turned left onto Georgetown Pike without stopping. I gunned
the Audi, hitting close to one hundred miles per hour. The three quarters of a
mile to I-495 went by in twenty seconds. Before taking the on ramp onto the
highway, I checked my rear-view mirror and didn’t see any headlights
approaching from behind. Either they hadn’t made it to the end of the road yet,
or they turned the wrong way, or they were chasing me without their headlights
on. My gut told me they were chasing without headlights.
I raced down
I-495 doing close to one-twenty. The Audi rode as smooth as it did when it
cruised at eighty. I took the second exit and pulled into a residential
neighborhood and turned on a couple of random streets until I found a cul-de-sac
with two empty lots and two houses under construction. I swung the car around
and backed up, leaving the car facing toward the road.
“Christ, Jack.
Think I have a concussion now.”
I laughed as I
leaned across the front seat and fished through the glove compartment box for a
flashlight. I stepped out and turned the flashlight on and coerced Bear into
moving his hand away from his shoulder. The wound was deep, but clean.
“Doesn’t look
like it got any further than the muscle. Rotate your arm?”
Bear grimaced
as he lifted his right arm and twisted it. “Yeah, nothing’s broke.”
“We need to get
that taken care of. Tonight.”
“We can’t go to
the hospital, Jack. Feds’ll be on us in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I looked up at the clear sky. The lights from D.C. drowned out the sky to the
northeast, but above us, the moon shone bright and strong and beyond its white
ring of light, stars dotted the sky. The cool night air washed over my face,
stinging the cuts and scrapes I received while running blindly through the
woods. “I need to clean these up, too.” I ran a hand across my face.
“What are we
going to do then?”
I hesitated. “I
know a place.”
“Where?”
“I think,” I
paused a beat, “I think that it’s best you don’t know until we’re close.”
Chapter 10
I drove without
stopping for close to three hours. The clock on the dashboard said the time was
after twelve in the morning. We crossed into the city limits of
Charlottesville, Virginia. Shopping centers with empty parking lots lined the
main road through town. Cars huddled around late night restaurants and bars.
Neon signs announced their presence.
I pulled into a
twenty-four hour gas station and stopped the car next to an outward facing
pump. I placed the gas nozzle into the Audi’s fuel tank and clicked the handle
to auto pump. I walked inside the convenience store, grabbed a four pack of
water bottles out of the fridge and filled a 20 ounce cup with fresh coffee.
Hunger pains attacked my stomach, so I milled about a few minutes looking for
something to eat, ultimately finding nothing. I stepped up to the counter where
a freckle-faced teenager with red hair and a name tag that read “Stan” waited
behind the register. He asked me how I was doing without bothering to look at
me.
He grabbed the
water bottles and scanned them. Looked at the coffee and punched a couple keys
on his register. He looked up at me with a nervous tick of his head that threw
his hair to the side and out of his eyes.
“That all?”
“Gas at pump
three.”
He looked at
his display. “It’s not finished pumping yet.”
“Guess we’re
waiting then.”
He rolled his
eyes and looked away, adding a sharp click of his tongue to further express his
annoyance. He walked away, pretending to attend to something else, anything to
avoid dealing with people, I supposed.
I leaned back
against the counter and looked around the store, taking note of all the
security cameras. There seemed to be an overabundance of them.
“Have a lot of
trouble with robberies here?” I said.
“Huh?” he said.
“The cameras.”
I pointed to the four cameras positioned throughout the store, mounted to the
ceiling.
“Nah,
the Audi, hitting close to one hundred miles per hour. The three quarters of a
mile to I-495 went by in twenty seconds. Before taking the on ramp onto the
highway, I checked my rear-view mirror and didn’t see any headlights
approaching from behind. Either they hadn’t made it to the end of the road yet,
or they turned the wrong way, or they were chasing me without their headlights
on. My gut told me they were chasing without headlights.
I raced down
I-495 doing close to one-twenty. The Audi rode as smooth as it did when it
cruised at eighty. I took the second exit and pulled into a residential
neighborhood and turned on a couple of random streets until I found a cul-de-sac
with two empty lots and two houses under construction. I swung the car around
and backed up, leaving the car facing toward the road.
“Christ, Jack.
Think I have a concussion now.”
I laughed as I
leaned across the front seat and fished through the glove compartment box for a
flashlight. I stepped out and turned the flashlight on and coerced Bear into
moving his hand away from his shoulder. The wound was deep, but clean.
“Doesn’t look
like it got any further than the muscle. Rotate your arm?”
Bear grimaced
as he lifted his right arm and twisted it. “Yeah, nothing’s broke.”
“We need to get
that taken care of. Tonight.”
“We can’t go to
the hospital, Jack. Feds’ll be on us in a heartbeat.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I looked up at the clear sky. The lights from D.C. drowned out the sky to the
northeast, but above us, the moon shone bright and strong and beyond its white
ring of light, stars dotted the sky. The cool night air washed over my face,
stinging the cuts and scrapes I received while running blindly through the
woods. “I need to clean these up, too.” I ran a hand across my face.
“What are we
going to do then?”
I hesitated. “I
know a place.”
“Where?”
“I think,” I
paused a beat, “I think that it’s best you don’t know until we’re close.”
Chapter 10
I drove without
stopping for close to three hours. The clock on the dashboard said the time was
after twelve in the morning. We crossed into the city limits of
Charlottesville, Virginia. Shopping centers with empty parking lots lined the
main road through town. Cars huddled around late night restaurants and bars.
Neon signs announced their presence.
I pulled into a
twenty-four hour gas station and stopped the car next to an outward facing
pump. I placed the gas nozzle into the Audi’s fuel tank and clicked the handle
to auto pump. I walked inside the convenience store, grabbed a four pack of
water bottles out of the fridge and filled a 20 ounce cup with fresh coffee.
Hunger pains attacked my stomach, so I milled about a few minutes looking for
something to eat, ultimately finding nothing. I stepped up to the counter where
a freckle-faced teenager with red hair and a name tag that read “Stan” waited
behind the register. He asked me how I was doing without bothering to look at
me.
He grabbed the
water bottles and scanned them. Looked at the coffee and punched a couple keys
on his register. He looked up at me with a nervous tick of his head that threw
his hair to the side and out of his eyes.
“That all?”
“Gas at pump
three.”
He looked at
his display. “It’s not finished pumping yet.”
“Guess we’re
waiting then.”
He rolled his
eyes and looked away, adding a sharp click of his tongue to further express his
annoyance. He walked away, pretending to attend to something else, anything to
avoid dealing with people, I supposed.
I leaned back
against the counter and looked around the store, taking note of all the
security cameras. There seemed to be an overabundance of them.
“Have a lot of
trouble with robberies here?” I said.
“Huh?” he said.
“The cameras.”
I pointed to the four cameras positioned throughout the store, mounted to the
ceiling.
“Nah,
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