"I'm not quirky! I just like the curvy shape."

☆

Her brain felt like it was wired to some kind of machine. A machine which wouldn't let her eat, sleep or come down from this intense state she had found herself feeling. It seemed that Remi didn't technically need to be there. In the back seat of the blacked out vehicle in the morning hours, with the sun about to make an appearance. Chanelle had gotten what she had wanted from her. The confirmation, her assurance of her allegiances. Remi wouldn't involve the police. Ms Matheson even knew which car to pursue and the direction, with a little help from the not so law abiding police, yet although she was unshackled, there of her own free will, Remi wondered if she, in some way, was also being held hostage. Not with a gun or ropes, but more with the power of manipulation. Was she overthinking this or was it just her exhausted mind? Had she made the wrong decision in an attempt to keep her brother safe?

The vehicle begins to pull over to the roadside, and causes Chanelle to lean forwards to tap on the back of the driver's seat. "Anders. Why are we stopping?" 

"Just ahead Miss. This is the location." He reports, directing her gaze out of the front windscreen.

She squints her eyes a fraction, just about seeing in the distance, a car sitting stationary in a small layby. "Is that your car?" 

Remi briefly looks at Chanelle's profile before following her gaze into the distance. "Well…it's a beetle." She mumbles. "But it may not be mine." 

Chanelle snorts out a laugh of amusement. She turns to look at Remi, who wasn't sure what was so funny. "Darling. No one chooses to purchase those hideous bugs unless they want to be quirky. You are one of those people."

"I'm not quirky! I just like the curvy shape." Remi tries to defend. 

"Well at least it's easy to locate." She sits back in her seat. "The door please Anders. We need to investigate." 

The driver nods as he looks at Ms Matheson in his rear view mirror before undoing his own seat belt and opening his car door. Soon he is at the side of his boss' door, as he pulls the handle to open it. She swings her legs around as her stiletto heels hit the ground where tarmac meets gravel. The door closes behind her and Remi is left in the quiet of the car. She watches as the driver heads back around to her side and proceeds to open her door. She looks up at the man with surprise. "Am…am I getting out too?"

"Yes miss." The man replies with a smile. 

"But she said, you need to go and investegate…."

"She said, 'we' as in you and me." Comes the rather impatient voice of Chanelle. 

"But I'm in my night clothes…" 

"Jesus!" Remi can hear the now unmistakable sound of the female's heels as they make their way to her door. " Is that all you care about? I thought I was the one made of stone. Your brother has gone missing thanks to my idiot of a sibling and all you can complain about is what you are wearing? Just get out of the car and come with me." 

Remi looks down at herself, pulling her dressing gown around her frame a little more. She stares at her pink sliders with hearts on them before looking back up at the other woman. "I care about my brother. Don't question it." She steps out of the car, again doing her best to meet the gaze but falling short. She then begins to head in the direction of the still beetle but is again pulled back by Chanelle. 

"Wait. They may still be inside." She whispers. "Let's give them a surprise." Chanelle subconsciously takes Remi by the wrist as the other female is pulled along behind, with little opportunity to protest. Remi looks back to see Anders getting back into the driver's seat. 

"Why not let him go first?" Remi asks as she turns back to the front. 

This causes Chanelle to stop, so fast in fact that Remi nearly crashes into her side. "Do you think I cannot handle myself, or my brother? I know him better than anyone. He will have no choice but to see reason once he sees me….unless you want to take the lead?" 

"Rio doesn't have a gun in his possession. The most dangerous thing he owns is a foolish mind. So far that hasn't killed anyone."  Though in her mind she knew he had come close. Remi purposely stands a bit further behind, as if to make a point that she was most definitely not wanting to play the daring heroine. 

Chanelle looks back toward the car, her heels trying to be as silent as they can be on the gravel. They are now close enough to the car to see that it was indeed empty of any passenger. "Where are they?" Chanelle drops the hold on Remi's arm as she looks around her. She heads towards the woodland area next to the layby. "Fuck these shoes." She complains as she sees the muddied ground in front of her. Now sounding as shallow as Remi a moment ago.

"The keys."

"What do you mean the keys?" Chanelle turns to Remi, who was gazing through the driver's window. 

"The keys are still in here." She tries the door and it opens. 

Chanelle looks on amused. "You cannot even give it away." She utters. But Remi is not paying attention as she gets inside, wasting no time in switching on the ignition and illuminating the road ahead. Chanelle is quick to open the passenger side of the door and get in. She turns to Remi. "Do you want a neon sign to say that we are here? Turn off the lights!" 

"Look." Remi says. Her voice is rather calm as she looks at something on the road. 

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" 

"Can you see the spill? Diesel oil."  

Chanelle takes in the black puddle on the ground before giving Remi a sceptical glare. "So…."

"It's fresh. It has to be as it was raining earlier and that spill looks unaffected. That means something else was parked here and I wonder if they saw something. Or…"

"If they hitched a ride…"