The Evil Returned

by Richard Raven

  Then, and only then, had the gutless shit decided it was time to listen, and still not the first word out of his mouth. An hour later and he still hadn’t said a word. It seemed he could only hear the commands from the backseat. As far as the woman beside him, he seemed completely oblivious. And still his stinking sweat poured out of him.

  It was because the man with the knife was so sick and fed up with Fuckhead that he decided the joy ride had gone on long enough. Time to get down to the business of having some fun with these two.

  “Turn this fucking thing around,” he told the guy. “Get across the river and head south.” Then he spoke to the woman. “We’re going to stop in a little while, so you can piss. It’s bad enough having to smell that asshole beside you without having to smell piss on top of that.” He leaned toward the front seats, extending the knife in his hand until the fine razor tip touched the woman lightly behind the left ear. She gasped and her squirming ceased immediately. Now she was trembling.

  “If you’re a good girl and don’t give me a reason to,” he told her, the tip of his knife teasing her earring, “I won’t cut this asshole’s throat while you’re in the can. But you give me a problem, this fuck bleeds out. Then it’s going to be your turn, and that of anyone who sees it or gets in the way—and it’ll all be your fault. Remember that and this: I’ve got your phone and his. You fuck up and I’ll find someone interesting in your contacts and call them up and let them listening to you scream and beg as I slice you into little pieces. You got that, bitch? Answer me, damn you.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, her voice trembling in cadence with her body. “I get it. I won’t give you any trouble. I promised you I wouldn’t.”

  “Don’t you forget it.” Then, to the driver, “Hang a left and get on the freeway. And crack open your window a little more, you stinking fuck.”

  Chapter Ten

  Friday night traffic coming into town had been heavy; going out was better. Jeff took a series of side streets, even a few alleys, avoiding whenever possible the main arteries, and slipped out of downtown without a problem. The only police car he saw was on Roosevelt Road near Main Street; the squad shot past going in the opposite direction, full lights blazing and siren wailing. Soon after that, when Jeff crossed the railroad tracks and passed under the I-440 bridge where Confederate Boulevard turns into State Highway 365, he breathed a small sigh of relief. He felt even better eight or nine miles later when he came to old County 7 and turned west.

  In the seat beside him, Angela hummed softly to herself, one hand resting on his thigh under the steering wheel. Jeff couldn’t help but smile, pleased with himself. What a fantastic day, an even more fantastic evening with his wife, and things only promised to get better with her before the night was over.

  County Road 7 didn’t run true east and west. The road curved one way, twisted another and rambled all over the darkness shrouded countryside. The road, though narrow, was in better shape than Jeff had expected. But only a little, the pavement pitted with potholes and crumbling in sections along the edge. Jeff drove carefully, slightly below the posted speed limit of forty. He passed a few homes scattered along the road near it’s juncture with State 365. After only a few miles he drove over the bridge that crossed I-530. There weren’t many headlights heading north on the four-lane toward Little Rock, but a steady flow of taillights moved at a good clip south toward the County Line and Pine Bluff beyond.

  Once clear of the bridge there were no more houses and very little of anything else to see. Overgrown fields and the occasional copse of trees that seemed to leap out of the darkness at the car lined both sides of the road. Jeff passed three side roads, all more or less heading south and all of them nothing but dirt. Because of the darkness and since it had been so long since he had been on Old 7, nothing looked familiar. Three times he spied glowing eyes along the edge of the road: two raccoons and a coyote. Damn, talk about being in the middle of nowhere. Nature, it seemed, was doing one hell of a job reclaiming the place.

  Angela wanted to know more about his day and what job he planned to work on next. Jeff was filling her in when he noticed the sudden wink of approaching headlights in the rearview mirror. The car looked to be moving fast; Jeff didn’t realize just how fast until he rounded one of the road’s endless curves and the car was right there, practically on the Mazda’s bumper. The driver switched the headlights from bright to dim; then back to bright again.

