Leaking Consequences
“I have to pull over,” said Ben, eyes darting between the road and the gauges of his car.
“Very funny,” said Veronica, sitting in the passenger seat, “but I’m not in the mood for jokes right now. I just want to go home and take a hot ba–”
Ben interrupted her and said, “I’m not joking.”
“Wha–what? What?” said Veronica.
“The engine is overheating,” said Ben as he pulled off to the side of the road, put the car in park, and shut it off.
“Can’t you fix it?” said Veronica, grabbing Ben’s shoulder and shaking him a little as if that would get the car moving again.
“It needs coolant,” said Ben.
“So give it coolant,” said Veronica.
“I don’t have any left,” said Ben. “You used the last I had. I was hoping my car would last at least until the morning but…”
“Wait…“ said Veronica. “You knew your car was fucked up this whole time?”
“It’s not fucked up,” said Ben. “It’s just leaking coolant. That's why I had that bottle in my trunk.”
“Oh my God,” said Veronica. “And you didn’t think to tell me this ahead of time?”
“I don’t like broadcasting that my car is messed up,” said Ben. “Sorry.”
“Well, the highway is right there,” said Veronica. “Bringing me home would only take like 15-20 minutes. Won’t it last that long?”
“The engine could explode,” said Ben.
“Jesus!” said Veronica. “What are we going to do?”
“I’ll walk to the nearest gas station and buy some coolant,” said Ben. “I’m pretty sure I saw one a little ways back there.”
“Okay, make it fast,” said Veronica.
“You’re not coming?” said Ben.
“No,” said Veronica.
“Really?” said Ben. “I would think with what’s in the trunk –”
Veronica interrupted him and said, “I won’t have to worry about it if you would just hurry up.”
“Well, can I borrow some money?” said Ben.
“For what?” replied Veronica.
“For the coolant,” said Ben.
“Oh my God,” said Veronica. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Shaking her head in defeat, she pulled out her wallet.
“20 bucks should be good,” said Ben. “It’s not like you’ll miss it.”
“It’s coming out of what I owe you,” said Veronica. She removed a $20 bill from her wallet, but before Ben could grab it, the car was flooded with red and blue flashing lights. Ben and Veronica turned around and saw a police cruiser parking behind them.
“Shit, shit, shit,” spat out Veronica, turning back around in her seat.
“It’ll be alright,” said Ben. “Just let me do the talking.”
“What if he wants to look in the trunk?” said Veronica.
“He’s not going to look in the trunk,” said Ben.
“But –” started Veronica, but she was interrupted by Ben, who was staring in the rearview mirror.
“Shut up. He’s coming,” said Ben.
“Don’t tell me to shut –” started Veronica, but she was interrupted once again. This time by the cop knocking on Ben’s window.
The knocking caused both Ben and Veronica to jerk a little in their seats. Immediately after their initial shock, Ben and Veronica’s attention whipped to Veronica’s window, where a blinding white light shot into the vehicle.
There was more knocking on Ben’s window, so he turned the key in the ignition to accessory mode and rolled down his window. Once Ben had the window all the way down, he heard the cop on his side say, “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to roll down your window too.” Without taking her eyes off the dash, Veronica pushed the button and rolled down her window.
“What seems to be the problem here?” continued the cop on Ben’s side.
“Oh, there’s no problem, officer,” said Ben.
“Really?” said the cop on Ben’s side. “Then why don’t you tell me what you’re doing parked on the side of the road like this with a young woman, car off and in the dark.” To Veronica, he said, “You think your mother would approve of what you’re out doing tonight, ma’am?”
Keeping her eyes on the dash, Veronica couldn't help but smirk and said, “I don’t think she would.”
“We’re just sitting here,” said Ben. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Really?” said the cop on Ben’s side. “That young woman has money in her lap, and I’m supposed to believe nothing is going on.” Ben and Veronica looked down at the $20 bill sitting in Veronica’s lap. “Take out the keys and step out of the vehicle, sir. You too, ma’am,” continued the cop, as both cops took a step back from the car.
Ben put his hand on the key and turned it, starting the engine. “Hey!” yelled one of the cops, possibly both, as Ben continued to put the car in drive and slammed his foot on the gas pedal.
“What the hell are you doing?” screamed Veronica, as Ben raced onto the interstate on-ramp.
“They were going to look in the trunk,” said Ben.
“You don’t know that,” said Veronica.
“Yes, I do,” replied Ben.
“There’s no way you –” started Veronica, but she stopped when they heard a loud pop and saw smoke coming up from under the hood of the car, blocking their view of the road. Ben did his best to pull to the side of the road and scraped the car against the concrete median in the process. Smoke continued to billow out from the hood as red and blue flashing lights appeared behind them.
Once Ben and Veronica were handcuffed in the back of the police cruiser, Officer Harrigan and Officer Wells searched through the inside of Ben’s car.
“That girl,” said Officer Wells in contemplation. “Wasn’t that call in Cedar Hills from a Veronica Holloway?”
“No,” said Officer Harrigan as he was finishing up searching through the glove box. He put the owner’s manual and a roll of duct tape back inside, closed it, and continued on to say, “That was a Victoria Holloway, and she was 47, not 22.”
“Think they might be related?” asked Officer Wells as Officer Harrigan searched through the center console.
“What, you’ve never met a Holloway before?” asked Officer Harrigan.
“Not since middle school,” said Officer Wells. “I don’t think it’s too unreasonable to think that they might know each other.”
“Do you really think this girl would be hooking if she was related to someone living in Cedar Hills?” said Officer Harrigan.
“Maybe,” said Officer Wells.
Officer Harrigan shut the center console and shook his head with a smirk before saying, “Did you check the back thoroughly? I don’t want to hear later how we missed something.”
“I checked it,” said Officer Wells.
“You sure?” said Officer Harrigan.
“I just said I checked it,” said Officer Wells.
“Okay,” said Officer Harrigan. “Pop the trunk. The tow truck should be getting here soon.”
Holding up the keys, Officer Wells said, “You don’t pop the trunks on these old birds.” The two cops walked to the trunk of the car, and Officer Wells slid in the key. “What do you think is going to happen with that woman in Cedar Hills?”
“Who knows until they find her,” said Officer Harrigan. “But in cases like that, they usually turn up sooner than later.”
Officer Wells turned the key and opened the trunk. The two cops looked down at a dead middle-aged woman with vomit on her face and shirt, her wrists and ankles bound by duct tape, and an empty container of coolant by her side.