again, right, until he spotted an arrow and the welcome word “Exit.” He screamed out of the parking lot, turned onto the main street that fronted the hospital, and floored the accelerator.
After a number of twists and turns, during which Adam finally took the time to fasten his seat belt, he was in a residential neighborhood. He remembered this one. It was full of streets that dead-ended, interspersed with speed bumps to keep motorists from racing through. Unfortunately, that was what Adam had to do right now. He navigated by dead reckoning, enduring bump after bump, grateful for his vehicle’s heavy-duty suspension.
There’d been no headlights behind him for several minutes now. He spotted a house that was dark, with a vacant driveway leading to a closed garage door. He stopped, backed into the drive, killed his lights and engine, and hunched lowin his seat. The few streetlights in the subdivision were low-powered, yellowish ones, casting eerie shadows but making Adam almost invisible as he sat there.
He waited—one minute, two, five—and finally decided his attacker had given up the chase. When his pulse had slowed almost to normal, Adam started the engine and drove away, keeping his lights off until he was back on a main street. Two blocks away, he stopped the pickup in the parking lot of a strip mall. He was pretty sure this had been a trap, but what if Carrie had really been in an accident? Adam dialed her cell phone. After three rings, she answered, and relief washed over him.
“Carrie, where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot of your motel. I’ve been looking for you everywhere, but I finally came back here. Where have you been? Why weren’t you in the room?”
“The battery on my phone went dead, so I missed your call. While the phone was recharging, I got a text telling me you’d been in an accident. At the hospital parking lot, someone tried to run me down. When I managed to get back in the pickup, they tried to ram me from behind. I finally lost them, but the sequence of events started me thinking, and what I’ve decided isn’t pretty.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, there’s no question that the killer knows you and I have been seeing each other. And that you’re important to me—important enough for me to drop everything and rush to the hospital if I thought you were hurt.”
“So he’s been watching you longer than a few days,” Carrie said.
“Right.”
“What’s next?” Carrie asked.
“We need to meet. Stay right where you are. But keep your car doors locked and the motor running. And if anything looks suspicious, get out of there.”
“Adam, this is scary,” Carrie said.
And getting scarier every minute . Adam ended the conversation and pulled out into traffic, his eyes flicking every few seconds to the rearview mirror. Suddenly every car behind him carried a potential murderer.
He wondered if he’d ever feel safe again.
Carrie was parked at the end of the row behind the Rancho Motel, not far from a red Dodge, the only other vehicle in sight. When she saw headlights approaching, she pressed the start button of her Prius and put her hand on the gearshift. Her foot hovered over the accelerator. A black pickup pulled in beside her, the door opened and closed, and Adam tapped on her window.
She unlocked the door, and Adam slid inside. His kiss was quick but heartfelt. The next words came out in an urgent hiss. “Lock the door again.”
Carrie swallowed twice. Her heart was hammering. “Adam, you frightened me.”
“Sorry, but we have to take precautions.”
“Where’s your car? I didn’t see a black Toyota in the lot.”
“I guess I didn’t tell you. I changed it for that Ford pickup.” He turned until he was facing her across the front seat of her car. “Why didn’t you meet me here like we’d arranged?”
“I’m sorry, but I had an emergency I couldn’t leave.” She explained a bit about what happened.
Adam took almost no time to
After a number of twists and turns, during which Adam finally took the time to fasten his seat belt, he was in a residential neighborhood. He remembered this one. It was full of streets that dead-ended, interspersed with speed bumps to keep motorists from racing through. Unfortunately, that was what Adam had to do right now. He navigated by dead reckoning, enduring bump after bump, grateful for his vehicle’s heavy-duty suspension.
There’d been no headlights behind him for several minutes now. He spotted a house that was dark, with a vacant driveway leading to a closed garage door. He stopped, backed into the drive, killed his lights and engine, and hunched lowin his seat. The few streetlights in the subdivision were low-powered, yellowish ones, casting eerie shadows but making Adam almost invisible as he sat there.
He waited—one minute, two, five—and finally decided his attacker had given up the chase. When his pulse had slowed almost to normal, Adam started the engine and drove away, keeping his lights off until he was back on a main street. Two blocks away, he stopped the pickup in the parking lot of a strip mall. He was pretty sure this had been a trap, but what if Carrie had really been in an accident? Adam dialed her cell phone. After three rings, she answered, and relief washed over him.
“Carrie, where are you?”
“I’m in the parking lot of your motel. I’ve been looking for you everywhere, but I finally came back here. Where have you been? Why weren’t you in the room?”
“The battery on my phone went dead, so I missed your call. While the phone was recharging, I got a text telling me you’d been in an accident. At the hospital parking lot, someone tried to run me down. When I managed to get back in the pickup, they tried to ram me from behind. I finally lost them, but the sequence of events started me thinking, and what I’ve decided isn’t pretty.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, there’s no question that the killer knows you and I have been seeing each other. And that you’re important to me—important enough for me to drop everything and rush to the hospital if I thought you were hurt.”
“So he’s been watching you longer than a few days,” Carrie said.
“Right.”
“What’s next?” Carrie asked.
“We need to meet. Stay right where you are. But keep your car doors locked and the motor running. And if anything looks suspicious, get out of there.”
“Adam, this is scary,” Carrie said.
And getting scarier every minute . Adam ended the conversation and pulled out into traffic, his eyes flicking every few seconds to the rearview mirror. Suddenly every car behind him carried a potential murderer.
He wondered if he’d ever feel safe again.
Carrie was parked at the end of the row behind the Rancho Motel, not far from a red Dodge, the only other vehicle in sight. When she saw headlights approaching, she pressed the start button of her Prius and put her hand on the gearshift. Her foot hovered over the accelerator. A black pickup pulled in beside her, the door opened and closed, and Adam tapped on her window.
She unlocked the door, and Adam slid inside. His kiss was quick but heartfelt. The next words came out in an urgent hiss. “Lock the door again.”
Carrie swallowed twice. Her heart was hammering. “Adam, you frightened me.”
“Sorry, but we have to take precautions.”
“Where’s your car? I didn’t see a black Toyota in the lot.”
“I guess I didn’t tell you. I changed it for that Ford pickup.” He turned until he was facing her across the front seat of her car. “Why didn’t you meet me here like we’d arranged?”
“I’m sorry, but I had an emergency I couldn’t leave.” She explained a bit about what happened.
Adam took almost no time to
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