Kevin watched in confusion as a whole bunch of cars started pulling out of the plaza parking lot. In the last fifteen minutes he’d watched as one or maybe two would leave and then be replaced by another one coming in; but now it was crazy. And they weren’t just exiting leisurely, either. They were zooming out of there like they were running from a terrorist.
The distant wailing of a siren came to his ear.
What the hell? Before Kevin could put everything together, the Camry came out of the parking lot, hot on the tail of an SUV in front of it. He watched as Jonathan made a hard left and then a right as he swerved out into traffic and around a slower moving vehicle.
Kevin started the bike and pushed down his visor, signaling his entrance into traffic. He needed to go now if he was going to be able to tail him effectively. For some reason, Jonathan was driving like an idiot; and if he kept it up, he was going to get so far ahead Kevin would lose him.
As he pulled the motorcycle out into the right lane, it became suddenly clear why Jonathan was in such a hurry. A cop car came out of the plaza going in the same direction Jonathan had. His lights weren’t on, but he sure looked determined. He weaved around the same cars that had been holding Jonathan back.
“Oh, shit, dude … you’re being followed.” Kevin wished he had a phone to call Jon or text him with. He twisted the right handle back and gave the bike more gas. Time to get busy. He changed lanes left then right and then left again, getting closer and closer to the back of the police car that was most definitely trailing Jonathan.
***
Jonathan checked his rearview mirror and almost had what felt like a stroke when he saw the marked law enforcement vehicle about three car-lengths back. “Oh, crud. What do I do now?” He was about to look away when a quick flash of movement caught his eye. Kevin.
Jonathan kept going in the direction that would take him farther and farther away from the cabin and the girls. No matter what, he couldn’t let them get caught with him and Kevin. If he could help it, he’d make sure Kevin didn’t get caught either. Not all of them had to sacrifice to save the others. Maybe it could be just him. He sped up, preparing to turn into a neighborhood that he prayed would have a way out and not leave him stuck in a cul-de-sac.
***
Jonathan was pulling ahead. Kevin prayed he was reading the kid’s mind and knew exactly what he was going to do. That’s right, Jon. Get in that neighborhood and lose the cop. I’ll be right behind you. A plan was forming in Kevin’s head as he accelerated forward, getting closer and closer to the cop car.
Jonathan turned into the neighborhood, right on cue. A few seconds behind him, the police officer pulled in, too. Kevin raced ahead, passing three cars and cutting the last one off to join Jonathan and his pursuer. He didn’t think the police officer had noticed. His eyes never even went to his rearview mirror to see who was behind him. He was obviously too intent on what was in front of him.
Two blocks up ahead, Jonathan went left. Kevin nailed the accelerator, taking the left turn one block ahead of the one Jon had taken, temporarily abandoning his pursuit of the cop car. He pushed the bike to the limit, going so fast it made his stomach turn with crazed butterflies.
He didn’t even stop at the stop sign; he just leaned the bike hard to the right until it was nearly to the ground, racing to beat Jonathan to the next intersection.
He got there at exactly the same time as Jonathan and nodded once at his friend’s shocked expression. As soon as Jonathan was through the intersection of the four-way stop, Kevin took a left, pulling in behind him. His rearview mirror revealed the police officer coming to a stop at the sign. “Go, Jonathan, go!” he yelled, knowing Jonathan couldn’t hear him, but praying he’d figure out what the plan was anyway. He slowed way down, forcing the police officer who’d come up behind him to do the same.
***
It took Jonathan a minute to figure out what the heck Kevin was doing, but as soon as he saw him slow down and become a barrier between himself and the police officer, he knew what he had to do. He accelerated, taking one quick turn and then another, until there was enough space between them that he could take a chance at evading the officer.
He pulled out into busy traffic and raced across all four lanes to enter a neighborhood on the other side of the main road. He was into it and turning right before the police car even made it to the turn that would take him over to the busy road. Jonathan made three more turns and then pulled the car back out onto the main road, headed in the direction of the cabin. He had to take the chance and just get the heck out of town before the cop came cruising around and accidentally caught up to him again. Hopefully, the guy would go in the other direction, the one they’d been going in each time he’d seen them.
