Fighting to be Free by Kirsty Moseley (5 page)

I sprinted over to the fence and looked up at the security camera, praying that it was off, it wasn’t making the slow sweep across the lot like it should be and the red light was off. I grinned, this is too freaking easy. I ran to the warehouse door and shoved the dent puller into the lock, there wasn’t much need to be careful here and I needed to be fast. Once I was inside I cut the wires to the alarm and attached the code breaker machine too it, standing there impatiently waiting for the little machine to go through the thousands of combinations to find the right six digit code. I glanced around the warehouse, there was brand new cars everywhere but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the Bugatti. Damn, it was making my mouth water.

Finally, the code was found so I tapped it in and the light turned green. I went to the roller door and used the dent puller to punch out the lock easily, I lifted it up so I could get the car out and jogged over to the car, so excited I could barely breathe. I took one of the gloves off and ran my hand over the hood and roof lovingly, feeling the slick paint job under my fingers. It was so perfect. Ok, do the job Jamie, you can admire the car when it’s out!

I shoved the bar down the side of the window and climbed in, there wasn’t an alarm on this one, there wasn’t much need, you couldn’t steal it very easily. Your average Joe off the street would have no chance with this car, it was all electronic and ran on almost artificial intelligence. I pried the stereo out carefully, and then shoved the bar I’d used to open the lock inside the stereo hole. I needed to be careful, if I scratched this car Ray would be crazy mad.

I pulled the radio casing out, exposing all the wires at the back, I cut them quickly and attached the code breaker, this car started by a button that was only activated when the door was opened with a special chipped key card, which I didn’t have of course. Without the ignition being activated, this car was a $1.7 million useless lump of metal. I set the code breaker to do its thing while I checked all over for a kill switch. I glanced at my watch, I probably only had about thirty seconds left before the generator kicked in and the cameras would come back on. The code finally worked, so I pressed the ignition button hearing the little purr of the engine. Holy shit, this car is so awesome.

I pulled out of the warehouse quickly and stopped to jump out and shut the roller door so no one would notice anything until the morning. Then jumped back into the car and sped off down the road.

“Shit yeah!” I shouted excitedly.

The interior of the car was red leather, and damn I swear if I ever have bucket loads of money, this is the car I would buy. I ran my hands over the wheel lovingly as I drove to Brett’s. The forty minute drive was way too short in my opinion, and I was devastated when I pulled in.

Ray was practically jumping up and down looking at it, he traced his hand across the top, “Oh baby, daddy loves you so much,” he purred, making me and the rest of the guys laugh. Ray was almost as car mad as me.

Brett slapped me on the back proudly, “You still got it, kid,” he said grinning.

I nodded and laughed, “Yeah, still got it,” I admitted. I knew I was good at this, I didn’t need to be told.

“Here,” he said, holding out a brown envelope that I knew would be filled with $5,000, my old nightly fee.

I gulped, my hand was itching to take it, my head was screaming at me to take it, but my heart really didn’t want to do this anymore. I closed my eyes, I didn’t want this life, I didn’t need this life, I was better than this, wasn’t I?

“No thanks, Brett. I told you, one job. The only reason I did this was because of my Mom, I don’t want the money,” I said, willing the words to be true. My will was crumbling, I could take the money, get out of that crap hole and buy myself a nice car, nice clothes.

“You don’t want it?” he asked, shocked.

I shook my head, “No, split it between the other boys. I told you, I’m going straight, I want to earn my own money, legally.” I frowned at how hard those words were to say.

He gripped my shoulder, “Kid, you won’t be able to get a job now. This is it, this is your life and you’re damn good at it,” he stated, looking at me like I was crazy.

No, this wasn’t my life, that life ended four years ago, this was my new chance I just needed to stay strong.

“Thanks Brett, but no.” I stepped away from him quickly, knowing there was a good chance he would kill me now.

“You really want to go straight?” he asked, looking at me a little proudly. I gulped and nodded. “Ok kid, well how about I give you a legit job?”

Legit job? Is he serious? “Yeah? Like what?” I asked, trying not to get my hopes up.

