REM

Getaway Driver

"C'mon, you idiot. Drive faster!"

Tires screeched as we swung around another corner in the industrial plaza that Saturday afternoon. I was a wheelman, the best in the city. Some argued I was the best in the business, but I usually did clean drops, nothing that would land me in jail for too long if caught.

Today however, I was driving a kidnapper to his secret location. He had two girls locked up as far as I knew. There weren't many other details given in my brief, but I was told they were strictly for extracting money from some asshole that didn't pay his loan back.

Whether they had received money from the guy or not was unclear. Even if he had paid off some of his loan, I had a bad feeling as we turned another corner quickly and came up to the building's back entrance.

"Hurry, we gotta make this quick," the guy urged.

"Uh, I don't get my hands dirty, buddy," I reminded him as per the agreement I had with other clients. "I just drive. These hands"—holding up my hands and wiggling my fingers—"don't get blood on them."

"Oh really?" He pulled a gun on me through the open door. If the car was still running I'd have slammed it in reverse and ran the bastard over.

"Take it easy, man." I held my hands up to show him I wasn't a threat. "I don't know who told you I do that sort of thing, but you have it wrong."

"I'm telling you. Now!"

"Geeze, man. For fuck sake, lower the damn gun before you make me incapable of breathing."

I slowly stepped out of the car, leaving the keys in the ignition in case he saw them in my hands and asked for them. The last thing I wanted to do was have no escape in case he turned his back on me for long enough.

As we walked toward the loading dock man door, I wondered how I had managed to avoid something like this all the years prior. People never asked me to take someone's life, or help me do a drive by. Usually it was simple deliveries, transportation of people, drugs, money, or even weapons I assumed. Considering most items were in secured briefcases or duffle bags and I went by the honour system, I was taking their word for it every time, even if they were bad people.

I always cleaned the car before and after every job. There was no room for sloppy work, so I made sure to keep the Benz in pristine condition. It was my first and only car. She was my baby and I took care of her like I would never own another, ever.

A friend of mine would do most of the maintenance and even had a guy come in to scan for trackers and blood. I doubted there were trackers, bugs, or bombs on the car, but he did find blood one time. Turned out it belonged to me.

The man opened the door and slipped in. I followed closely behind him in case he changed his mind about keeping me alive to assist him with the task.

"Grab supplies from that cabinet over there." He pointed with his gun hand at some steel gray doors behind a fence and continued toward a set of stairs that led to another door.

I stopped in front of the cabinet, unsure of what exactly he wanted. Opening the door, I pretended to grab things while he fumbled with the key for the other door. As he started to unlock it, I heard two female voices, one young, one older. It sounded like he had kidnapped a mother and daughter, but I was no hero. I had to watch out for myself, and if I wasn't there to help the guy, maybe they had a better chance of jumping on him.

"Let us out of here!" the woman screamed as the door opened.

He laughed as he put the keys back in his pocket. I slowly stepped out of the fenced area and tiptoed back toward the door as quickly as possible.

As the door opened, he yelled, "Hey!"

I ran for my life, jumped into the car, turned the key and threw the car into reverse before peeling out of there. He came out as I drove away, waving his gun and thinking twice about firing it at me in the middle of the day. Even though we were in an area that was far away from the city, he wasn't willing to take the risk.

Foot to the floor, I careened around each corner before heading back into the city. Heart racing, adrenaline coursing through my veins and my hands shaking for the first time since I could remember, I wondered if I could continue this job. It was only a matter of time before more clients started asking for shit like that, and if they didn't like me saying no, who was to stop them from killing me?

The money wasn't worth it anymore. I had to pack my things and get out of town as soon as I could. I would clear my bank account first thing in the morning and start over somewhere new. Heck, I would load the car on a ferry if I had to. I had a good run, but it seemed to have come to an end. There was enough money in my bank account that I could retire if I played my cards right. And considering I might have someone looking for me after what I just did, I needed to play my next move with caution.