Dom agreed to the time frame, thanked him, and hung up. It was time to move. Seeing as he only had two and a half hours until they would come to pick him up, he had to hurry. He had no plans of being there when they showed up. He couldn’t afford to be. His life depended on it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dom knew he had to hurry as he needed to get as far away as he could before they started looking for him. Not really being equipped to embark upon the journey that he was about to take, he decided to pick up everything he would need along the way.
He sure was going to miss his truck, but there was no way he could take it. It would be too easy to track him down and he didn’t want to get stopped along the way. He would surely be arrested if he was stopped. Likewise, he could not take his cell phone, so he wrote down the numbers he needed from his contacts, turned it off, and hid it in his garage.
Dom shuffled some boxes around to make room and then raised the garage door. After pulling his truck into the over-stuffed room, he shut the garage door and securely latched it.
Upon re-entering the house, he scribbled a quick note on a piece of paper and taped it to the front door as he locked it and pulled it shut behind him. It read, “Officer, I had to run a quick errand. Sorry for the inconvenience. Be back in an hour.” He didn’t put a time on it, so the police would think that it was an hour from the time that they found the note. This could easily buy him another hour or two if they just kept waiting for him.
Dom walked down the driveway with just the clothes on his back and his wallet. He had his credit cards with him, but they would be of no use since they would leave a trail that could easily be followed.
While walking down the street, he looked over his shoulder to make sure that no one was paying attention to him. He cut across a vacant lot into the next block and started towards a business area of town.
Once out of range of his neighborhood, he hitched a ride to the corner of 59th Avenue and Thunderbird and entered the local branch of Pacific Bank. Waiting until the car drove off, he entered the bank and stepped up to the desk where people were filling out deposit and withdrawal forms. Dom grabbed a withdrawal form and started to fill it out.
Thoughts of having to rob the bank filled his head. Thank God he didn’t need to follow that path since he was fortunate to have quite a bit of money in the bank. Not knowing what expenses he might encounter, he made the withdrawal slip out for fifty thousand dollars. This seemed like way too much money to him, but if he didn’t get all of the money he might need right now, he might regret it later. There was a chance that he could not access his account later to get more, if the police should freeze it. On top of that, he did not want to leave any more of a trail then he was already by making this withdrawal.
He’d tried not to touch this money as he was saving it for someday when he could retire. As it was, with the withdrawal he was now making, his balance would be down to one hundred and seventy-three thousand dollars. That was a lot of money by most people’s standards, but Dom wanted at least five hundred thousand dollars by the time he retired so that he could be comfortable and not have to worry in his less able years.
He felt very fortunate to have all of this money. When Aunt Cheryl had died, Dom was surprised to find out that besides leaving him the house, she had a life insurance policy for two hundred thousand dollars and he was named the beneficiary. He had immediately put this in the bank and vowed to keep it for later when he couldn’t work. On top of that, he had been adding money to it every month and with interest adding up also, he was sitting on two hundred and twenty-three thousand dollars.
He felt kind of guilty having so much money when most people had none. He also felt very grateful, because life was sometimes cruel and one never knew what fate might throw your way. For Dom, fate was unusually cruel. He had a feeling that the money would be needed throughout his life. He definitely needed it now.
Heading up to the teller window, he handed the teller his withdrawal slip, scanned his debit card through the reader, and entered his pin number. He hated to leave evidence of his presence here, but he had no choice. He didn’t keep much cash in the house and he knew he couldn’t use his credit cards. This would be the end of the trail, he hoped. When the teller read the slip, she blinked hard and re-read the amount that was written down.
“Mr. Maxwell, quite a chunk of money that you’re withdrawing today. May I ask the purpose of this transaction?”
Dom was shocked. What business was it of hers? It was his money, not hers.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but that’s personal. I’m in a big hurry and all that I want is to have some of the money that belongs to me. Is there a problem?” he said challengingly.
“No, Mr. Maxwell. No problem. Sorry. If you could please show me another form of identification and then step around the side of the counter and into this room, I will join you in a minute and I can take care of this transaction for you.”
“Thank you,” he replied curtly. He showed her his driver’s license, entered the small room, and seated himself at the table in the center of the room. After what seemed like hours, but was really only five minutes, the teller entered the room followed by another person. The teller was carrying a bank bag.
“Sorry to keep you waiting Mr. Maxwell. I had to gather the money. We don’t usually allow such big withdrawals without some sort of prior notice, so that we can order extra money to handle the transaction, but we have had a lot of cash deposits today, so it all worked out all right.”
Dom nodded and turned his head to look at the other lady that was with her. The lady smiled at him and said hello. The teller caught his questioning look and explained.
“This is the bank manager, Mr. Maxwell. Any time that we have such a large transaction, she supervises it to make sure it is done correctly.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” he replied.
“It’s better for everybody involved,” she said, smiling at him. “By the way, I hope I didn’t offend you earlier. It’s just that we don’t get transactions like this every day and I was just curious.”
Dom nodded. “I understand. It’s not a problem.”
