by Gregg Stutts
Before they left, they made Max and Michelle promise to follow right behind them. Michelle assured her parents they would get out in plenty of time. They would start the drive back to Arkansas and be out of harm’s way within the hour.
Max had nothing to pack so while Michelle threw her things together, he found her charger and plugged his phone in. He would have a partially charged battery in a few minutes, so he could call Ms. Jones back. Then he remembered how late it was. This was important though; he’d have to call anyway.
A moment later, the power went out and the house went completely dark. He looked outside and saw nothing but darkness and suspected the entire area was out. He called for Michelle and then banged into a wall. He felt his way down the hall to her bedroom. She lit a candle as he walked into the room.
“I just need another minute,” she said.
“Do you have a car charger?” he asked. “I can at least start charging my phone. We’ve got to get in touch with Ms. Jones.”
“Yes,” she said as she reached in her purse to get her keys. She searched her purse for them then dumped the contents onto the bed. It was hard to see with only one candle for light. Max helped her look. He started to comment on all the junk she was carrying but caught himself.
“They’re not here,” she said. “Where are my keys?”
“Could they be in the car?”
“I don’t think so, but you can check.”
Two minutes later, Michelle was zipping her suitcase as Max came back inside. “They’re not in the car.”
She sat on the bed and then it hit her. “My mom! She must have them with her. She was going grocery shopping this morning and I was blocking her in. I told her to take my car.” She looked at Max and covered her face with both hands. “She never gave them back to me. I’m so sorry.”
She tried calling her, but didn’t get an answer. Her mom wasn’t someone who was glued to her phone all day. She kept it in her purse until she needed it.
“Try calling your dad.”
She did, but knew there’d be even less of a chance he would answer. She let it ring until it finally went to voice mail. She left him a message, but he might not get it until they were checked into their hotel in Philadelphia. The windows rattled as a gust of wind slammed into the house. They didn’t have much time left to get off the island.
“We’ll have to use my rental car,” Max said. “It’s still at the Windjammer.”
“Is it safe to go there?”
“I don’t think we have a choice,” he said. “Let’s go. We’ll leave your bags here for now.”
They walked outside and slowly made their way down the street. If the streetlights were working and they knew no one was hunting them, they could have moved faster. They didn’t have the luxury of speed though.
Several other neighbors were packing up belongings in preparation to leave. It looked like most people had left before the evacuation was even ordered. Those who hadn’t now wished they had. At the end of the street, they turned south and saw a government vehicle with a loudspeaker coming toward them. All residents were being warned to leave the area immediately.
They hid in a neighbor’s yard until the vehicle passed. They couldn’t risk getting stopped and questioned. After it passed by, they continued on toward the motel.
“Maybe those guys will evacuate,” Michelle said. “Maybe they’ll assume you already left.”
“I’d like to think so,” he said, “but I’m not counting on it. Without my car, I think they’ll assume I’m still here somewhere.”
A block from the Windjammer, they stopped and surveyed the parking lot. The rental car was where he’d left it. There was only one other car and it didn’t look like the one he’d seen earlier. “Come on,” he said. He took her by the hand and they moved quickly across the street and down the block to the parking lot.
Half a block from the car, they stopped and looked carefully for any sign of the two men. It was so dark; it was hard to see anything at all. But as far as he could tell, they were in the clear. “Alright, let’s do this,” he said. “Are you ready?”
“Ready,” she said.
“Let’s go.”
They moved as fast as they could in the darkness. Twenty feet from the car, Max pushed the button to unlock the doors. That turned the headlights and interior lights on, which made them totally exposed.
They got in as fast as they could. Max pressed the starter button and was backing out while they got their seatbelts on. They weren’t home free yet, but both breathed a sigh of relief.
He was careful, but wasted no time getting to her parents’ house. He pulled into the driveway, ran inside and grabbed Michelle’s bags. In less than a minute, he was throwing them into the trunk. As he backed out of the driveway, they saw a car turn the corner and accelerate straight toward them.
Chapter 57
Sunday, September 29
Max hit the brakes and threw it into reverse. But there wasn’t time. The car speeding toward them closed the distance in no time. Then right before it reached them, it turned into the driveway right next door. A man got out and ran into the house. “I know him,” Michelle said. “It’s okay.”
Max wouldn’t relax until they were out of Seaside Park, headed back to Arkansas and able to get his phone charged. It was almost one o’clock. It looked like they would make it out ahead of the storm with just a few hours to spare.
Max entered “Lakeside, AR” into his phone’s GPS as soon as he had enough of a charge. The route would take them northwest away from the coast and eventually into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, then down into Missouri and eventually Arkansas. It was a twenty-two hour, thirteen hundred-mile trip.
