Amber & Racquel: Chasing Happily Ever After - Softcover

Bingham, A. R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1524623830 ISBN 13: 9781524623838

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2016

Synopsis

Amber, a strong-willed and quick-thinking young woman, is receiving an early release from the West Grovefield Juvenile Detention Facility. Upon her early exit, she meets Racquel, a no-nonsense and feisty companion. They travel together with two main objectives—getting revenge and finding happily ever after. 

During their travels, they run into trouble—trouble that ends in stolen cash, a high-speed car chase, and dead bodies. With Racquel by her side, Amber chases her dream, the dream of getting all the things she had ever wanted and living out her happily ever after. Can they get to their destination before her past and the cops catch up to them? Or will the price of happily ever after be too high for Amber and Racquel to pay?

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Amber & Racquel

Chasing Happily Ever After

By A. R. Bingham

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2016 A. R. Bingham
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5246-2383-8

CHAPTER 1

Running in the Dust

The dark-green and rusted Chevy sped down the single-lane highway. Thick clouds of dust kicked up past the tires as the car swerved and blazed through the scalding desert. Inside, Amber and Racquel were panic-stricken at the sight of the three black SUVs in tight pursuit. Back in the city, they saw the SUVs tailing them and thought that they could lose them. As Amber drove, she made sharp turns onto residential streets, then onto side streets, and eventually — much to Racquel's discouragement — she hit the freeway. Amber took a freeway exit that led to a small town — and then, to a nearly deserted highway. That's when the SUVs began picking up speed and closing in on them. With the SUVs hot on their tail, Amber floored the gas pedal and sped down the deserted highway into the open desert.

Amber gasped for air through the hot and dusty wind that blew through the car windows. Beads of sweat dampened her forehead as she gripped the steering wheel. She kept looking back through the rearview mirror at the danger that closed in. She silently prayed that the three black SUVs would somehow blow their tires and just topple over one another in a huge accident.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Raquel repeated as she stared intensely into the side-view mirror at the approaching vehicles.

"I told you! I told you, Amber! I said not the freeway. There's nowhere to go on the freeway! Didn't I say that? You never fuckin' listen," Racquel complained as she loaded bullets into the two revolvers sitting in her lap.

"Look, it's not like I had that many options! I am trying to get away, Racquel!" Amber hollered as she shifted anxiously in her seat.

"Yeah, you tryin', and you ain't succeedin'," Racquel mumbled as she glanced over her shoulder at the SUVs.

The black trucks began closing in on the rusted Chevy. Then, without a moment's warning, the Chevy was sprayed with bullets. Amber and Racquel ducked as the bullets whizzed past their heads and shattered the back window and side-view mirrors.

"Ahhh!" Amber screamed as they swerved off the highway and onto the dirt alongside the road.

"See, we shouldn't have gotten on that damn freeway," Racquel said, agitated.

"Look, you're not drivin', so shut the fuck up!" she yelled. " It's gonna be okay ... we can get outta this ... I just need some mood music." Amber reached out to the radio and sifted through a few stations until she found the one she wanted. House music blared through the speakers, and Amber immediately began to calm. Amber clutched the steering wheel and cut back onto the highway again with full force and determination in her eyes. She felt the music and began to release all of the anxiety from the chase. Amber was now fully focused on the getaway and was not going to let the SUVs catch up to them.

As the bullets continued to destroy the interior, Racquel was only annoyed by the music that filled the car. Though she felt Amber was looking a lot more collected, she thoroughly despised house music.

"Seriously?" She glared at Amber.

"How about you do something about this shit," Amber cried, pointing at the back of the vehicle.

"With pleasure," Racquel replied as she leaned out of the window, both guns in hand, and aimed. She held her breath, fired off six shots, and quickly slid back into her seat while staring out of the back window.

The shots hit the driver of the first SUV. As the first truck swerved, the second couldn't get away and collided with the first. The accident caused a fiery explosion, and the third SUV was traveling too fast to avoid crashing into the accident before them. The third truck rammed into the first two and mercilessly tumbled over them, throwing the driver and two other passengers out of the SUV on its path.

Amber slammed on the brakes, bringing the Chevy to a screeching halt ahead of the collision behind them. They stared in horror through their shattered back window. The fire, the crushed SUVs, the thrown bodies — this was not at all what they had expected.

Silence.

Amber finally disrupted the silence between them. "Nice fuckin' shot."

"Thanks?" Raquel replied. She had expected to hit someone, but the accident that she witnessed was not what she had imagined.

They both slowly got out of the Chevy and approached the wreckage. As they walked down the highway, the smell of burnt metal and charred flesh filled the air. They passed pieces of SUV and bloody body parts before finally reaching the third SUV. The SUV. But no one was inside — no one alive, at least.

Suddenly, a sound — faint, but audible enough to follow. The sound led them back down the highway along the dirt beside the road. And there he was.

