Crashers
by Lindy S. Hudis
Fraudulent car accidents is a
multi-million dollar racket, involving unscrupulous medical providers, personal
injury attorneys, and the cooperating passengers involved in the accidents and
who also receive a portion of the illegal proceeds. Such is the fate of newly
engaged, Nathan and Shari, whose joy is tempered by the dark cloud of mounting
debt. A chance encounter with a stranger in whom Shari confides her troubles,
proves fortuitous: he tells her of a get-rich-quick scheme that will put her
and her fiance on easy street. Seduced by the chance to move from hard times to
good times in no time, she finds herself acting as a stuffed passenger the
victim in a staged auto accident. Shari gets her payday, but getting out and
breaking free of the insurance fraud underworld will take nothing short of a
miracle. A modern day cautionary tale that uncovers how the innocent get lured
into the scheme of cappers and hammers.
As the
blare of the clock radio on the night table jolted her awake, Shari Barnes rubbed her eyes, blew her long brown
hair out of her face, and snuggled into Nathan Townsend’s chest. She curled her
body around his middle and took a deep whiff of his salty, masculine neck.
But she
couldn’t ignore the voice on the radio.
“Monday
morning traffic,” she sighed.
Nathan
matched the sigh and put his arms around her. “At least you don’t have to drive
over the hill.”
“Yeah, I
would just die if I had to drive into Beverly Hills every day to work in a
beautiful office.”
Shari
giggled and disappeared under their thick blue comforter for a few more moments
of sleepy-headed bliss. She felt Nathan stretch up, and a moment later the
radio shut off. Then he slid down next to her in the single bed they shared in
their Studio City apartment, a few blocks north of Ventura Boulevard. The
constant drone and rumble of another L.A. morning came clearly through the open
window: cars honking, rock music blaring, the frantic scurrying sounds of the
film shoot a few blocks away. Shari ran her bare feet up the inside of Nathan’s
thigh.
He
jumped. “Shit, your feet are cold.” He pushed her legs off of him.
“What
time is it?” she murmured between kisses.
“Um,
seven.” He nuzzled her neck and she felt him becoming erect against her.
“No time
for that!” She threw off the covers. “Gotta be at work on time for once; gotta
get my asp out of bed.”
“There’s
a snake in the bed?” Nathan grabbed her with both hands and gave her belly gentle
nips.
“Yeah, of
the one-eyed variety.”
Shari
leaped to the floor and padded naked into the bathroom. She turned the hot
water in the shower to high and stepped in, filling the small bathroom with
steam.
She had
just poured a green drop of shampoo into her palm and was running her hands
together when the flimsy yellow and white shower curtain flew back and Nathan
grinned in at her. She smiled back, surprised by neither his arrival nor the
partial hard-on that preceded him.
“Mind if
we join you?” he asked.
“There’s
enough shampoo for everybody,” Shari said as she rubbed her hands across her
scalp.
He
stepped into the stall, pulled the curtain closed and began to lather her hair
for her. She put her hands on his back, feeling the taut muscles and the water
streaming there, but did not reach down between them. It took him about five
seconds to realize it and hold her away.
“You
okay?”
“Fine….”
“Don’t
lie; I can always tell when you have something on your mind.”
“You know
me better than I know me,” she said.
“You know
it.” He pushed her wet hair over her shoulders. “Come on, give.”
“I was
thinking maybe I should get a second job.”
“You’re
worrying about money again?”
“Well, I
have to shoot my student thesis film this year or I won’t graduate. But where
am I going to get the money I need?”
“How much
do you need?”
“At least
five figures.”
Lindy S. Hudis is a graduate of New York
University, where she studied drama at Tisch School of the Arts. She is the author
of several titles, including her romance suspense novel, Weekends, her
"Hollywood" story City of Toys, and her crime novel, Crashers. She is
also the author of an erotic short story series, "The S&M Club"
and "The Mile High Club". Her short film "The Lesson" was
screened at the Seattle Underground Film Festival and Cine-Nights in 2000. She
is also an actress, having appeared in the television daytime drama
"Sunset Beach". She and her husband, Hollywood stuntman Stephen
Hudis, have formed their own production company called Impact Motion Pictures,
and have several projects and screenplays in development. She lives in
California with her husband and two children.
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