But before he could go riding back into town, he needed answers. He needed to know who or what he was up against. “Shelle, open my voice mail and listen to the one from the police.”
She held the phone to her ear and listened.
“Well?” he said. “What did they say?”
“If you get back to Lakeside immediately, they won’t put out an APB on you.”
“Are you serious?” he said. “I can’t believe this.”
“They want to question you in Jack’s death.”
“Someone is setting me up.”
“Max, what’s going on?”
“I don’t know. Somebody is scared though. And I don’t just mean me.”
He tried calling Ms. Jones. It was after midnight in Arkansas, but based on the fear he’d heard in her voice, he doubted she was sleeping anyway. He let the phone ring until it finally went to voice mail. He left a message explaining about his dead battery, the hurricane and how they were on their way back. He asked her to please call him as soon as she got his message.
By three o’clock, they were somewhere in Pennsylvania and Max was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He saw a sign for a 24-hour truck stop and exited. The car needed gas and he needed coffee. As he pumped the gas, he looked around and figured there had to be over a hundred trucks parked in the large lot. He wished he could crawl into a sleeping bunk like most of the trucks had.
He filled the tank, and then went inside to get some coffee and an ice cream cone—one of the chocolate drumsticks. He paid the clerk, removed the wrapper and started eating as he walked back to the car.
Michelle was still asleep when he got back in the car, took a bite of ice cream and a sip of coffee. He started the car and pulled away from the pump and didn’t pay any attention to the car that pulled out after him.
Chapter 58
Max got a second wind after the ice cream and coffee and was able to drive for another three hours while Michelle slept. To say it felt good to have her with him didn’t come close to describing it. He knew they had a lot of work to do to heal their marriage, but he was ready to do whatever was necessary.
By six-thirty, the sun was coming up in the rearview mirror and the caffeine was no longer working. After the fourth time his head bob woke him up, he pulle
d off the highway at the next exit so he and Michelle could switch places. As she took over the driving, he realized that technically, he was stealing a rental car. He was supposed to return it to Newark airport, but he didn’t have the luxury of asking permission at this point. He’d ask for forgiveness later and hope they’d understand.
He tried calling Ms. Jones again. Still no answer, which was starting to worry him. He left another voice mail asking her to call him as soon as possible. And then he fell asleep.
Chapter 59
It wasn’t the greatest night of sleep Michelle had ever had, but she actually felt rested. She looked at Max who’d taken about two minutes to fall asleep. And only another minute to start snoring.
Twelve hours ago, she’d been at dinner with Chris. She told him it was over, but she could see him getting upset and backed off. After kissing each other goodbye, he said they’d talk more in the morning. He’d said it. She hadn’t.
He wanted her to stay with him until the hurricane passed, but she wanted to be with her parents. He made her promise to get out of Seaside before the storm hit.
He’d really be upset when she told him she’d not only gotten out of Seaside, but was on her way back to Arkansas. With Max. And she’d have to do that over the phone, which didn’t feel right. How do you break up with your old boyfriend over the phone with your husband in the car?
The time with Chris was exhilarating and romantic. She couldn’t deny that. She felt loved and cared for. She felt beautiful and desirable. Things she hadn’t felt from Max in a long time. She looked at him again just as he snored loudly.
She had a lot to tell him. Or confess. How much would he want to know about the past few weeks? Eventually, he’d ask. And she would have to tell him. Everything.
Chapter 60
Max woke up in time to see the sign telling them they were thirty-one miles from Indianapolis. He’d been there once. A taxi cab driver had told him it was the largest city in the United States not located on a river. He’d repeated that fact to many people but didn’t know if it was true or not.
He adjusted his seat so it was upright. It was a sunny day without a cloud in sight. That wasn’t the case where they’d just come from. The Jersey coast was getting pounded by Paul at the moment. He hoped Michelle’s parents wouldn’t lose their house.
“Shelle, thank you for driving. I couldn’t have gone another mile.”
Michelle was more interested in what she was seeing in the rearview mirror than what Max had said. “Don’t turn around, but I think we’re being followed.”
“No way,” he said as he tried to see behind them by looking in the side view mirror.
“It’s the one two cars back,” she said. “The dark blue Camry.”
“Yeah, I see it,” Max said.
“Is that the same car you saw in Seaside?”
“It’s hard to tell. How long has it been with us?”
“I noticed it a couple hours ago.”
“Wow, that long? Try slowing down to sixty-five and see what they do.”
Michelle looked at the speedometer. She was going seventy-seven. She tapped the brake to disengage the cruise control and let the car slow down. At sixty-eight miles per hour, the car behind moved into the left lane and passed her. That left no one between them and the Camry.