"Ya know, you're not gonna get far that way," Racquel stated as they approached Seth's mangled body. Amber and Racquel watched as he tried desperately to drag himself away, crawling forcefully and with such concentration. They stood over him, watching him with hearts of indifference. Then Racquel aimed her revolver at Seth and pulled back the hammer.

"Wait!" Amber said.

"What?" Raquel rolled her eyes.

"We're killing him? Maybe we should think about this a minute —"

"Think about this?" Racquel interrupted. "This muthafucka was shooting at us about five minutes ago!" Racquel was exasperated. She despised loose ends. Especially loose ends that ended with bullets flying past her head and violent car crashes. She believed that killing Seth was the next logical step.

"Yeah, but this was supposed to be about the money, right? No more dead bodies; we agreed earlier," Amber reminded.

Racquel thought a minute about the events that occurred that day and the night before. Quite a bit of violence had occurred, but it was all in an effort to steal the cash that they currently had in their possession — all in the effort of attaining their happily ever after. Racquel rationalized the violence as simply being thorough. Tying loose ends. She rolled her eyes before she responded, "Well, we've been making exceptions to that rule so far. We might as well finish this off."

She retook her aim at Seth when Amber interrupted again. "Wait!"

"What now?"

"Are you sure about this?" Amber said with sincerity. She really didn't have any issue with taking care of the last obstacle in their path. To her, it was a thorn in their side that needed to be dealt with eventually anyway. Amber just wasn't sure about Seth. Suddenly, Seth represented more than she had anticipated. When she looked at him, she couldn't help thinking about Max. The striking resemblance between them was bewildering. She still hadn't forgiven herself for what happened to Max, and now, as they stood over Seth's battered body, she was transported to that place three years ago — back to the place where she silently begged for his forgiveness as she watched him die.

Amber suddenly realized the damage they had done. She saw the car crash, she saw Seth lying before them bleeding to death, and she remembered all that they had done. She suddenly didn't want to continue down this dark path. Amber and Racquel had built this crazy life together, and Amber knew it wouldn't be a good life if they became cold-blooded killers in the process. This had to stop — right?

Though Amber hadn't stated her concerns about this next move to Racquel out loud, somehow Racquel knew what she was thinking. She knew that Amber was still trying to let go of her past. She understood that process completely. But Racquel felt that this was not the time to grow a conscience. Yes, they did some ugly things, but Racquel saw the world as an ugly place. So what was the difference? She believed killing to be a necessary evil in the career choice that they had embarked upon. So Racquel took her time when she reminded Amber.

"You said you wanted to live happily ever after and all of that shit, right?"

Amber's eyes widened as she paused a moment. She had only really considered in the abstract the cost of living the lavish life that she believed they deserved. She considered the violence in the process, but not this much — not so many dead bodies. But she did want that life. More than anything, and she completely agreed to do whatever it took to get that life — even if that meant finally killing tired and mangled Seth. The final piece in laying her past to rest. Burying Seth, and burying Max in the process. If this was the bridge that she had to cross, so be it. She would run across without turning back.

"Yeah, I do," she replied in renewed confidence.

"Me too," Racquel said, and with one fluid movement she turned, looked Seth in the eyes, and pulled the trigger.

CHAPTER 2

The Beginning

"How do you feel about the progress you have made while you have been here, Amber?" Dr. Marilyn Shaw asked. It was the last therapy session that she and Amber would have before her release from the West Grovefield Juvenile Detention Center. Amber's behavior wasn't stellar over the past three years, but with the help of Dr. Shaw, she was able to talk about a lot of the things that troubled her.

"I guess it's good," Amber absentmindedly responded. Though this was the end of her stint at West Grove, she couldn't let go of the unfinished business that she would run into once she was out. She and Luke had a deal that went south. That was what led her to juvy in the first place. She hadn't forgotten about Luke; actually; she thought about him every day while she was there. She had thought about all of the things that she would do to track him down. All of the things she would do once she found him. All of the things she would do to get rid of him.

"It's good? Is it really? Tell me what's on your mind, Amber," Dr. Shaw inquired. She was concerned about Amber — more concerned about her than most of her patients — and wanted her to acclimate well to society once she was released.

"Um ... look, Doctor, I am a little nervous about fuckin' up again and ending up in prison. But I am going to try to do the right things. Make better choices, ya know? All I can do is try," she shared. Although, she knew exactly what she was going to do when she was released. Would that lead her to prison? Absolutely ... if she got caught. But she had no intention of doing that.

"Okay. I just want you to remember that you are very capable of living a fulfilling life outside of the life of crime. You are so young; you still have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do and make the changes you need to become a whole person again. I recommend that you see someone once you get settled back at home. Here are some doctors that I would recommend. They are in your area," Dr. Shaw shared.

