I put on the brakes and skidded into the road. I was in the path of oncoming traffic but I had to get someone’s attention. They were still coming. I knew it. I didn’t see them, but I could feel them. They weren’t about to let me get away. I just saw them murder someone in cold blood, someone I knew. I had to be killed.
They didn’t know me, yet. I didn’t think. That was all I had going for me. And my speed to get away. But it might not be enough.
A car swerved around me brakes screeching as I waved my arms. “Help!” I screamed. “You’ve got to help me!”
The car righted itself and drove on past with a loud honk of its horn. Shit.
I tried again. A minivan narrowly missed me and drove past without stopping. I was aware I had to seem crazy out here, but I had no choice. I had to get to safety.
There was another car coming. A truck. A pickup truck it looked like. A Chevy maybe? Or a Ford? I couldn’t tell. It was coming right for me.
I stood there waving my arms back and forth. I wasn’t sure if it was going to stop. Hell, I didn’t know if it even saw me, but it was coming straight for me. Was I going to stand there and let it hit me? I didn’t know.
I just stood and kept waving as I prayed for the best.
The truck came to a screeching halt right in front of me. The driver jumped out of the truck and ran around to the front. “What’s going on? Are you crazy? I almost ran right over you.”
“We have to get out of here! They are coming!”
“What?”
“They just killed Tyler! They are coming. Please!”
I ran to the passenger’s side of the truck and then hopped in. The man stood there looking at me a second and then urgently jumped in as he decided it would probably be safer to just believe me.
He drove down the road quickly building back up to speed as I looked back. I saw the men who’d been chasing me reach the edge of the road just about five seconds after we drove away. They stood there blending into the shadows on the side of the road watching us go. They probably had this man’s license plate now. Dammit. What had I done? He was now mixed up in this mess. But what mess? What in the hell was this about?
“What happened back there?” The man asked.
I looked at him and tried to calm myself enough to speak. It was then that I noticed who had picked me up. He was a strong looking man of about thirty-two. He was clean cut, but not totally. His hair was a little shaggy and he had a few days of stubble covering his chin and cheeks. His demeanor suggested he was older than he looked. He was rigid and kind of solemn, not that emotional.
I got some control over my breath and began to tell him. “These three men just killed my friend right in front of me. They stabbed him right there on the sidewalk. Then they chased after me.”
“Jesus… any idea who they were? Why they did that?”
I shook my head. “No. I have no clue who they are or what they wanted. The conversation between them didn’t make sense.”
“But they knew your friend?”
“Yes, they did. I have to go to the cops. I have to tell them what happened.”
“Ok, we are on our way,” he said. “By the way, I’m Bill Haynes.”
“I’m Zion Gibbs,” I said.
“It’s going to be ok,” he replied. “We will figure this out.”
I felt comforted by his sweet words. Somehow, I knew that I would make it out of this.
But I also knew that it was stupid to think that way. It set you up for failure.
And I couldn’t afford to fail here. My life was at stake.
Chapter 2
Bill
I listened to Zion’s story and I tried to be quiet and absorb the facts. It sounded insane, but after the things I’d seen in my life I was much more apt to believe her than the average Joe might have been. She was lucid enough, terrified for sure, and with good reason from the sound of things. I could only imagine what a fright she’d encountered. She had guts though, and a will to survive.
And of course, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was. She had the most beautiful eyes, and a sweetness in her manner that was very enticing.
I had to help her. I knew that. It was something I couldn’t turn my back on. So, I drove her to the closest police station. As we drove she tried to keep talking to me, mostly to keep her mind off the severity of how closely she’d just come to being slaughtered by some deranged men. I did my best to chat with her and keep her talking. It was hard to do, but my victimology training was coming back into play a little bit. It took me back a little bit to my military days. Those days were only about seven years behind me but it felt like a lifetime ago.