The teller withdrew several banded stacks of money and set them on the table. After she had neatly stacked them all in a row on the table, she pointed to the first stack and said, “Each stack of one hundred dollar bills has fifty bills in it for a total of five thousand dollars per stack. As you can see, there are ten stacks of bills, or fifty thousand dollars. If you like, I can hand-count them out for you to verify the amounts. We have already run them through the bill counting machine once and the amount was correct.”
“That won’t be necessary,” he replied. “I’m in a hurry. Can I get something to put the bills into?”
The teller nodded. “You may have this bank bag to take with you, Mr. Maxwell. Please be careful. It’s not safe carrying this kind of money around on you.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your help.”
The teller thanked Dom as she left the room. After sticking the bank bag in the front of his jeans and pulling his shirt over it, he left the room and exited the bank. So far so good, he thought. It seemed like he was in the bank forever, but it was actually only about ten minutes. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” he muttered to himself.
The next step was to get a vehicle. Dom walked over to the Fry’s grocery store and purchased a Truck Trader. While he was there, he decided to buy a throwaway cell phone and some minutes as well, in case he needed it. After all, there were no such things as pay phones any more.
He looked at the table of contents until he found the heading he wanted: Jeeps for Sale. He had always wanted a Jeep. Now he had a good excuse to get one.
After scanning the list of Jeeps for sale, he narrowed it down to three. They all had the same telephone prefix as he did, so he hoped they weren’t too far away. They all sounded like they were in good shape and they were all on the newer side. Dom activated his new cell phone and dialed the first number
. After three rings, voicemail picked up. No good. He hung up. The second number was answered on the second ring.
“Hello,” Dom said by way of greeting when the caller answered the phone. “I’m calling about your Jeep for sale. Do you still have it?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied.
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions about it?”
“Please do,” the older, but friendly voice returned.
“How does it run?”
“To tell you the truth, son, the entire Jeep is in perfect condition. It’s five years old, but only has eleven thousand miles on it. It looks brand new. It belonged to my son, you know. He barely had it a year when he died in a terrible motorcycle accident. I could never bear to get rid of it before, because it was a reminder of him. But recently I came to the conclusion that I’m being silly by holding on to it. It’s just taking up space in my garage. Are you interested in having a look at it?”
Dom was silent for a second. Then he spoke, sympathy lining his voice. “I’m really sorry about your son, sir. I myself know what it’s like to lose a loved one. It would be my pleasure to look at his Jeep. Would you mind if I came over now to look at it?”
The man agreed and Dom hung up after taking down his address. He started hitchhiking down the road, eager to get there. While he was tempted to call a taxi, he knew the police would be in touch with all of the public transportation in the city and would be led to the house of the man whom he was going to buy the Jeep from. From there, they would have a description and license plate number of the vehicle he was driving. Not a good idea at all.
The fifth car that passed him slowed down abruptly and stopped. Luckily, the man’s house that he was going to was only a few miles away and his ride dropped him off within a block of where he was going. After walking to the correct street, he started down the street looking for the house number. He spotted it about the same time he spotted the Jeep.
It was a beauty. It was a metallic light blue with beautiful polished steel rims and thirty-two inch Mickey Thompson tires. The chrome bumper on the front sported a winch. That might come in handy, he thought. Upon looking inside, Dom noticed that it was just as clean and nice-looking as the outside. A Kenwood CD player with a USB input graced the dashboard. He knew that he had found his ride.
He walked up to the door and rang the bell. The door opened and the man on the other side greeted him.
“Hi, you must be here about the Jeep.”
“Yes I am,” Dom replied.
An odd expression crossed the man’s face as he looked around. “Where’s your vehicle?”
Dom smiled. “If I had a vehicle, would I be here to buy yours?” He winked at the man and continued, “Actually, a friend dropped me off, because deep down in my bones, I know this Jeep is meant for me.”
The man laughed, a twinkle in his eye. “I’m Jack. It’s nice to meet you!”
“Likewise,” Dom replied. “My name is Eric. Let’s take a look at that Jeep.”
Jack led him over to the Jeep and opened the door. Everything looked brand new.
“I just had it down to the shop and had it serviced since it sat for so long. They said it’s in great shape. I’m hoping someone will get some use out of it. Here, let me start the engine for you.”
Jack put the key in the ignition and turned it over. It caught right away and purred like a kitten, the exhaust throaty and steady.
“I’ll take it,” Dom announced excitedly.
“Don’t you want to drive it first, Eric?”
“That’s not necessary, Jack. It’s a wonderful vehicle and I’m in somewhat of a hurry.” Dom hoped he wasn’t setting off any alarms in Jack’s head, but he couldn’t afford to waste any time.
“Well that’s about the easiest I’ve ever sold a vehicle. It’s a good thing I went out this morning and had the title signed and notarized, because now it has an open title and since you’re in a hurry, that will help you out.”
In Arizona, you were allowed to sign over a title without filling in a name. The name could be filled in later by the buyer.