Jonathan checked his rearview mirror over and over again, desperately hoping to see Kevin, but there was nothing but nondescript civilian cars there. Eventually, he made it out of town and was only minutes from the cabin.
The whole time he was driving his mind was racing through every scenario he could imagine of what might have happened. Kevin was driving a much faster vehicle than Jonathan was, and he should have caught up by now.
Jonathan’s throat burned, and he had to keep swiping at his eyes, as he considered the outcome of Kevin having been arrested and brought to jail. Jonathan knew the chances of Kevin holding out and keeping his identity secret were slim. And that meant only one thing: Kevin was going to be killed, and probably within the next forty-eight hours.
***
Kevin could see that the cop behind him was frustrated. His head bobbed left and right as he tried to keep an eye on the Camry. Luckily, Jonathan had done his part and had sped ahead. With Kevin running interference, Jon had a decent chance of getting out of this mess - but only if the cop didn’t throw on his lights and go around Kevin. The situation reminded him of rugby. Jonathan had the ball and this cop was on the other team, trying to tackle him. Kevin had to do whatever it took to keep his opponent clear and give Jonathan a chance to make it to the in-goal area so he could get the Try and the points for it - freedom, in this case.
Jonathan turned out of sight, and soon after, the cop put on his lights.
Kevin ignored him, swerving out to the left a little when the police officer tried to go around him. Go, Jon, go! yelled Kevin in his head. He couldn’t see the Camry anymore, but it couldn’t be that far ahead yet. There hadn’t been enough time. Once more, the cop tried to go around, and Kevin swung out. He turned his head back a few times, trying to give the guy the impression he was nervous. Just a few more seconds. Come on, Jon, come on, dude! Put the pedal to the metal and get the hell out of here!
A loud warning siren blasted out behind him and then shut off. Kevin turned again to look over his shoulder and slowed even more, acting like he was looking for a place to pull over.
Another siren blast came, followed by a voice over a speaker. “Pull your motorcycle over to the right and shut off your engine. Remain seated on the bike.”
Kevin complied, knowing he’d done everything he could to get Jonathan to safety. His heart was hammering in his chest as if he’d actually run all those miles he’d just driven, on a rugby field. He felt both triumphant and scared to death. The fact that this could be the beginning of the end of his life was freaking him out. His survival instinct was humming, telling him he wasn’t ready to die. He wasn’t ready to just follow the hangman to the gallows. He had to think of a way out of this. Whatever it took, he was going to do it.
The police officer sat in his car, talking on the radio to someone. After a couple of minutes that felt more like an hour, he got out of the car with a small clipboard in his hand. Kevin waited, flexing his hands over and over on the handles, trying to work off the nervous energy that had his muscles jumping.
“Good afternoon,” said the cop, drawing up next to him.
Kevin nodded. “Afternoon.”
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“Uh, no. I wasn’t speeding, I know that. An
d I used my turn-signals.”
“Yes, you are correct. But you were impeding the flow of traffic to begin with, and then when I signaled to go around you, you blocked my progress. Now, why would you do that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, officer.” Kevin was making stuff up as he went along. The officer’s statements were giving him just the tiniest bit of hope that he might get out of this. “I was just driving along, and then all of a sudden you were tailgating me. It kind of freaked me out, if you want to know the truth.”
“You swerved out to block me,” said the officer, now sounding irritated.
“No, I didn’t. I looked over my shoulder to see who was on my tail, possibly going to knock me off my bike, and I realized it was you back there. Then I got a little freaked out that a cop was there trying to run me over.”
“License and registration, please.”
Fuck me. “Can I get off the bike to get it for you? It’s in my bag.”
“Go ahead. Take your helmet off, too.”