“Bouncer in my club. We have a lot of people sneak in, dealing inside, which obviously I don’t like on my turf,” he said grinning. Yeah, Brett would want to sell his own drugs in his club, not let some little punk do it! “Well, what do you say? Interested?”

I thought about it, it sounded ok, not what I wanted but it was definitely something to think about in case the scrap yard job didn’t work out.

“That’s really great of you Brett, but can I think about it and let you know? I’m trying to get something going with someone at the moment to do with cars, which obviously is my specialty, but I really appreciate the offer,” I said honestly.

He smiled. “Sure kid, offers always there, and if you change your mind about the boosts you know I’m always here for that. Maybe you could do the occasional job?” he asked hopefully. Jeez, I would love that but if I kept doing it I wouldn’t be able to stop, I could feel the pull already.

“I don’t think so, but thanks.” I pulled out the phone he gave me and held it out to him, he shook his head.

“You keep it, Kid. I’ve got plenty, then I can call you from time to time and see how you’re getting on. Hey, maybe you could stop down the club on Saturday night and check it out, see what you think, then you can let me know about the job,” he suggested.

I shrugged, “Sure, that’d be great,” I admitted, that way I’d probably already know if Connor had convinced his Dad to go for it and I could get wasted at the same time. I said my goodbyes and made my way back to my place, it was after four in the morning. I flopped on my bed exhausted and fell asleep in what I was wearing, I still couldn’t stop smiling from the boost and now I was free to start over.

The next couple of days passed really quickly, Connor had convinced his Dad to try with my suggestion. I was working on fixing up one car and then he was going to put in into auction and test to see how feasible this whole idea was. It took a couple of days, but finally I had one ready. It would be great if I actually had a paint shop and stuff for re-spraying, but you can’t have everything.

Tonight was Saturday and I was heading out to the club and meeting Ray out for a few drinks, his wife and daughter were visiting her mother for the weekend. I’d had the tour from Brett and he said the job would still be open for me when I found out about the scrap yard.

I was happily downing my fifth drink when Ray nudged me in the ribs, “Holy shit, look at that!” he hissed with wide eyes, looking at something over my shoulder. I turned and spotted a pretty blonde with extremely long legs and short skirt.

I laughed, “She’s too young for you, married man.”

He nodded, “Yeah, but she’s perfect for you,” he said enthusiastically. Ray knew I’d never been with a girl before, but he didn’t know the reason, all he knew was that I was too young for sex when I got sent down and I’d been out less than a week.

“Nah, not my type at all,” I said shrugging. In total honesty, I tried not to look at girls too much, I didn’t want to start thinking about what I was missing out on.

“Kid, seriously, you need to go hook up with that girl, because wow, seriously wow.” He was still staring at her, totally shagging her with his eyes.

“She’s not that hot,” I said, glancing over to her again and taking another mouthful of my Vodka and coke.

The blonde was now standing and laughing with another girl. The other girl had long red hair and was stunningly beautiful, she had on a little black dress that clung to her perfect body, holy shit, now
she’s
hot! I almost choked on my drink as I looked her over. Damn she’s fine. I couldn‘t take my eyes off of her, I’d never wanted anything more in my life.

~ Ellie ~

I glanced at myself in the mirror, I still looked ok even though I’d been dancing like a mad person in the club for the last 3 hours and was totally off my face. I had on a short black dress that belonged to my best friend, it was too tight across the bust and showed way too much leg. I hated it when I first put it on, but to be honest, the more I drank, the more I began to like it. My long burnt auburn hair still held some of the loose curls that I’d teased in with curlers earlier in the night. I rubbed a finger under each of my green eyes to wipe away the slight mascara smudges. I smiled, yep I still looked ok even though I’d just thrown up in the toilet behind me.

I couldn’t hold my drink and even though I wasn’t old enough to be in the club anyway, I’d been dragged out by my best friend Stacey Gordon and a few of my other friends, because I was trying to get over a broken heart, apparently. I actually think my friends were more upset about it than I was though. I’d been with Mark for almost 3 years and we were the golden couple in our school. He was the school’s ‘IT’ boy, and apparently I was the schools ‘IT’ girl, so it was a match made in heaven, well that’s what everyone told me anyway.