“I’m curious about one thing, Eric. Aren’t you even going to dicker about the price tag? I’ve never known anyone who didn’t.”
Dom was speechless for a second, wondering if Jack was getting suspicious. “All I can say in my defense, Jack, is that she’s worth every penny you are asking for her, and I couldn’t offer you any less than you are asking. It would be disrespectful to your son’s memory.” In actuality, he wanted Jack to remember him as little as possible. He wasn’t so sure he was achieving the desired results.
“You’re a kind soul, Eric!” Jack replied.
Dom took out his wallet and took out the money that was in it, which he had slipped in there while he was walking up the street. He handed it to Jack. “It’s all there, but please count it to make sure,” he requested.
After Jack verified the amount, he walked up the blacktop driveway and entered the house to get the title. Upon returning, he handed it to Dom and thanked him.
“I know you’ll take care of it, Eric. Enjoy it. My son would like that.”
Dom took the title and reached out to shake the weathered hand that was extended before him. “Thanks Jack! I appreciate it.”
As he got into the Jeep and dropped it into reverse, Jack waved goodbye. Dom backed out of the driveway, waved back and drove down the street. The hard part was over. Now it was time to get out of Dodge.
Not only did Dom have the killer to fear, now he had the police to fear also. He really needed to hide. If the killer found him, he was dead. If the police found him, he was as good as dead, for the killer could get to him easily.
Luckily, he would not have to register the Jeep in his name for quite a while and if he got pulled over, he could say that the Jeep belonged to the previous owner since it was still registered to him. Jack had also left an insurance card in the glove box, so now Dom had proof of insurance even though the policy was likely to be canceled soon. Proof of insurance was mandatory according to Arizona state law. The insurance card showed the policy expired in four months, which was plenty of time. Dom could just pretend he was Jack if he got pulled over and he could say he lost his license. It just might work. The main thing was to try and not get pulled over.
He headed out of town on Interstate 17 and drove north. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was going, he just knew what direction. After driving for about thirty minutes, he noticed that he needed to get some gas and he was dying for a Dew. He saw a sign for a small little town called New River and exited the interstate.
After pulling up to a stop sign at the bottom of the hill, Dom looked off in the distance for a gas station or Mini-mart. He saw one off to the right silhouetted against the cactus, dry brush, and the mountains in the way distant horizon. The afternoon sun waxed hot upon the soft top of the jeep.
He looked at his watch and noticed it was almost 1:00 P.M. Not bad, he thought. The police should just about be arriving at his door. Hopefully they wouldn’t get suspicious for another hour, if his luck held out.
Dom turned right and headed towards the mini-mart. After pulling into the empty parking lot, he parked his truck beside the gas pumps and shut off the engine. As he got out and headed towards the doors to the mini-mart, he had no idea that he was going to walk out with more than he ever bargained for.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Jennifer Capstan sat on a stool behind the counter reading a magazine. As usual, she was having another boring day in the same old boring town. Just turning twenty-three, she still lived with her mom and dad. She had dreams of moving out and moving to the valley, but for that, she needed lots of money. Money she obviously didn’t have, because she was stuck here.
Being a cashier at one of the town’s only mini-marts was one of the few jobs available in the area. The store was busy at times, but there were also times that it was quite dead. This was one of those times.
Jenny was a beautiful girl. Her long, straigh
t brown hair touched her shoulder blades and gave off a lustrous shine. When she turned her head, her hair flowed around her like she had just stepped out of a Vidal Sasson commercial. Her brown eyes were deep, luminous and captivating. Anyone making eye contact with her would get lost in those eyes. Anyone.
Jenny had been dreading the day ever since she got up that morning. It was always the same thing at the store. Every so often, some flake would come in and try to hit on her. She got tired of it. God, did she ever need a change.
The crunch of tires on gravel distracted her and made her look up from the magazine she was reading. A blue Jeep was pulling up to the gas pumps. Jenny couldn’t remember having seen it around before. It must be someone passing through, she thought.
As Jenny looked out the window, her heart started racing. She knew she was having an adrenaline rush, but she didn’t know why. Something felt weird to her. She couldn’t place it, but something told her that life was never going to be the same again. She didn’t know whether to be scared or excited, so she was both.
As she watched, the driver of the Jeep got out of the vehicle. Jenny didn’t recognize the stranger, but she was instantly attracted to him. His tallness was very appealing to her as was his sandy brown hair. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and had a trim and muscular build. Jenny’s breath caught in her throat and stayed there until the stranger came through the doors and looked around.
She was staring at him when he directed his gaze towards her. When their eyes locked, Jenny was mesmerized by the stranger’s deep blue, pool-like eyes. She felt herself slipping deep inside those eyes and not being able to hold on. As she slipped way beneath the surface and went swimming through a current of never-ending dreamy waves, she thought that this was it. His voice snapped her back into reality.
“I’m sorry!” Jennifer apologized to the handsome stranger. “I didn’t catch what you said.”
“That’s okay. I was just wondering if I had to pay for the gas before or after I pumped it.”
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