Novel Excerpt Here
Chapter I: Kelly Takes a Powder
Kelly
She stood on the side of the road, needing to catch a break. She had prayed for a break, but figured God was unlikely to send down a host of angels to help her out. Still, it would be nice.
She glanced down at herself as she wondered what kind of ride she would catch and thought, “Maybe I’m not helping my case with the big guy.” She had worn her most provocative clothes, but had to admit her “most provocative” still left a lot to the imagination. A short, at least for her, red tartan skirt rose barely above her knees. And the black knit shirt was a little tight but was not low cut and didn’t threaten to reveal much.
An hour had passed since she left the woods for the road. Growing worried at the lack of cars and the growing darkness, she considered whether she would have to retreat to her makeshift camp. There wasn’t much there, just the clothes she had changed out of and the remains of her packed lunch. It may have been a mistake to sit there throughout the evening listening to the cars go by, waiting for the right time to come out and flag a ride. The right time may have come and gone.
Still, the waiting had given her the chance to argue with herself about whether she was doing the right thing. Her resolve had strengthened, surprising herself. Now she waited again, this time for the headlights she knew had to be coming soon.
“Come on, God, just one little break. I know I don’t have this all figured out, but I’m trying my best here,” she whispered. “Just a little break.”
Then she saw them, the headlights she had been waiting for. She momentarily panicked, wondering which role she was going to play: the lady in distress or the ditzy blonde looking for fun. Neither role suited her particularly well. She would just have to play it by ear. She gave a half-hearted wave to the car as it passed, then noticed it slowing down up ahead and pulling over.
“OK, here’s my chance,” she thought as she walked up to the car. “So far, so good. A Volvo. You’ve got to be OK if you drive a Volvo, right? How many serial killers worry about airbags and crumple zones? There’s probably a nice couple in there with a baby seat in the back, just going home after a movie. No worries.”
She approached the passenger side door as the window started rolling down.
Ken
He pushed the button on the machine and listened to the message again.
“Uh, hi, Ken, this is Janine. I’m here at the conference and just wondering whether Kelly has given you a call. We must have gotten separated somehow here. Not sure how that happened. Anyway, don’t want to worry you or anything. Just checking. I’ll call back in a little bit when I’ve spotted Kelly. Wait, I think I see her now. Sorry again. Bye.”
It was 3:30 now. The message was from 12:30. Why hadn’t she called back? He stood in the kitchen for a while turning the message over in his head. Best bet would be to call Kelly on her cell phone and see what was going on. He punched the speed-dial number on the phone.
“Hi, this is Kelly. Sorry I missed you. Please leave a message and I’ll call right back. Thanks, bye.”
Straight to voicemail so her cell phone was turned off. Makes sense. It would be polite to turn off cell phones during the conference and Kelly was nothing if not polite. Still, how about giving Janine a quick call, just in case. He didn’t need to look the number up in the address book.
One ring.
Two rings.
He could picture Janine sitting by Kelly quickly looking through her purse for her cell phone, mortified that she had forgotten to turn it off. “Sorry Janine,” he thought. “But you shouldn’t leave me messages like that without following up.”
“Ken, is that you?” Janine asked hurriedly.
“Yeah Janine. What’s going on? I got a little worried when you and Kelly didn’t call.”
“Listen, Ken. I know on the message I said I thought I spotted Kelly, but it wasn’t her. I went back to my seat, assuming she would show up eventually. But I just haven’t been able to find her.”
“How can you not find her? Where are you? You’re still at the convention center?”
“Yeah, we had a break between speakers at about 11:00 so Kelly and I headed for the restrooms and the gift shop. We were going to meet back at our seats at 11:30, but she didn’t show. I figured she was running a little late, but when we had our next break at 12:30 I went looking for her and that’s when I called you.”
“Where is she now? Where have you looked?”
“After I left that message and thought I spotted her, I figured the best thing would be to go back to my seat and wait for her there. I did, then the conference was over at 2:00 . . . .”
“2:00? Kelly said it wasn’t over until 5:00.”
“No, the last speaker ended at 2:00. Since then I’ve just been standing by the main entrance hoping she would see me. I tried calling her cell phone, but . . . .”
“I know. It’s turned off. I tried too. Is there anyone still there?”
“The souvenir booths are just starting to close down. There’s still a hand full of people milling around. It isn’t completely deserted.”
“All right. Go find somebody, anybody. A security guard. The event organizer. Anyone. Tell them you’re missing your friend and ask if they can make an announcement over the P.A. system and maybe do a sweep of the restrooms. Jake is due back from school any minute. I’m going to wait here until you call back. OK?”
“OK.”
