Chapter 4

Chapter 4

           

Evan woke a few hours after the night’s ordeal in a cold sweat. His mind racing with the last few images of Deep glowing red eyes and snarling, crooked teeth. He looked over at the clock on the dresser and it read 6:53 AM. His alarm would go off in seven minutes anyways so he threw the covers back and stumbled into the bathroom only after turning the alarm off on the clock so it wouldn’t wake his wife who still lay slumbering in their bed. The sleep was heavy in his eyes but regardless he turned the water to the shower. He slid his boxers off and then put them into the laundry hamper in the bathroom then stepped in the shower. Immediately he jumped out and turned the knob down so the water would be colder. After his shower he shaved and brushed his teeth. He stumbled into his room with the towel still wrapped around his waist. At his dresser he let the towel fall off. From behind he heard a cat whistle and spun around to see his wife on one elbow on the bed looking at him with a faint smile on her face.

            “You like what you see, huh?” Evan asked.

            “Better believe it.” Emily replied. She then blew him a kiss gently which he snagged out of the air. She smiled and rolled back over pulling the covers up to her neck. Evan put on a fresh pair of boxers, socks and an undershirt. He then went to the closet and put on his navy blue suit with a light pink, blue and white vertically stripped shirt. His tie was simply black. He put on his shoes and walked back into the bedroom. Emily was sitting on the edge of the bed.

            “I thought we were going on vacation.” She asked.

            Evan remembered the events of the night then shrugged. “I guess I didn’t know what I was talking about.” He said with a smile then sat on the bed next to his wife.

            “Well then. Go get ‘em tiger.” She said then kissed him gently. Her face was still saturated with sleep, and Evan knew she’d likely fall back asleep after he left. He kissed her back then said, “If my presentation goes through, I’ll get the raise, and we’ll really go on vacation,” He kissed her again then finished, “OK baby?”

            She smiled and kissed him softly; passionately. He returned his affection with the same kiss. After their kiss Evan put the covers up over his wife after she laid back down, kissed her head gently then left the room.

            He went to his son’s room where the boy lay in a bed with a frame that looked like a small red racecar. Evan stood in the door way looking in on his son with a smile on his face. He said softly into the room, “I love you Mike-Mike.” Mike-Mike is what Evan and Emily had started calling Michael. Evan closed the door gently then proceeded to go down the stairs to the kitchen. The coffee pot in the kitchen was one of those automatic brewers, so by 7:15 in the morning the coffee would be ready without fail. Sure enough a fresh pot had been brewed so Evan poured himself a cup.

            He set it on the table then went to the living room which was connected and turned on the TV to the early morning news. The meteorologist this morning only confirmed what the one said last night: today was going to be bright and sunny, 72 as the high, 47 as the low with a slight breeze. After the weather the newscaster gave a brief preview of what was next then the channel went to a commercial. During the commercial Evan toasted himself a bagel and buttered it when it was finished cooking.

            By this time the news was back on and the newscaster told of a play going on at the local high school that the last night to see it was tonight. Then the newscaster went into a story about a jail break a few days ago that happened. Evan paid little attention to it and sipped some of his coffee. When the newscaster said the name of the escapee he almost spit his coffee across the table and after he wiped the little bit of coffee that escaped past his lips and on to the chin, the TV had his full attention.

            “Jake Mercado escaped from the state penitentiary last Saturday and is still at large and on the run. He is considered very dangerous and if you have any information on his whereabouts please inform your local police. As some of you may remember eleven years ago Jake Mercado murdered two people, Ellen Harrison and Fred Salazar.” The newscaster went on and told the events from eleven years ago but Evan tuned her out because he knew the rest of the story.

            Evan went to the phone with his mug of coffee in his hand and snagged it off the receiver. He held the phone there in his hand looking at it, debating whether or not to call the police. He took a drink of his coffee with his eyes focused over the cup still looking at the phone. Before he finished his drink he hung the phone up. He finished his coffee as he went over and turned off the TV. At the door he snagged the keys to his 2010 Honda Accord. He felt rather stereotypical: a man that lives in a rather plain looking suburban community that has a job in a little cubical. He wears a suit every day to his nine to five job. Oh well he though. Life is life.

            After he started the car he popped the trunk and went around and opened the trunk further to verify that his presentation was still there. It was so he slammed the trunk shut and went back the driver’s door. He opened it and got in. At this point he realized that he was still holding on to his empty mug. He looked at it and set it on the floor in the backseat.

            The sun hadn’t quite risen yet and the sky was a deep hue of blue. The exhaust of cars could be faintly seen billowing out of the tail pipes. Only the brightest, prominent stars could been seen now in the sky, as the darkness was fading and then sun was rising. His mind started to think about how life seems to be like that but dismissed the thought promptly. He was having a good day so far and he didn’t want to spoil it with personal philosophy.