  “What the hell?” Jeff wondered out loud, squinting at the glare from his mirrors as he steered into yet another curve. Going to take us both out like this, you dumb shit.

  Angela had turned in her seat and was staring into the headlights. “Whoever that is must be crazy. It looks like he’s trying to hit us.”

  It did look that way; the car was right on their ass. Before Jeff could reply the road straightened out again and the car swung out into the other lane, surging forward. Jeff glanced at it as it raced past: a dark late-model two-door with chrome sport wheels and tinted windows. The sound of its engine was somewhere between a loud growl and a soft roar. When the car darted back across the center line, barely clearing the front of the Mazda, Jeff breathed a sigh of relief as something clicked in his head.

  Kind of looks like one of those new Mustangs.

  “That driver’s clearly high on something,” Angela observed.

  “Just some speed freak,” Jeff said, watching the car’s fast diminishing taillights. “If he’s high on anything, it’s probably octane or the size of his balls.”

  “And if it’s a woman, darling?” Angela asked sweetly.

  “Oh, I don’t know. PMS? Panties in a bunch? Who knows?” Angela pinched his thigh and not gently. “Hey, watch it! You trying to make me have a wreck, too?”

  “PMS? Panties in a bunch? Humph! You keep that up, smart guy, and you won’t be getting in my panties tonight, you can believe that.”

  “As I recall, you’re not wearing any. You put them back in the drawer.”

  “I have panties on, I’ll have you do know—as if you weren’t watching me the whole time I was putting these things on. So don’t get technical with me.”

  “Sounds like they’re in a bunch, too.”

  Angela laughed. “I don’t know about a bunch, but I’ll be glad to get them off. I’d completely forgotten what a pain these damn things can be when I wore them almost every day to work.”

  “If they’re bugging you so much, go ahead and take them off.”

  “What, and me wearing this short dress? Oh, you’d love that, wouldn’t you?”

  “I can’t say it would make me unhappy, no.”

  “Sorry, darling, but my hose stay on. What kind of woman do you take me for? You see, that’s what happens when you’ve got someone like that Janice Mills working for you. Putting ideas like that in a man’s head is probably what she does best.”

  “Rest assured, Angie, that she hasn’t put any such ideas in my head.”

  “Not so far, you mean?”

  “What would you say if I told you that I think she’s seeing someone.”

  “You mean, like…one man?”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s one man, yeah. She’s dropped a few hints along those lines.”

  “Not just a long string of one night stands?”

  “Come on, Angie, give her a break, okay? She’s not like that and you know it.”

  “So who’s the guy?”

  “Can’t say. She hasn’t a mentioned a name yet, and it’s her business. All I know is that she’s dropped a few hints and she’s had this look about her for about three weeks now. You know, that glow a woman gets when there’s someone new and wonderful in her life? Pretty much the same kind of look you had when we first met.”

  “Nice.” Angela’s voice was pure honey. “Now you’re comparing me to her.”

  “I’ll have you know that I’m pretty damned happy with the woman in my life. She’s smart, hot and sexy, and when it comes to the bedroom, let me tell you—”

  “
Just hush your mouth,” Angela scolded gently, cutting him off. “You can talk dirty to me all you want as soon as you get me home and get me out of these clothes. Right now, just drive the car and behave yourself.”

  “Love you, Angie.”

  “Love you, too.”

  The road had improved a little; Jeff had picked up his speed to around fifty. That was as far as he was going; even then he felt he was pushing it. The taillights of the car that had passed them had long since disappeared. All the time he was teasing Angela, he had wondered about those taillights and the way they had simply vanished. At first, Jeff had wondered if the car had rounded another curve in the road. A little over a quarter of a mile further on and he knew that wasn’t it, as the road still ran straight and there was still no sign of glowing red in the distance.

  Either that car got further ahead a lot faster than I realized, or the driver pulled off somewhere and stopped. But if it stopped on the road, we should’ve passed it by now. Hell, I don’t know. Jeff shook his head and put the whole thing out of his mind.