Kevin took the helmet off and put it on the back of the bike, balancing it so he could grab it if necessary. He unzipped the pouch he’d gone through thoroughly while he was waiting at the gas station and pulled out the papers inside. “Here’s the registration.” He handed it over and then dug through the bag some more. He felt around in his back pocket and mimed a very upset expression. “Shit, man. I left my wallet at home.”
The officer lifted an eyebrow. “You left your wallet at home? Does that mean you have no license?”
“No, man. It means I have a license, but I left it at home.”
“Give me your full name.”
Kevin smiled. “Mike. Michael Hart. Do you need my address? I can give that to you now too if you want.”
“Yeah, go ahead.” The cop stood ready with his pen poised above his clipboard.
“One-one-zero Maple Drive. It’s in town here.” He gave the officer the zip code and then coughed, trying to hide the satisfaction he was experiencing from knowing that he’d done the right thing by memorizing that stuff off the registration. At the time he’d thought he was being overly paranoid. He should have known his instinct to expect the worst would be right on target.
“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Kevin nodded. He watched the officer go back to his car, and after a minute or so, got back on the motorcycle. The cop was going to run the registration, but hopefully that wouldn’t cause any problems. It was the license issue that had Kevin freaking out. He didn’t know what the cop’s computer could do from his car - maybe nothing, maybe everything. But there was no point worrying about any of it until the officer made a move. Kevin knew he needed to keep as calm as possible so he would have the energy he needed to do what needed to be done.
He took the helmet and held it in his lap. It was in pretty good shape, obviously never having been in an accident. One hand stroked its shiny surface, while the other reached up to adjust the handles of the bike a little so he could watch the officer in his mirrors. The guy was talking on his radio and then writing some stuff down.
After a while, the officer got out of the car and came walking over. “Son … we have a little problem. You want to step over to my vehicle with me for a minute?”
Kevin’s heart stopped beating for a few seconds, and the blood drained from his face. He shrugged to act all nonchalant while the rest of his body tried to get back to functioning again. Heartbeat re-engaged. He got off the bike and put the helmet on the seat. “Sure,” he said, his voice sounding gruff. What is it? It’s the license thing; I know it is. I should have just taken off. Dammit!
The officer leaned into his car and pulled his laptop out a little so it was hovering on a platform over his seat. “You see this picture?” He pointed to the screen where the image of a driver’s license was sitting, blown up to super-size.
“Yeah.”
“That’s not you.”
“Yeah, I can see that. So?” Stay calm. Stay cool. Act like he’s the idiot.
The officer looked at him and frowned. “It’s supposed to be you.”
“Says who?”
“Says the Department of Motor Vehicles, that’s who.”
“What? I don’t get it.” Frown. Look confused. Look innocent!
The officer gestured angrily at the screen. “That’s your driver license, but that’s not you!”
“Dude, it’s not my driver’s license. Anyone can see that. The picture is of some other guy I’ve never seen before.” Kevin shook his head. “Is this some kind of joke?” He paused and then smiled hugely. “Oh … wait … I get it. You’re punking me, aren’t you?” He looked around as if searching for hidden cameras. Kevin raised his voice, yelling out to the nearby houses. “Alright, assholes … you can come out now! You got me! I fell for it!” Kevin looked back at the cop, still smiling big. “Those guys are such dicks. I can’t believe they got you to go along with it. Did they pay you, or what?”
“Mister Hart, this is not a joke, and you’re not being punked. Please go back to your vehicle and wait for me. I need to make some calls and get to the bottom of this.”
Kevin shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say.” He looked around and yelled out one more time to make it look as convincing as possible. “Fuck you, Barry! Kiss my ass, Bill!” When he reached the bike he got on it, acting casual, keeping the helmet in his lap. He watched as the cop got into his car and put a cell phone to his head.
What the hell should I do? Take off? Wait and see what happens? He decided pretty quickly that waiting would be a bad idea. The guy was going to call for backup or maybe even call this guy Mike’s house, and then he’d be screwed. That left only one solution. He had to go for it.
