Okay, maybe they didn’t want to go left either. Driving straight, I bite my lip then pull into one of the turn lanes. The car follows, pulling up behind me. Panicked now, I wait for two cars to pass then turn and pick up my cell, dialing Harlen.
“Hey, Angel, you off?” he answers, sounding like I woke him up, and I’m sure I did. He probably fell asleep on the couch with Dizzy, something he does often when he’s waiting for me to get home.
“I think I’m being followed,” I whisper, wondering if I’m losing my mind. Looking in the rearview, I see the car still there, still close. Shit.
“What?”
“I just left the hospital, got a weird feeling. When I pulled out, a car pulled out with me. I turned; they turned. I don’t know, but I think they’re following me.”
“Where are you?” he asks, and I hear him moving around doing it quickly.
Looking at the streets as I pass, I answer. “Right now, on Main,” I say, as my breathing starts to turn ragged with worry and fear.
“Breathe for me, baby. It’s going to be okay. Just keep your speed, stay on Main, I’m gonna get on my bike and find you.”
“I want to come home,” I whisper, as tears start to blur my vision.
“I know you do, and you will. But right now, I want you to keep your speed and stay on Main. I’ll find you. Promise.”
Promise. Yes, he will find me.
“Okay.”
“I gotta let you go so I can get on my bike. Call your dad and tell him to notify the cops so they can be on the lookout for you.”
“Harlen,” I whisper, fear audible in my voice that’s now shaking.
“Angel, it’s gonna be okay. Stay on Main. Call your dad as soon as we hang up. I’m on my way to you now.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Love you.”
“I love you too.” I see the light ahead of me turn red, and with no choice, I slow to a stop as the line goes dead. With blurred vision, I pull up my dad’s number in my phone and press Send.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Dad asks, sounding like I woke him up.
“I think someone is following me,” I whisper into the phone once again, looking from the rearview mirror to the light ahead of me.
“What?”
“I think someone is following me,” I repeat, pressing down on the gas as soon as the light turns green.
“Where are you?”
“On Main Street. I just passed Veterans. Harlen is coming, but he will have to find me. He’s home, so it will take him a few minutes to get to this side of town. He said to call you.”
“I’m gonna call dispatch and let them know to be on the lookout for your car. Keep driving. Do not get off Main.”
“I won’t.”
“Is the person still tailing you?” he asks, and I look in the rearview mirror.
“Yes.”
“What kind of car is it?”
“It’s black and small. I don’t know what kind of car it is.”
“All right,” he says softly, then I hear him relay that information to someone else and I don’t close my eyes, even though I really want to. “Can you see the driver?”
I look in the rearview mirror again and see nothing but the same beanie and sunglasses. “Yes, but I can’t see their face, they have on sunglasses.”
“Okay, take a breath. People are looking for you,” he tells me, and I swallow over the sharp lump forming in my throat.
Then I see red and blue lights coming from the opposite direction. “I see lights, but they’re going the wrong way,” I say into the phone, watching two cop cars pass me before dropping my eyes to the side view mirror and watch them get further away. When my eyes fly to the rearview mirror again I see the car that was behind me is gone. Looking back over my shoulder, my stomach drops. They are gone. They must’ve seen the cops too and taken off, or they were never following me to begin with and I’m just paranoid.
“They’re gone,” I whisper into the phone, checking my mirror again.
“Pardon?” Dad asks, and I clear my throat, fighting back my relief filled tears.
“They’re gone. I’m not being followed anymore.”
“Got spooked,” Dad mumbles, as a whimper climbs up the back of my throat when I hear the sound of motorcycle pipes close by. “What is it?” His voice sounds worried.
“Harlen found me,” I tell him, looking behind me and watching one headlight get closer and closer. Relief, like I’ve never felt in my life, overwhelms me. I pull over into a gas station parking lot and put my car in park, rip off my seat belt, and open my door. Before I even have a chance to get out, Harlen drags me from my seat, and wraps his arms around me. Burying my face against his chest, I sob, my body shaking with adrenalin and fear. Lifting me into his arms, he carries me to the back of my car and settles me on the trunk, placing himself between my legs and wrapping his arms around me.