The next ploy from Frickel played out early in the morning.
“We need to stop. I have to piss.”
Veronica rolled her eyes and looked over to Violet, then over her shoulder at Frickel.
“We are only stopping once. You sure you want this to be your one?”
“I know my rights. I have to piss. Food would be good too. Any fast food place would work for both.”
“We will see what we can do.”
Twenty miles later, Veronica saw what she wanted; a small interstate rest stop. There was no way in hell she was unlocking him in a populous area.
“Alright, we are stopping here. The rules will be as follows. The vehicle stops. I go in. She goes in when I come out. Then we unlock you. You go in, do your business, come out, we lock you back in the van. When we get to someplace for food, we will go through the drive through. We will then stop at the next interstate crossover, open the passenger compartment and give you your food. We are not opening your section inside a populated area. End of story.”
“That seems a bit excessive. Look, just swing into a burger joint and we can do it all in one shot!” There was a little bit of desperation in his voice now. Veronica continued signaling for the exit.
There was only one other vehicle in the lot. A 18-wheeler was parked in the dedicated truck area. Veronica pulled to the curb closest the rest room door. Veronica and Violet immediately got out and closed the door. Veronica went around the van and joined Violet about twenty feet from the van. With their backs to the van, they could finally talk some without Frickel seeing or hearing what was said.
“I thought he was never going to say something! I’m about to bust! You stand here with the street lamp behind you. It will keep you in the shadows and looking more ominous. The longer he thinks your Paige, the better.”
“We will talk when he goes in”
Veronica went in. She was gone for at least ten minutes. Violet stood in her best ‘Paige’ pose, the shadows draped over her face. She could see Frickel staring hard at her, watching the way she moved. She knew he was looking for evidence of damage from his attack. She knew she was wigging him out and would continue to do so whenever she could.
Veronica finally came out, so it was Violet’s turn. She went in and offloaded her bladder. She wasn’t going to admit it to Veronica, but she was also about to bust. She was glad to empty out. She felt he was going to try something and she wanted something as sensitive as a full bladder to not be an available target. The camera showed her checking and touching up any of her makeup and hair. It was all still good.
Violet came out of the female’s bathroom and immediately went to the male’s rest room to get the lay of the land in case they had to go in after him. Returning to Veronica, she nodded to her. They were ready.
At the van, Violet stood back while Veronica opened the door. She leaned in, unlocking the chains from the floor ring.
“Alright, Frickel, Let’s go.” She stepped back out of reach.
He started walking towards the restroom. He stopped at the door.
“You gotta unlock the waist chain, otherwise I can’t drop my trousers.” He pulled on the chains, making a show of how restrictive it was.
“You said you had to piss. Fish that tiny worm through your fly.”
“If this is my only stop, I need to take a shit as well.” He tugged at the chains again.
“Fine. I unlock, you go in, you step back out the door, I relock the belly chain, we get back in the van. You give me any problems, you will greatly regret it.” Veronica’s voice was stern and brooks no deviation.
Violet was watching closely as she said this. She saw Frickel briefly smile. It wasn’t a friendly thing.
After Frickel went in, Violet and Veronica stood together talking quietly.
“Rape my six year old son? No more binging SVU and Criminal whatchamacallit.”
Veronica chuckled. “I was thinking of having him rape your dog, but I decided that would be a little too far.”
“You know he’s going to try something.”
“Yeah. The question is, how bad to we hurt him when we have to stop him?”
“That’s up to him. I’m not going to let him hurt me to keep him alive.”