  “How much further?” Angela asked, her voice now sounding a little heavy.

  “Getting sleepy?” Jeff’s eyes were on the road.

  “A little bit,” she yawned. “Too much wine and good food, I’m afraid.”

  “At this speed, I’d say another fifteen, twenty minutes.” Jeff grinned, taking his eyes off the road to glance at Angela. “Think you can stay awake that long, and maybe another thirty or so after that?”

  Angela never had a chance to answer the question.

  Jeff’s eyes were shifting back to the road, the last few words of his question barely out of his mouth, when his whole body went as rigid as steel.

  “Shit!” he yelled, yanking the wheel violently left, both feet hard on the brake pedal.

  Angela screamed, the fingers on his thigh digging in. Jeff wrenched the wheel so hard and his speed was just enough so that the car, tires smoking and screeching in protest, went into a skid. The Mazda spun a half-turn before leaving the pavement, spinning backwards into the tall grass in the field on that side. Once in the grass, it’s speed now fast falling off, the car made one complete revolution and slid gently to a stop, headlights pointing toward the road about thirty or forty yards away. The engine had died somewhere along the way.

  “Shit,” Jeff breathed, hands still gripping the wheel. Angela was still gripping his leg, her nails painful. Jeff sucked in several deep breaths through his mouth before he took his hands off the wheel and looked around at her.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” she said shakily. “Except I think I wet myself.” She took her hand from his thigh. “My God, Jeff, what happened?”

  He was about to ask her if she hadn’t seen it for herself, but he stopped himself before the question could leave his mouth. Chances were good, since she had left her glasses at home, that she hadn’t seen a thing.

  “There was an old woman standing in the road.”

  “What?”

  Jeff pushed open his door, the dome light coming on. He looked again at Angela. Her face had lost all color, her eyes wide in fright, and she was breathing hard.

  “An old woman was standing in the middle of the road,” he said slowly.

  “An old woman?”

  Jeff nodded. “She had on a long dark dress and what looked like a red sweater. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen or twenty feet in front of us when I saw her.”

  “Did you hit her?” Angela asked fearfully. “I didn’t hear anything like that.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jeff replied, getting out of the car. “I didn’t hear anything like that, either. But I’m going to make sure.” He reached under the seat for the flashlight he kept there. With the light in hand, he leaned back into the car and kissed Angela. “Sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes, I’m fine. You go look for the woman. I’ll wait for you here.”

  “Be right back.”

  Jeff followed the wide path the car had made in the tall grass back to the road. He reached the road and shone his light in both directions. Nothing. Then he started back in the direction from which they had come, looking for the spot where he had first hit the brakes. It was easy enough to find, the beginning of the skid marks plain in the flashlight’s beam. Standing where the marks began, he shone his light at the spot where he estimated the old woman had been standing in the road. He then walked slowly to that spot, closely eyeing the payment for any sign of blood and anything else to indicate that he had hit the woman or had even sideswiped her.

  No blood or a twisted and broken body.

  Jeff spent over ten minutes searching both sides of the road.

  Nothing at all.

  If I didn’t hit her, then where the hell is she?

  He had no answer and there didn’t seem to be anything else he could do at the moment to find her. So he went back to Angela.

  “Did you find her?” Angela was still in the car, but had lowered the window.

  “No sign of her. I’m going to check out the car and then try and get it back on the road. Then I’ll look around some more for her.”

  With that he shone his light, first at the front wheel, then the back. He could see no damage on that side; nothing that looked like blood. The he went around to the other side. Thank God there’s no ditch on this side of the road, or we could’ve flipped over. Damn, just think what could’ve happened if there were trees here. The rear wheel on the driver’s side looked fine, but when he saw the front he swore vehemently.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Tire’s flat,” Jeff said. “All that skidding must’ve broken the bead loose. Angie, have you got your phone?” He had left his at home.

