were both ready to leave. I slowly withdrew the deadbolt – trying to be as silent as possible. I cautiously glanced out of the room and saw that our friend was not in sight. Quicker than either of us had moved in years, we bolted out of the room and into my car. We didn’t bother to look back. I drove until we were once again at the Richland Hotel.

  “You know they don’t have a room,” Alicia said.

  “Maybe not now, but they might have one for tonight.” I got out and reached for my suede jacket that was lying in the backseat. The first slivers of sun were beginning to illuminate the sky like very dim searchlights. I noticed that it was almost five-forty. By seven, the sun would be peeking over the horizon. I made a mental note that I had now been up for 24 hours.

  Once I passed through the heavy glass doors of the Richland, I immediately noticed the striking similarities between Richland and the Rest Inn: there were none. The floor of the Richland was covered in salmon colored cut pile carpeting. There were two sofas in the lobby. Both were upholstered in black leather and the legs and armrests were of carved mahogany. Leopard print pillows were arranged attractively on each. A pine coffee table, neatly stacked with magazines, sat in front of the sofas. A potted dracaena stood between the two sofas. In a remote corner stood a rubber plant. The wallpaper was bone colored with small white magnolia blossoms widely spaced along a slender trailing vine. There was no Naugahyde in sight and there were no unsightly coffee stains.