Body Packaging #15: Asleep At The Death Wheel

Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills

“Get your motherfuckin’ ass back in the car. Now!” Veronica Walters pressed her revolver’s muzzle into Sidney Martels’ right temple. “By the way, in case you’re wondering, this is definitely not a stage prop. It’s real and I know how to use it.”

Sidney Martel, or the individual who was playing him, showed no fear as he watched his captor navigating Rodeo Drive inside her cobalt blue Mercedes 560 SL while simultaneously aiming her gun at him. “You should have learned from your sister. She was ten times better at this than you’ll ever be. And she’s six feet under.”

Veronica switched hands so that her right hand was free. She punched her passenger in the balls. “If you don’t tell me everything you know about what’s going on, you’re gonna wish you were with her.”

“You can’t win Veronica. We’re everywhere. And we all have understudies. Hundreds of them.” It was the first time one of them had admitted that they were actually professional impersonators. “As a matter of fact, there’s already one assigned to play your sister.”

The last comment hit Veronica like a ton of bricks. “Dede?” That woman who had been there to save her life. She might have been one of them. Just like the man playing Philippe.  There was no one left in the world she could trust. They all worked for them.  Whoever the fuck them really was.

Veronica’s steering wheel began swerving violently as she realized that she was losing control of her car. “What the hell is happening to my car?”

“Sidney’s voice began changing as he realized that he was nearing the end of his performance. “My time on this stage is coming to an end. My mission was to make sure that you are taken out of the equation once and for all.”

Veronica struggled to avoid colliding with an oncoming truck. “Why me?  What the fuck do they want from me?”

“You know too much. And we don’t know what your sister told you before her death. We can’t risk disrupting the grand plan. My life is inconsequential.” Sidney pulled a pen from the inside of his suit jacket. He clicked its top and suddenly a thick white gas began to seep out.

“It’s not enough that I can’t steer the car. Now you’re gonna poison me too?” Veronica took her handbag from under her seat and smashed the actor over the head with it. She sensed that the gas was making her body very tired.

“Here. Put this on your face.” Veronica thought she might be hallucinating as she heard a detached voice coming from behind her seat.

“Am I dreaming?” She placed the mask over her face and suddenly she felt the strength reenter her body.

“It’s me, Dede. I’ve come to get you.”  Dede struggled to pull the car over and opened the driver’s door so that the two of them could escape.

“Dede?” Veronica thought about what the phony Sidney had said. She wondered. Was this just another actor pretending to be part of her past so that they could finally finish her off?

©  Jennifer Rush 2014. All Rights Reserved.