To be honest, he was an asshole who treated me like crap when no one was around. He had a bad temper, he never hit me or anything but he got jealous easily, he didn’t really like me to go out without him. He was the sweetest boy when we first got together, but after about a year he started telling me what to wear, who I could talk to, where I could go. He was controlling and possessive and last night when he screamed at me for apparently talking to some other guy that I hadn’t even met, a couple of people saw. So I took my chance and broke it off with him in front of them, knowing that it would soon be round the school and he wouldn’t be able to pressure me into going back with him.

Stacey walked into the bathroom, “Ellie Pearce! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said drunkenly.

I giggled, “Really? I wasn’t in that guys mouth, huh?” I teased, rolling my eyes.

She chuckled, “Surprisingly not, but I had a good look.” She winked at me. I shook my head at her, she liked to hook up a lot, I on the other hand, had only ever been with Mark and had never even kissed anyone else.

“Don’t let me drink anymore, I just threw up.” I winced and put on some more lip gloss,

“Ew! Here, have a mint.” She giggled, passing me a packet, I gratefully took one trying to get the horrible taste out of my mouth.

“Come on, come and dance. Maybe you should hook up with someone tonight, take your mind off Mark, it’ll help you get over him,” she said sympathetically. I’d never told anyone what Mark was really like, so everyone really did think we were the perfect couple, so she really did think I was devastated.

“Ok I’ll dance, but I’m not hooking up with anyone,” I replied, pushing her towards the door.

“Whatev’s. I’m thirsty lets get another drink, then we can go find the others.” She grabbed my hand as we walked out of the bathroom.

As soon as the door opened the music was crazy loud, it was dark, hot and really crowded. I was blindly being led along by Stacey, and finally, after two ass slaps and a suggestive comment, we made it through the crowd to the bar.

Stacey grinned wickedly at me before turning to the bar, “Hi, can I get four vodka shots?” she shouted to the barman, who was completely checking her out. Stacey was what you’d call a

‘stunner’. She had long natural blonde hair, blue eyes and legs that seemed to go on forever, she models part time and actually made good money from it too.

“You can get anything you want,” he replied grinning, she leant in suggestively and started flirting with him.

I turned away and started to look around the packed club, I wasn’t interested in listening to her exchange, she’d already dumped me three times tonight to make out with different guys. I didn’t mind though, she really was a great friend, and I wouldn’t change her for the world.

I felt a nudge on my arm and turned back to see her handing me two tall glasses instead of shot glasses. “What’s this? I thought you were getting shots,” I shouted over the banging music.

“They
are
shots. The very kind barman made them into doubles, free of charge,” she said, winking at me.

I chuckled and shook my head, “You’re dangerous.” I downed one of the glasses straight away. I felt it burn down my throat all the way down to my stomach, making me shudder and grimace.

“I hope that’s not your sex face,” a guy said in my ear. I looked up to see a guy of about 25ish, he was quite good looking I guess, if you like the older guy look.

“Well you won’t find out,” I said smirking and turning to grab Stacey’s hand to pull her away, but she was too busy chatting up the barman again. Damn it.

“My names Sam, you’ll be screaming it later.” He smirked and winked at me, as he put his hand on the small of my back leaning in. I could smell the alcohol on his breath.

Yuk, as if! “I don’t think so bud, but thanks for the offer,” I replied, shrugging and cringing away from his hand.

He laughed, “You’re feisty. What’s your name? I like a challenge.” He grinned at me wickedly, obviously not knowing how to take a hint.

“Look guy, I’m not interested, so just go find another girl to flirt with, ok?” I asked frowning.

He laughed and stepped closer to me making me step back from his closeness. “Don’t be like that, you’re in a bad mood, I could make you feel better,” he flirted, looking down at my chest. I looked around uncomfortably, for some sort of escape plan but Stacy was still leaning over the bar chatting to the barman animatedly.

Suddenly an arm went around my shoulder. “Hey babe, there you are. Sorry I’m late,” said a sexy voice.

I looked up and I swear my heart stopped, the guy was the sexiest thing I had ever seen in my life.