Amber took the sheet of paper and gave her a gracious nod. Of all the people that she had encountered while at West Grove, Dr. Shaw was the only one she would miss. She had no hidden agenda, no sour expectations. She was the only one that was actually nice to her; something she had not been exposed to in a long while. It was a sad truth that while she was hanging out with friends who turned out to be enemies, lovers who turned out to be villains, and relatives who turned out to be extorters, she couldn't remember anyone who was ever nice to her. Amber's life had to change ... well, right after she dealt with Luke.

Their last session was finally over, and though it wasn't customary for Dr. Shaw to hug her patients, she reached out to hug Amber. As Amber returned the hug, Dr. Shaw silently prayed that Amber would be different — that she would be one of the lucky ones. She could completely change her life if she just takes my advice, she thought. After a moment, she reluctantly released Amber, and a guard escorted Amber out to her cell.

* * *

Why does lunchtime always have to be a pain in my ass? Racquel thought to herself as she waited in the lunch line. There was never a dull moment in the West Grove cafeteria. It was where everything happened — the break-ups for those in relationships, the fights with the rival gangs, and the drug deals for the meth heads and stoners. The cafeteria was where everything was going to happen, and to Racquel it was the most irritating thing about this place.

Racquel didn't like attention, or talking, or people, for that matter. She didn't necessarily enjoy her experience at West Grove. But she did like the fact that she was not bothered. She was a loner, and rather enjoyed her life that way. So whenever lunchtime came around, she became irritable. So many people talking and yelling over each other, she just couldn't stand it. Once she finally got her tray of food, she made her way to the back of the cafeteria, to the table farthest away from anyone. This ritual allowed her to at least eat in some version of peace in the midst of the cafeteria's chaos.

Amber was similar to Racquel in the respect of preferring a table to herself in the cafeteria. She didn't like talking to people, particularly those involved in drugs. After she had kicked her habit, she vowed to herself that she would never go back to that life. While she was out, though, she did make a small name for herself, so it was always important for her to keep a low profile while at West Grove. She needed to avoid any confrontations, especially now with her release only a few days away.

Amber wasn't very hungry, but grabbed an apple anyway and sat at a vacant table on the east end of the cafeteria. She was a few bites into her apple when she paused to witness a fight break out in front of her. A blonde-haired girl accused a brunette girl of stealing money from her bunk.

"I know you did it, bitch! So don't even fuckin' lie!" the blonde girl hollered.

"I don't know what the fuck you talkin' 'bout bitch! Now get the fuck out my face!" the brunette girl yelled.

The blonde stood nose to nose with the brunette and screamed,

"I know you took my shit, bitch! Pay up, or I'ma beat that ass!" she threatened.

"Well, somebody gettin' an ass whoopin' today, but it ain't gon' be me, 'cause I ain't got shit for you! If you knew better, you would ask the dumb fuck you call yo' friend. She was flossin' your shit around yesterday talkin' 'bout the dumb bitch she got it from! I guess that was you, huh, dumb bitch?" the brunette laughed.

The blonde girl swung her fists viciously at the brunette girl. After missing her repeatedly, the blonde picked up a tray on the nearby table and swung it at the brunette, catching her shoulder. The brunette screamed and turned back to lunge at the blonde, but immediately stopped in her tracks. At the entrance of the room she caught the eye of Sergeant Michaels. The sergeant glared at the two girls with enough intensity to reprimand them both from the far side of the cafeteria. The blonde turned back to the brunette and whispered, "This ain't over, bitch."

As both girls walked out, Amber turned to see what led to the abrupt end of their confrontation. She turned to spot Sergeant Michaels. Her effort to quickly avoid him was thwarted when he made eye contact with her. His insidious grin sent a disgusting shiver down her spine as she turned to avoid looking at him. She knew he was going to approach her again. She had done her best to avoid him through her entire stint at West Grove, but now she was going to have to engage. She didn't want to risk him sabotaging her glorious exodus in a few days.

Sergeant Michaels slowly approached Amber with the measure of a predator on the hunt for its prey. Many guards worked at West Grove, more sleazy guards than valiant ones. But of all the guards, both valiant and sleazy alike, Sergeant Michaels was the guard most feared. Not because he boasted about his sexual exploits with the juveniles, or because he was the sole distributor of all of the drugs at West Grove. It's not even because he allegedly beat one of the juveniles to death because of a miscommunication last year. It's mostly because he remained indifferent to regulations, laws, and authority. At West Grove, Sergeant Michaels was the law. He was judge, jury, and executioner, and the staff and juveniles all knew this to be true.

He walked toward Amber with a sparkle in his eye. He knew that she knew what he wanted, and this knowledge made him excited. A few teens were yelling at each other in the lunch line, and before they could turn around, Sergeant Michaels stepped behind them,

"Shut the fuck up," he told them. Fear stunned the teens as they hurriedly placed food on their trays and scurried off into the large room.

The sergeant turned his attention back to the matter at hand, Amber. He stood behind her and slowly leaned over her shoulder.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Amber & Racquel by A. R. Bingham. Copyright © 2016 A. R. Bingham. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1524623830
• ISBN 13: 9781524623838
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 180