            The moon, still full in the sky, lost most of its luster that it had earlier in the night as the sun was starting to reclaim its spot in the sky.  The cars in front of Evan on the freeway scared him. Their red tail lights which shown in through the windshield transformed into the red eyes of the beast from his nightmare. He tried to dismiss the thought of the horrible beast and turned on the radio.

            Life suddenly seemed like the movies; the AM radio station he was tuned into was a morning news report and it was talking about the jail break of Jake Mercado. He changed the station to a different frequency and it was an old time radio station re-run and the story being told was talking about a man being chased by some type of creature. He finally turned off his radio and a few minutes later he pulled into a parking spot in the parking lot of his work. He looked up at the office building in which he worked and let out a sigh. The nervous butterflies suddenly swarmed in his stomach and he hoped that the boss would approve of his project.

 

***

 

            “What did I do Jake?” Hunter asked.

            Jake remained silent and pulled into an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. In the warehouse he did a U-turn and faced the truck towards the garage door. He put the truck in park, turned it off then got out and closed the garage door. Hunter was still sitting in the truck with blood on his clothes, blood on his hands which were lying palms up on each of his legs. He was sitting in the blood on the seat, leaning against the passenger’s door which also had blood on it.

            His forehead was pressed against the window staring out. He was no longer crying but his eyes were still red. Jake looked at his watch. It read 6:45 AM. It had been almost 5 hours since they were at Evan’s house, since Delia was shot. They had gone to the gravel pit that was ten miles outside of the city.

            There they had set Delia on the edge of the pit and while hunter knelt beside her lifeless body holding her hand, brushing her hair back with his fingers crying softly and whispering things to her while Jake went to the nearest bulldozer and started it up. They were at least a mile from the road and the only light came from the moon. Hunter said his last goodbye’s and gently pushed Delia over the edge down into the seemingly bottomless pit.

            Jake scooped up a bucket full of dirt with the bulldozer and gently dumped over the edge where Delia’s body should have lain. After Jake dumped the whole bucket he went and got another and dumped it again gently in the same spot. After he dumped the second load he put the dozer back where he found it. The entire time Hunter stood there looking into the pit. All he could see was a vast emptiness but he knew she was lying there; her beautiful lifeless body. By now his tears were dry and he whispered one last time, “I love you.”

            Jake stood next to Hunter, one hand on his shoulder looking into the darkness.

            “You OK, buddy?” Jake asked him. Hunter said nothing. He just stood there a long moment then slowly turned around and walked to the truck. He got in and sat in the position that he currently is in. Jake drove them back to town. He was hungry and asked Hunter if he wanted anything but he said nothing. Jake didn’t have any blood on him so he went into a 24 hour grocery store that had a deli in it and left Hunter alone in the truck. Jake stood there in the parking lot looking at Hunter in the truck. He looked so pathetic sitting there. Jake turned around and went in the store.

            Jake grabbed a pre made sandwich and went to the purchased it. He didn’t see any other customer in the store and he looked at his watch and realized why. It was only 4:38 in the morning. The cashier looked tired and bored. He seemed as though he was in his late teens, maybe 18, and his face was pocked with acne. He had long hair and wore some type of heavy metal band T-shirt under the stores apron. His long hair crossed half his face and ended just above his jaw line and he had a lip piercing in each side of his lower lip, Jake thought he heard them called ‘snake bites’ at one time.

 He checked the item then gave Jake the total. “Four dollars and thirty-six pennies, bro.”

Another customer came in line behind Jake. They smiled at each other faintly, courteously. Jake paid the cashier and took his sandwich. The other customer didn’t put anything on the counter to buy and he didn’t have anything in his arms. He seemed rather nervous but Jake just shrugged him off and walked out.

            He drove all the way back to the other side of the city to the warehouse where he was now eating his sandwich. Hunter still sat in the truck, his blank stare transfixed on the cement outside. Jake finished his sandwich then went to the truck. He rapped on the passenger’s window gently and it took a minute for Hunter to look up. Jake opened the door and Hunter looked at him and said, “Why?”

Jake didn’t answer. He simply helped Hunter out of the truck gently and helped him to the shower. Jake didn’t know what they use to do in the warehouse; all he knows is that it has living quarters and showers. Jake half dragged Hunter to the showers. Hunter moved his feet lazily. They drug along the concrete as he moved them forward for a step. For every two steps Jake took, Hunter took one. “Clean up Hunter. I’ll go get you some new clothes. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.” Jake ordered Hunter. Hunter went over and turned on the shower. He stood under the water but he didn’t undress. His plaid button up shirt clung to his body and his jeans turned a darker shade of blue while his hair matted to his head. He didn’t move. He just stood there.

Jake closed the door to the showers just so Hunter had a little privacy. He went to the truck and opened the passenger side door. There was dried blood in some places where it had been thin and on the seat where it pooled from Delia it was still wet, a thin crust forming on the top of the pools. Jake knew that he’d never be able to clean it all out, that his seats would be stained forever. The sight of all the blood started to make him nauseous, which it never had but then again he had never sat and looked at so much for so long. He went to the sleeping courters of the warehouse where there were still bunk beds which still had mattresses and linens on them. He went to one of the many bunks and pulled the blanket off as well as the sheets and headed back for the truck. He used the wool blanket to sop up as much of the blood as he could, then used the sheets to clean up as much of the rest as he could.

