85...

Prior to this, in a life that seemed to be someone else’s all together, Alexis learned the ins and outs of the southern Pacific coast. At one point, the winding line between Oceanside and Long Beach was more familiar to her than the lines in the back of her hand. The knowledge never really left, but as its usefulness became less and less over time, its prominence diminished. Now, riding the curves that the Cadillac seemed to grip like a rough lover, the knowledge slowly trickled back in.
She remembered a wide variety of trips, both north and south and in varying degrees of sobriety and rage, along this long strip of road that could sometimes get so dark. She remembered how the stretch between Dana Point and T Street in San Clemente had begun to feel like the driveway of a commuter must; familiar and safe. She remembered a number of trips cruising the narrow peninsula in Newport, so many of them seeming to end just as the hours cried their dawn tears over the rocky jetty that burst from the end and the water began to magically take on the lightness of the sky.
Alexis remembered beaches that were impossible to see the long hike down to from the highway. Alexis remembered beaches that were marked from the street, but the long trek down still made them unsavory to many visitors. Alexis also remembered many beaches that began with parking lots right off of the god damned highway.
This was what she needed.
But more importantly, she needed one of these that would be fairly deserted. There were beaches that were known as being heavily patrolled by the police. It was a trade off, but possible police activity versus a number a late night beach fucks and bonfires probably worked out a little better.
The Cadillac was taking a rising curve, the asphalt following the graceful shape of the sea. She knew it before she saw it. Just on the other side of the rise, as the road began to fall once again, was a wide expanse of beach. She pulled her foot from the accelerator as she decided.
It sat fairly unaffected by the crowds in Laguna to the south. She was still a good distance from the lights and maddening riches of Corona Del Mar and on into Newport. She could see three or four bonfires scattered along the sands, but these weren't of much concern. There were close to a dozen cars in the asphalt parking lot and this was the problem. She was going to pass the parking lot's entrance in a second.
She made a quick turn in. Alexis figured that after examining the scene, if this was not a place that suited her needs, well later on down the road girlfriend. There were more beaches than this one. She could wait till north of the peninsula if necessary, but then she'd be getting closer to Huntington Beach, to Long Beach and then the LA county beaches and where there just were not the long stretches of dark and deserted. Plus the longer she stayed on the road with what was in her trunk, the greater chance she took.
The Cadillac cruised the lot at a slow speed, moving towards a group of white lines not containing cars. Without the throttled roar of the engine, Alexis could hear the surf pounding on the shore and she smiled slightly, overwhelmed by a dizzying rush of memories all falling to the fore. She pulled into a spot, turned off the engine and sat staring at the black Pacific, her eyes seemingly lost behind that wistful smile.

84...

Alexis looked out the windshield of the Cadillac, that malice kissed smile there for any of the dozens of people waltzing through the crosswalk to see if they happened to glance over. She and the car sat at a T, the canyon road finally emptying its asphalt river at the threshold of the Pacific, the dark bulk of which could be seen through the crosswalkers and across the street.
The jumble of lights and cars and scantily clad people were disorienting after all the dark emptiness and violence of the canyon. The energy of it all carried an insectile buzz which battered its thin leathery wings against the closed windows of the car. Alexis could feel the difference in pressure, she felt as if the car had been dropped into the deep. She clenched her jaw and mentally pushed out against the battering stress.
She maintained some semblance of calm, was able to keep from pressing down on the gas and mowing over the pedestrians, by focusing on the miles of inky black ahead of her. There was something about the eerie, seemingly infinite nature of it that made it seem easy to drown her anxieties in.
Those fuckers though, they leave corpses that float, corpses that come back and incriminate you.
She tapped aimlessly on the steering wheel, waiting for the light to change. She tried to dive deep into the thoughts of what needed to be done as a way to keep the car from imploding from the pressure.
She was going to have to track down Frank. She was going to have to do something to help protect him from an army she had unwittingly unleashed on him. She knew that she was possibly too late, that she was possibly walking into another trap set for her.
Alexis dropped out of her focused white noise, immediately forgot about the buzzing crush around her. Why would she put her life on the line for Frank? She didn’t have reason, but she just understood that it would happen. The two of them had an odd camaraderie that went beyond friendship, beyond conspirators. There was an understanding with Frank that she had never found elsewhere, and while she wasn’t necessarily prepared to put her life on the line, she would work pretty damn hard to make sure he wouldn’t have to put his on the line for her.
The light was getting ready to change. The automated system was blinking away the pedestrians to allow for a clear shot for cars making their turns onto the mighty coast highway. Alexis once again focused hard on the big stretch of open in front of her, searched her memory for spots along the coast that provided her what she needed.
Green fell down from the traffic signal and Alexis began moving. She honked the horn to scatter the lagging pedestrians to a few shouts and a crop of middle fingers leaping skyward. She hardly cared; she turned the beast to the right, to the north, towards San Francisco and thought about the long drive ahead.
She first had to take care of a small chore though.