“Go, Janine. Find her.”
“Right. Bye.”
“Bye.”
He put the phone down and heard the bus outside. Jake, 43 pounds of five-year-old squirminess, came bolting in the front door.
Ken took a deep breath and trying to look unconcerned, turned toward Jake.
“Hey, buddy, how was school?”
Stephen
Things were not going well. At the rate he was going, he would lose all of his customers and his job and maybe even his new car. What in the world had possessed him to buy a new Volvo? His old Accord had been just fine, even if it did have nearly 200,000 miles on it. But to sink all his savings into buying this car outright, not even saving some back for an emergency was just foolish, stupid. Especially given the state of things at work. With the new product line out and getting a chilly reception even from long-standing customers, his commission check was going to be pretty anemic for a while. At least he had kept the Accord instead of trading it in when he had bought the Volvo. He might be needing it in the future, though he knew if he sold the Volvo now he was sure to take a big hit on depreciation.
“Let me just get home and start to enjoy the weekend,” he thought as he drove down the highway. “I can’t handle much more rejection right now, thanks.”
Then he saw her on the side of the road, waving as he drove past. He couldn’t help but to start braking. He looked around. No car in sight, not much of anything in sight. The last sign of civilization he had passed was a good 10 miles back. What was she doing here? He pulled over.
Looking up in the rearview mirror, he saw her walking up the road and examining the car. Well, maybe the car was worth it after all if it helped to make a good impression on a young lady. That thought gave him a chuckle. He couldn’t imagine what the guys at the office would think if they saw him picking up a woman on the side of the road and worrying about what impression he was making on her.
As she got nearer the car, he pressed the button to roll down the window. Her face appeared, but he could not make out her features.
“Hi there,” he said. “Having some trouble?”
“Um, yeah. Is there any chance you could give me a ride?”
“Sure, I guess. I thought maybe you were having car problems, but I don’t see a car anywhere.”
He had yet to unlock the door, uncertain how to act.
“Oh, no. No car problems. I just got dropped off here and was looking for a ride.”
“Dropped off? Here? It’s the middle of nowhere.”
“All right, well, see, my boyfriend and I got in a fight, well, an argument, I guess. I told him I didn’t want to ride with him anymore and he said, ‘fine, I’ll just drop you off right here.’ And I said, ‘fine.’ I don’t think either one of us really expected it to happen. But, here I am.”
By this time she had placed her hands on the car door and he noticed her slowly placing her right hand over her left as if she were trying to cover something up.
“OK, well, no need to stand outside all night.”
He unlocked the door and noticed that she turned around quickly before climbing into the car. The glint he thought he had seen on her left hand was no longer there.
“So, where are you heading to?” he asked.
Kelly
She poked her head in the car and was instantly disappointed. No happy couple. No baby seat. Just a 30-ish looking man by himself. She couldn’t make out what he looked like, but he had a strong, deep voice when he asked her if she was having trouble.
“OK,” she thought. “I’m going with the lady in distress routine, not the bimbo routine. How can I make this sound normal—stranded in the middle of God only knows where without a car or any bags or anything but a purse?”
Then she remembered seeing a horror movie years back where the young couple had argued on a car ride and the young hunk ditched the girl on the side of the road. Of course, by the end of the movie, both had died horrible deaths at the hands of the misshapen slasher. It was worth a shot, minus the evil slasher.
She explained to Volvo-guy that she and her boyfriend had argued and she dropped him off. She tried to sound peeved, angry with the boyfriend, but confident, not scared. She wasn’t quite sure she was pulling it off. But, if nothing else, the man hadn’t driven away.
At the mention of the boyfriend, though, she suddenly remembered her rings. She had placed her hands on the car door to lean forward and chat with the guy behind the wheel. How could she have remembered everything else, but forgotten to take off her diamond engagement ring and her wedding band? She slowly moved her right hand over and placed it on her left hand.
She heard him push the button to unlock the doors as he invited her into the car. “This is it,” she thought. “Now or never.”
She quickly turned around and removed her rings, then climbed into the car.
“So, where are you heading to?” he asked.
1 Comment
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#1
Great start! Is he a slasher? Why is she in the middle of nowhere instead at her convention.
Making your reader wonder makes her want to read more.
But we haven't formally met. :) I'm an author also - love to read and write, but I'm more of the Fantasy/Adventure type (think Lord of the Rings).
although I write in many genres. You can read some of my word at http://Writing.Com/authors/armina
I saw your unanswered post on the Jimdo forum. Where is everyone here? Is this that new??
Good luck on your new novel, and I hope you get the answers to your questions!
STH www.heartcrafted.jimdo.com 
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