Resurrection Dreams by Richard Laymon

he would have all the privacy and time he might want. For all he knew, though, the gal might be married or staying with her parents or have a roommate. In fact, he had to admit that it was most likely she didn’t live alone.
    He could go in and get her, anyway, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to bother with that.
    The other choice was to nail her before she got home. Either figure a way to stop her on the road, or try to get her after she parked, while she was on her way to the door. Those methods would only work if nobody else was nearby.
    Just play it by ear, Melvin told himself.
    The Rabbit turned left. Melvin followed. He checked his rearview mirror. None of the cars behind him made the turn. The road ahead was empty, with only a few houses in sight up ahead. He knew this road. It led to Cedar Junction, eight miles west of Blayton. Soon, there would be a long stretch through farm land before the outskirts of Cedar Junction. If she just doesn’t pull into one of these driveways…
    She didn’t.
    Headlights appeared in the distance, so he held off. The lights drew nearer. He squinted against their glare. A pickup whooshed by, and the glare was gone. Melvin watched the tail lights in his rearview. When they were tiny red specks, he swung across the center line and stepped on the accelerator. He gained on the Rabbit, sped past it, then eased back onto his side of the road.
    Nothing ahead except the moonlit road and fields.
    He studied the Rabbit in his rearview mirror. It seemed to be about three car lengths behind him.
    Melvin grinned at his craftiness. He knew he could’ve swerved into the car’s path while he was passing it, but a weird maneuver like that would’ve put the woman on guard. This way, she might not be suspicious at all until it was too late.
    He braced, left hand tight on the steering wheel, arm locked straight, pressing himself against the seat back and the headrest.
    And jammed down on the brake pedal.
    His tires grabbed the pavement, skidded and shrieked.
    The Rabbit bore down on him.
    He heard its squeal.
    His car lurched with the impact. Not much of a jolt, really, but enough. He heard no breaking glass, so he doubted that either car had been damaged.
    He swung onto the hard dirt shoulder of the road, and stopped. The Rabbit moved slowly past him, both its headlights still working. For a bad moment, he feared the nurse might keep on going. But she turned her car onto the shoulder and stopped a few yards in front of him.
    Her door opened. As she climbed out, Melvin slumped against the steering wheel. He heard the quick scrape of her shoes on the road. The sounds stopped beside him. He slowly sat up straight, shaking his head.
    “Are you all right?” the woman asked. Her voice was trembling.
    “I guess,” he muttered. He rubbed the back of his neck.
    She was standing close to his door, bending down to look in at him. He wished he could see her better, but the light was too faint. What he could see looked good. He guessed she was in her early twenties. Her white dress had a name tag over the left breast, but he couldn’t read it.
    “What happened?” she asked. “Why did you stop?”
    “Something…ran out in front of me. Maybe a cat. I don’t know. It all happened so fast. Guess I should’ve gone ahead and hit it.”
    “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have been following so close. Did you hit your head?”
    “I don’t know.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’m all right, I guess.” He turned off the engine, and took out the keys with his bandaged right hand. He slowly opened his door and stepped out onto the road. Pretending to ignore the woman, he wandered to the rear of his car.
    “I don’t think there’s any damage,” she said as she followed him.
    The tail and brake lights glowed red.
    “Don’t look like it,” Melvin mumbled. “I got a flash in the trunk. I’d better get it.”
    “I’ll give you my name and number,” the woman said. “If there are any problems, I’d be more