Long empty roads were made to be driven upon like a race track.
This was Izzy's rather strange philosophy. She had no fear as she revved the engine and accelerated to the fastest speed she could manage. She turned up the radio, and rock music blared as she sang along with the lyrics.
Just as she was getting to the best part, the phone on her dash blinked.
It interrupted the radio and caused Izzy to slow down a bit.
"Hiya! Isadore, speaking!" she answered in the same quirky voice she used to keep herself awake at night.
Why she'd gone off to Ambervale City to get that last stock of the latest limited edition nail polish formula, she had no idea. She just felt like doing it that afternoon. Now it was almost eleven, and it was getting cold.
The news had predicted that it was going to snow sometime tomorrow, if not tonight. And Izzy did not want to be stuck in case the light snowfall turned out to be a helluva-blizzard. She hadn't even dressed properly and had yet to assemble her snow tires.
For now, all she could do was sit back and drive, and see who was calling her so late in the evening.
"Isa? What's that sound?"
Uh-oh. There was a tone in the caller's voice. One that said she was in deep trouble if she so much as said the wrong things.
Izzy gulped upon realizing who the caller was. Only one person called her by the name Isa. "Hi, Daddy. It's just the car engine."
"The car en—you're out on the road? In the middle of the night?" Mario Nacino muttered a few choice words over the phone as she kept driving.
"Daddy, I'm twenty-four years old. I'll be fine." Izzy cut him off.
She was fine. She'd lasted on her own for a long time and didn't need a keeper by the minute. She had a good job and good friends that appreciated her more than her dates and ex-boyfriends ever did.
She'd proved her independence over the years against her father that had the mentality of a monarch. What did he think she was—four? She knew he was only looking out for her, but Daddy Dearest seriously needed to get out more.
"You don't know that for sure."
Izzy rolled her eyes. Her father was way too protective, in her opinion. "Do you?"
"Don't use that sharp tongue on me, Isadore."
Izzy huffed and, to prevent another senseless bickering, went straight to the point. "So what's this call about?"
"Remember that drug den my agents uncovered a month back?" There was an ominous edge to her father's voice that she couldn't decipher. She couldn't help but think that things were about to go down in the next few days, and they were going to be more nasty than neat.
"Yeah..."
"Well, the cops raided it a week later, and one of the druggies got killed in the encounter. Fatal shot to the head. Turns out the guy has a twin brother, Oscar Romero, who's aching to get his revenge. And he's identified me as the cause of all his misfortune. I've been receiving death threats the whole week."
This news caught her attention. Usually, when Daddy called, it was about telling her to stay nice and not go off on another hair-raising scheme that made her family worry. "Freaky. Are you sure you're safe where you are?"
"Hey, I've got the best agents around. We're more concerned with you. Are you safe where you are?"
Izzy smirked. Rarely did her father ever retort to her remarks. It just showed that they shared the same genes, no matter her upbringing.
"In Towdee?" she snorted. "Of course I am. Practically nobody who's anybody knows about this town."
"We're not so sure about that. My bearer of doom mentioned your name several times in his threats. He knows you exist, and he's out for blood."
A cold shiver ran down Izzy's spine. Daddy was serious. He only used the big voice when something of his was threatened, be it his ideas or a person important to him.
"Surely, he wouldn't hurt me." Izzy licked her lips and tried to convince herself as much as her dad. "How would he even find me? I don't exactly tell strangers I have your blood running through my veins."
"Nevertheless, he knows about you. He might've sent a gunman to get you." Mario sighed and said, "Isa, I know that our relationship hasn't been the best ever since—ever since—"
"The revelation?"
"But I want you to know that you're still important to us. You're the only child we'll ever know. And even if you hate us from the bottom of your heart, we still want to protect you."
Izzy understood her father's concerns. He was trying to make up for the sad parts of her life by giving her whatever she wanted and protecting her from anything that could harm her. Her father deeply regretted giving her to someone else to be taken care of and was now trying to win her back.
But sometimes, he overdid things. "Protect me how?"
"I sent one of my agents down there?"
Izzy slammed down on the brakes, and her car almost swerved off the highway. "Your agent?! Don't you think you're going a bit overboard?"
"We want you safe," Mario replied.
"I don't need a darn babysitter. I can take care of myself!"
"Stop being your stubborn self and for once listen to reason."
"I am listening to reason. And reason says that I'm big enough to not have a nanny. I'm big enough to fend off any nutcase who wants to kill me." Izzy did not want to look like the rich girl she was supposed to actually be. She didn't need a muscleman to tail her because it would only embarrass her and scare her friends.
Hi there. I brought this bodyguard my father sent over so that some hidden gunman somewhere doesn't kill us. That wasn't the everyday greeting you gave to other people.
"Isa, a baseball bat and a can of pepper spray won't be enough to send this guy running for the hills. You need someone there to watch over you."
"No, I don't," Izzy said, even though her father had a point.
"You can say that over and over to yourself, sweetheart, but there's nothing you can do about it. The guy will be over in a day or two. Be nice to him."
"Why? Is he afraid of little sweethearts like me? That doesn't sound like a capable bodyguard."
"Isa..."
Izzy finally had to concede. She started her car again as she gave her own ultimatum. If she and her father had to reach an agreement, they needed to meet in between.
"Fine, fine. I'll be nice, but don't expect a miracle. Just because I'm agreeing to meet the guy doesn't mean I won't be raising hell about his presence," she warned. "As soon as your angry enemy is caught, I want him out of my sight."
"Very well."
"Anything else?" she asked.
"That's all I wanted to tell you," Mario paused, as if trying to think up another topic of conversation so that he wouldn't have to cut off the call. "And Isa, drive safely. And call me when you get to your apartment."
"Daddy..."
"Your mother will want to know you arrived safely."
"Fine. I'm calling, okay? Bye." Before her father could say any of the mushy-mushy goodbye phrases he used on her, she hung up. She was a mature woman and didn't want to be treated like a child. Well, sometimes.
Izzy sped up, turning the wheel this way and that, following the curvature of the road. Just as she was about to round a curve, however, the car sputtered. Then something popped and rattled beneath the hood.
The car started to hiss and slow down until it wasn't moving at all. Even the radio shut up. "What the—"
Izzy realized that the battery was dead, that something was wrong with the engine, and that she was alone on a country road. "No, no, no. This isn't happening. This totally isn't happening!"
She opened her glove compartment and reached for the pepper spray and flashlight she kept inside it. Then she got out of the vehicle. It was freezing outside, but she knew that waiting behind some bushes was safer than staying in the car and being trapped if someone dangerous came along.
She spotted a few bushes and huddled behind them, eyeing her car over their tops from time to time. "Great! Brilliant! Just what the heck do I do now?!"