  “Sure, it’s in my purse.”

  Jeff took the phone and checked the display. “Shit.”

  “What, no signal?”

  “You got it.” Jeff heaved a disgusted sigh. “I remember now that this is the only place in the whole damn county where you can’t get a signal. Too many trees and not enough towers.” He returned the phone to Angela, thought a moment, then reached in the car and turned on the emergency flashers. Then he looked to his left, shining the flashlight in that direction. “I think I see something. Be right back.”

  He was back quickly. He got in the car and started the engine. “About thirty or forty yards over there is a dirt road. I’m going to try and get us to it and as close to the highway as I can. If anyone comes along, they should see us.”

  “Jeff, what about the spare tire?”

  The logical question and the very one Jeff had been afraid she would ask. He sighed again and looked out his side of the car. He couldn’t look at Angela.

  “Angie, the spare’s still flat,” he said morosely. “I kept putting it off because our money was tight. Not that it’s going to do us any good now, but I was going to get it fixed tomorrow. Angie, I’m sorry. I guess going out tonight wasn’t such a hot idea after all.”

  “Don’t say that,” Angela said softly, placing a hand on his arm. “I’m glad we did this, really. I enjoyed getting all dolled up and spending some good time with my favorite man and not worrying about anything for a while. We’ve just had some bad luck and now we’ve got to find a way home, that’s all. How far are we from home? You’ve got me so turned around and lost that I’m not sure where we are.”

  “From here,” Jeff mused, “I’d say a good ten, maybe twelve miles.”

  “Well, surely, someone will come along.” Angela sounded confident.

  Jeff wasn’t so convinced. “This never was a heavily traveled stretch of road. Not that I can remember, anyway. Not even during the day. You’re right, though, I guess. Someone has got to come along, sooner or later. All we can do is hope.”

  He stepped lightly on the gas, backing up a little and steering the back of the car to the right to get a better angle, then eased forward through the grass. He easily made it to the dirt road and eased up to the edge of the pavement, where he stop
ped. He reset the emergency flashers and left the engine running and the headlights on.

  “Now we wait,” he said, a long sigh. “I guess I can take another look for the old woman. At least try to find her or find out what happened to her.”

  “I’ll go with you this time,” Angela said.

  Chapter Eleven

  The woman named Tanya from Saint Louis, most of her clothes either torn or cut away, lay face down and spread eagle on the ground, bloody and dead.

  When the last of her death throes had passed and she was still, her killer rose like an apparition from her body, his black denim jeans and underwear bunched around his ankles. In the near darkness of his surroundings, he smiled down at the dead woman.

  He loved it when they fought him. That made it more intense, more satisfying and worthwhile. Over the years he had learned from experience to lead them on—scare the fuck out of them, sure, but fill their heads with false hope. Make them think, even believe that they might actually survive. So when he turned on them, ripping their clothes right from their bodies and taking them hard and fast and dry, it always made for the best fighters.

  And the one on the ground had been a real fighter. One of the best he’d had in a long time. She had kicked and clawed; twisted and screamed. When pulled out of her and flipped her over, putting her face in the dirt and taking her by the backdoor, she fought the hardest. He rode her like a jockey would ride any spirited mare. When her struggles began to weaken, he had spurred her on by grabbing her by the hair, yanking her face up from the dirt, and cutting her throat. She had bucked like the wildest mustang then. That was always the point, right before they bled out, when he popped his rocks.

  But that didn’t happen this time.

  The thought of that made him angry and it wiped the smile off his face. He would have to finish himself off— finish what she had started there on that sidewalk in front of the bus station. But he would have to wait on that. He stripped off the condom that sheathed him with a snap (they were all whores and a man could never be too careful) and pulled up his clothes, carefully tucking away his still engorged penis. Now that she was dead—even more useless than before—he didn’t spare the bitch a second glance. Just a pile of meat he now had to dispose of. But even that had to wait.