Chapter 3
Allie
After spending hours arguing with the fire marshal, the Wildcat was slapped with a fine.
“You all keep having violations,” the fire marshal said sternly. “The noise complains, the trash your patrons leave outside. Y’all need to clean up your act.”
After they finally finished cleaning and prepping for the next evening, Allie washed her face then sat in her car and logged onto her phone for her next job, driving for a ridesharing service.
“You can take me home, right?” Stacy asked her.
“Sure,” Allie said, “but if a ride comes through I have to grab it,” she warned her roommate.
“It’s super early so there probably won’t be anyone needing a ride yet,” Stacy yawned.
“I hope so. I’m beat.”
As Allie pulled out onto the main road to take them to the small apartment they rented, a notification came through on her phone.
Pick up at camp Les DesChamps.
She accepted the ride
“That’s odd,” Allie said, taking a sharp turn to drive towards the base.
“I wonder who needs to be picked up at this hour,” Stacy said, snuggling down in her seat. Allie opened the windows.
“Hey it’s freezing!”
“We smell like stale booze. I don’t want a bad review,” she warned. “It’s probably some officer needing to go somewhere. The last thing I need is to lose this gig.”
After presenting their IDs at the front gate, Allie drove slowly to the pickup location indicated by the blue dot on the map. They stopped in front of the barracks.
“Oh my goodness,” Stacy said sitting upright in her seat. “It’s Carter Holbrook.”
“Hi,” Stacy said as they pulled up in front of him. He had a cardboard box in his hand. Allie tapped the rideshare app.
“You want to go to New York City?” she screeched. “I have to bartend tonight. I am not driving to New York City!”
“Look here,” Carter said, opening the door and climbing into the back seat of her car. Something in the box was moving.
“Is that a rat? What is that?” Allie demanded turning around in her seat.
“Relax,” Carter told her, “This is Maggot.”
“You brought maggots into my car? Get out. Now. And cancel this ride.”
“Please?” Carter said. “I just need you to babysit my dog until I can work something out. We aren’t allowed to have pets in the barracks.”
“I’m not driving your dog to New York,” she said.
“Then put in whatever destination you want. I just need you to hold the dog for me for a couple of days. Here,” he said handing her a wad of cash. “This should cover food, vet, grooming, whatever you need. If you spend more, here is my contact info,” he said taking her phone and typing in his information. Allie raised an eyebrow.
“Just look after her, ok? Please?”
“Fine,” Allie said. “Only for a few days.”
Stacy took the box from Carter, batting her eyelashes at him. Allie hit her friend lightly on the leg as Carter scooted out of the backseat. He gave Allie a thumbs up as she drove away.
Allie took a look at the dog and said, “That is the most pathetic animal I have ever seen.”
“I think she’s a Chihuahua mix,” Stacy said. Allie changed the destination to a veterinary clinic across town. After calling to see if they would take a walk in, she and Stacy drove over.
She received a text from Carter while they sat in the waiting room.
Everything ok?
Allie wrote back,
I’m changing her name. How does Margot sound?
Carter replied,
Perfect!
“This dog is just hungry and dirty,” the vet said after looking Margot over. He pulled two ticks from behind her ear and gave Allie some flea medicine.
“Let’s go shopping!” Stacy said holding up the little dog. At the store, they filled up the cart with toys, treats, and grooming items. Stacy also found several little outfits for the dog that Allie thought were too expensive.
“We are not wasting Carter’s money on those,” Allie said with a frown as Stacy presented the pink sparkly dresses she had selected.
“Just a sweater?” Stacy pleaded. “Look, she’s cold!” Margot shivered and Allie relented.
In the car, Allie logged back into the rideshare app then decided against it and closed it. She still had all that money from Carter. It had been more than enough to cover food, bedding, and the vet bills. The leftover amount was more than what she would earn driving for the rideshare company in a week. She sighed to herself.
“What wrong?” Stacy asked as she dug through the bag of goodies they had bought for Margot.
“Just wish I was born rich is all,” Allie said as she drove them back to their apartment.
“Maybe you can land a nice officer,” Stacy said. “But not Carter. He’s mine so hands off!”
Allie laughed, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
After returning to the small apartment she shared with Stacy, Allie logged onto her computer and started working on that week’s homework for her actuarial science and statistics double major. She tried to concentrate on the complex mathematical formulas, but she kept letting herself be distracted as she perused the internet for photos and information on Carter Holbrook. There were pictures of him in his cousin’s wedding, and older pictures from his little cousins’ funeral.
Allie read that their mother, Danielle, had died a year ago. She was killed by Carter’s father when trying to kidnap Grant Holbrook, Carter’s long lost cousin.
“Their family sure is complicated,” she muttered to herself. Margot lay at her feet, fed, clean and warm. Allie reached down to pet the dog, who grumbled in her sleep.
“Glad I don’t have a family to deal with.” Allie had run away from home almost eleven years ago when she was still in high school. Her mother’s creepy husband had come into her room one night when he thought she was sleeping. She hit him in the head with a lamp, and he tried to strangle her.
There was a story in the paper the next day about a girl Allie’s age who disappeared and was found dead weeks later. The girl’s step father was arrested. It was a wakeup call as Allie didn’t want that to be her. So she stole money and packed up her things and headed east. She was going to try to go to New York City, but only made it as far as North Carolina.
“It’s nice here though,” she told Margot. “Rent is cheap, the internet is pretty fast, and the Marine Corps base means there’s always people to buy alcohol.”
It was a little lonely though. She didn’t dare date any of the Marines. They were all patrons at her bar and she had a strict rule of not dating customers. Ever. She had tried it once and it had gone horribly, terribly wrong.
She flipped back to the tab of Kate and Grant Holbrook’s elaborate wedding. Wistfully, Allie let herself daydream about becoming rich and marrying a handsome man. She would live in a beautiful house and have a fun and carefree existence and all of her problems would be solved.