He took one last look in his rearview mirror and made his decision. He lifted the helmet up to his head, slammed it down, turned the key in the ignition, and pressed the gray button. He was shooting off like a rocket and halfway into his first turn before the cop even realized what was happening.
Kevin leaned into every turn like he was on a racetrack. In and out of neighborhoods, over curbs and yards, he did everything he could to shorten his path to freedom and put as much distance between himself and the friggin persistent-as-hell cop behind him. He cut through residential and business areas, even hiding for a while behind some warehouses. Eventually he found his way back out onto a main road and left town, going in the opposite direction of the cabin. He had to shut down any chance they’d see him and track him to his family. It was his only option.
***
Sarah came running out of the cabin as soon as she heard the car. She was so relieved to see Jonathan getting out of the driver’s seat, she nearly cried. Her relief turned to worry as soon as she caught a glimpse of his expression.
“What happened?! Where’s Kevin?!” she shouted from the stairs.
“I’m not sure. Help me get the car into the shed.”
Sarah ran over and helped Jonathan open the doors. She held the one that didn’t hang straight to keep it open until he’d pulled the car all the way in. As soon as he was out, they both closed the shed up again, securing the doors with a turn of the handle.
“Come inside. I’ll tell you what I know,” Jonathan said, his voice without emotion. It made Sarah’s queasiness come back full-force.
They went into Candi’s room and woke her up. Her hair was a complete mess and her voice was hoarse, but as soon as she heard Kevin hadn’t made it back she woke right up, grabbing onto Jonathan’s hands. “What happened? Tell me!”
Jonathan pulled himself out of her grip and held up his hands in a calming gesture. “I will. Just relax so I can think it all through. It was a little confusing.”
He related the story of the grocery store distraction and Kevin coming to his rescue. Finishing, he said, “So I got away and came here after going through a bunch of neighborhood streets, just making sure I was really alone. But Kevin got left behind, and I don’t know whether he tried to outru
n the guy or if he’s still trying to keep him away from me … or worse.”
“Didn’t you guys have a plan?” asked Sarah.
“Yeah, you always have a plan,” said Candi. “Always. You would never do anything like that without one.”
Jonathan’s face turned a little pink. “Yeah, well, we had a plan. I believe it was called a Just-Say-What-The-Fuck plan.”
Candi’s nose flared. “Don’t tell me … let me guess. That was Kevin’s idea, right?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
Candi just shook her head, angry for some reason.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked.
“Yes, of course I am! And at him, too!”
“Why? We did everything we could to do the right thing. It’s just that the police officer who latched himself onto you was very persistent with me, too. He waited at that grocery store all that time you were gone. Why would he do that?”
“Maybe he had a hunch,” said Sarah. “Cops get those, you know. It’s not just in the movies. I guess we’re just lucky he didn’t call in a bunch of his friends to help him out. Kevin at least has a chance against just one guy.”
“You think so?” asked Candi, sounding on the verge of tears.
“Of course,” assured Sarah. “Come on, you know Kevin. Would he just walk into some cop’s arms and give up?”
Candi shook her head. Jonathan did the same.
“Right. So we just keep doing what we’re doing, and hopefully he’ll get his butt back here in a little while.”
“And if he doesn’t?” asked Candi, her voice sounding annoyingly pitiful.
“Well, I guess we have confidence that he’s not an idiot and that he’s strong, and he won’t give up his name or anything and get sent back home. He’ll be safe in jail. Probably safer than we will be sitting out here.”
Candi nodded. She didn’t look very convinced, but at least she wasn’t doing that crazy moaning thing she had been earlier.
“He has the motorcycle,” said Jonathan. “I’m sorry we lost it, even if it’s only temporarily until he gets back.”
“Hey, crap happens,” said Sarah, shrugging. “We have enough food to last for at least a week. Maybe more, since Kevin isn’t here. We’ll be fine. Maybe next time we want to shop we should go the other direction to another town, though.”