It didn’t pass. It slowed down. Michelle re-engaged the cruise control at sixty-five and looked in the mirror. The car behind them slowed to the same speed and stayed several car lengths back.
Max watched it play out in the side view mirror. “Yeah, we’re being followed,” he said.
“What do we do?” she said.
He thought for a moment and said, “Take it back up to seventy-five. I have an idea, but you’ll need to just do what I say, okay? Don’t think about it. Just trust me. I saw it in a movie once.”
“Wait a minute,” she said. “You saw it in a movie? Are you serious?”
“Don’t worry. It’ll work. Just get off at the next exit.”
The next exit was a mile away. “Saw it in a movie,” she mumbled as she turned onto the exit ramp.
“What was that?” he said.
“Nothing,” she said. “Just talking to myself.”
“At the end of the ramp, put your turn signal on like you’re going to make a left turn. When you come to the stop sign, make a complete stop, but don’t turn yet.”
Max watched in the mirror as the Camry followed them onto the exit ramp. It was slowly closing the gap between them. Michelle was slowing to a stop. The Camry was matching their speed.
Michelle slowly coasted the last thirty yards to the stop sign and came to a complete stop at the end of the ramp. Her turn signal was on. Max was watching the Camry come up behind them and stop about ten feet behind them.
“Shelle, when I give the word, I want you to throw it in reverse and floor it.” The Camry was slowly creeping forward.
“What? You’re not serious.”
“Trust me.” Max looked in the mirror. “Okay, now!”
“Max, I...”
“Do it, Shelle, do it now!”
Michelle shifted into reverse and stomped on the accelerator. Max braced for the impact, which came a second later. They slammed into the other car’s grill, which immediately deployed the Camry’s airbags.
“Now put it in drive and get us back on the interstate,” Max said. The Camry wasn’t moving. The front end looked pretty banged up. It would probably still run, but they had to be disoriented. Michelle drove straight through the intersection and got back on the interstate.
She took it back up to seventy-five and set the cruise. Max realized he’d not only stolen the car, in a technical sense, but now it was also damaged. Ironically, those were the least of his worries. He looked behind them and saw no sign of the Camry.
“It seems to be driving okay,” Max said. “How does it feel to you?”
“A little vibration, but not bad,” she said. “I’m sure it looks a lot worse than it feels.”
Max checked the GPS on his phone. It said they’d reach Lakeside by 9:00 p.m. What they’d do once they arrived was still up in the air. But they had nine hours to figure it out. That’s when Max’s phone buzzed. He hoped it was Ms. Jones.
It wasn’t. It was his boss, Bill Jackson.
Chapter 61
“Hello, Bill,” Max said.
Michelle looked at Max wondering what Bill could want now.
“Max, I can help you, if you’ll let me. Now I’m glad you and Michelle got out before the hurricane hit, but you’ve got to get back here, so we can figure this out.”
“Bill, how are you going to help me?”
“Just trust me with that. I’ll put in a good word with the police, but Max, you’ve got to stop playing games. Now I’m going to text you an address. You can meet me there. We can go talk to the police together.”
“You’re going to text me an address where we can meet?” Max said so Michelle could follow the conversation. “Why wouldn’t we just meet at the police station?”
There was silence for a moment, then Bill’s tone changed, “Max, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. Your best option is to do what I tell you.” He paused. “No one else has to get hurt.”
“Bill, I’m curious. How did you know I got out of New Jersey before the hurricane hit? And that Michelle is with me?”
“Listen to me!” Bill paused for a moment and lowered his voice. “Stop playing games, Max.”
Max cut him off. “I don’t think I’m the one playing games, Bill.”
“Look, if you want to help yourself, and your wife, you’ll tell us where Dante’s mother is,” Bill said.
“Bill, who’s us?” Max said.
Silence again. Then Bill said, “Us, is people I can promise you don’t want to cross, Max. You really don’t.”
Max had heard enough. Bill was someone he could no longer trust. “Goodbye, Bill.” And then he hung up.
Chapter 62
&nbs
p; Just past Indianapolis, they stopped to fill the car with gas and get some lunch. Max examined the rear end of the car. It wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it would be. The plastic bumper was cracked and parts were missing but considering the damage they’d done to the Camry—they’d gotten off easy. He was sure the rental car company wouldn’t agree.
For lunch, they grabbed some Subway and got back on the road. Max took over driving again while eating a wrap, which wouldn’t be as messy as trying to eat a sub. Michelle was eating a salad. As they drove, Max was formulating a plan. “Clearly, Bill is involved in whatever this is,” he said.
