Molly let go of the phone and ran.
It clattered against the wall as she
got to the door leading to the street. Her reflection was big and frightened.
Behind her the man was moving already, coming after her, getting bigger.
She thrust hard on the door. The
proprietor shouted something she didn’t hear. Molly ran straight into the
street and screamed, darting forward, as the roar of an engine and a horn swept
over her and a flatbed truck missed her by half an inch and skidded to a halt between
her and the motel door behind. Molly turned, staggering backwards when she
heard the crash as the man banged up against the other side of the truck.
She looked at his eyes. They were
filled with anger and drive but were fiery as well with excitement. She
screamed and ran, straight across the intersection, looking back crazily,
cursing her heels.
The man ran round the front of the
truck and sprinted after her. There was no chance she could outrun him but she
went as fast as she could. He was calling her name. She didn’t even know his.
She had no idea who he was or what he wanted but she couldn’t let him catch up
to her.
She got to the sidewalk on the other
side of the street by the Seven Eleven. The man overtook her on her left at the
other side of a parked car. He was trying to cut her off. Molly stopped and cut
back. The man tried to change direction but overcompensated and lost his
balance. He cried out as he hit the tarmac.
Molly ran past him, jumping over his
arms as he flailed to grab her ankles. She thrust down into her purse,
searching by feel for her bunch of keys, found them and pulled them out.
She should have put the top up on her
car.
Behind her the man was on his feet.
He was coming again. She got to the car, put in the key, got inside, pulled the
door closed.
Then he reached her, slamming against
the side of the car. He jabbed his hands over the top of the door and took hold
of her arm and her throat. Molly tried to scream out for help but he tightened
his grip on her windpipe and cut it off. He leered at her. “Let’s keep it quiet
shall we.”
“Who are you? What do you want?” She could barely get the words out.
“My name’s Sam. You know what I
want.”
“Jack.”
He nodded. “That’s right. Now tell me
where he is.”
She did everything she could to keep
the fact that she knew about Jack’s visit to Gaston out of her face but the man
was so close it felt like he could read it in her eyes. “I don’t know.”
Sam tightened his grip. “Tell me...
where he is.”
“Why? What has he done to you?”
He relaxed his grip for a second then
tightened it again. “Do you really want to know?”
Molly hesitated.
“You like him don’t you?” asked Sam.
Molly didn’t respond. Kiss or no
kiss, she hadn’t asked herself that question yet and she wasn’t going to start
explaining herself to some bastard with his hand on her throat.
“You might not like him anymore if I
told you,” said Sam.
“Let go of me!”
Sam closed his fingers on her throat.
“Not until you answer.”
There was a burst of blue light and a
half second series of notes from a police siren then they were both flooded
with light. Sam loosened his grip. Behind him on the street was a police squad
car, pointing a spotlight beam in their direction. Molly stared into his face.
The cop in the car called across. “What’s going on over there?”
Sam didn’t turn round. He put his
face close to Molly’s and whispered, spitting the words out. “Say everything’s
okay – that I’m your boyfriend – or I’ll kill you right now.”
She glared at him. “You’re going to
kill me anyway.”
“Do it.”
“No. Stand away from my car or I’ll
scream.”
“I can strangle the life out of you
long before that cop can save you. Then I’ll kill him.”
“I’m not going to cover for you unless
you stand away,” she said.
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