By the time he was done there were light spots of dull red circles on his seats with a dark red crust outlining around them. The inside of the door was a crusted mess and would have to be deep cleaned later like the rest of the truck. Jake wadded up the bloody linens then threw them in a corner of the warehouse to be dealt with later. He went back to the truck, reached in around the steering wheel and started it. He then went over and threw the garage door open and went back to his truck and climbed into the driver’s seat. He sped out and down the large, long dirt drive way to the gate. At the gate he stopped and looked at his watch which read 7:30. He made a left turn onto the highway and headed towards the city.

He looked up in his rearview mirror to check traffic behind him and he thought he saw the nervous looking man from the grocery store, but the man in the car behind him made the next left so Jake ignored him. The morning was gorgeous. The sun was just now peaking up over the mountains in the east. But when Jake looked ahead towards the north, all he saw was a dark mass of clouds rolling up behind the few sky scrapers in the city, waiting to release their onslaught of water.

            When Jake arrived in the city he made various turns at the stoplights needed and pulled into the grocery store he had stopped at a few hours ago. Inside he found a small section with some sweats and a T-shirt with the town’s name on them, some socks, briefs, and some cheap tennis shoes. He gathered all those items and wrapped them up under his left arm then went to one of the various hygiene isles.

There he found some deodorant and some cheap cologne and gathered those too. He found himself at the same checkout stand that he checked out last night but the hard rocker teenager was not there. Instead it was a perky looking brunette girl. She looked like she was about 16. She had her long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail which was tied close to her scalp with a blue and white ribbon. She was very slender and her smile was beautiful but annoying. Her teeth were straight and white, and Jake new that she had braces at one point in time and she was diligent about keeping her teeth clean as she was seemed very clean about everything. He wouldn’t be surprised if she brushed after every meal. Her long hair was clean and straight, her clothes looked ironed and they were designer brand. The flower ring on her ring finger on her left hand was straight. Her name tag was straight. All this perfection about her bothered Jake. What bothered him more was that that perfect smile was beaming at him almost too brightly. She seemed so happy to be alive.

Jake set his items down on the conveyer belt and they went closer and closer to the perfect girl. She gladly picked them up and scanned them and set them in the bag. While she was scanning his items Jake noticed that four more shoppers lined up behind him. He looked around and noticed that this was the only isle opened. He focused his attention on the perfect girl scanning his items. Her smile was still on her face and Jake wanted to smash her stupid perfect teeth in. After she had scanned all his items she hit a few buttons and told him his total. She said it with a bounce, the smile never fading. Jake pulled out his wallet and looked up at the screen behind her head to confirm his total. She looked at him smiling to happily and he retrieved a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to her.

She snagged it out of his hands and put it in the drawer. She went to get his change but before she could retrieve all of it Jake stopped her and grabbed his bag. “Keep the change.” He said and started to walk away. He ignored her as she kept calling after him insisting he take his change. He had to get away from that perfect girl. At his truck in the parking lot as Jake was fumbling with his keys and noticed a cop driving by slowly, the cop passed by then suddenly stopped and proceeded to back up. The cop pulled up into the parking stall that was one away from Jake, pushed a few buttons on his laptop then climbed out of his patrol car.

By this time Jake had his door unlocked and opened and had just thrown his shopping bag onto the passenger’s seat. He was about to climb in his truck when the officer stopped him.

“Sir, may I have a word with you?” the officer asked.

Jake objected politely telling the officer he was in a rush and had to be to work soon. The officer then put his hand on his gun and took a defensive stance and said in a stern voice, “Jake Mercado you are under arrest. Please step out of the vehicle and place you hands on your head.”

They finally caught him. Jakes mind was racing furiously to think of a way to get away. He stepped back down and shut the door slowly keeping one hand up. Jake turned around with both hands up. The cop then grabbed one of his hands but not as firmly as he should have. Jake flipped his hand around and grabbed the cop’s wrist. He placed his other hand behind the cop’s neck holding it firmly and spun him around at the same time pinning the cop’s hand firmly high between his shoulder blades. With the hand on the officer’s neck Jake firmly moved the cop’s face towards the roof of his cruiser. The sound of his forehead hitting the metal made a satisfying thump and Jake proceeded to plant the officer’s head and face firmly on the roof several more times with a satisfying smirk on his face.

The whole take down only took about four seconds. The cop was out cold and Jake let him slump to the ground. Several people in the parking lot were gaping at him. One of the people pulled his cell phone out of the pocket and started to dial. A couple of thug looking teens that were standing by the carts passing around a cigarette was cheering for Jake. Jake snagged the radio off the cop and jumped in his truck and raced out of the parking lot and out of the city.

He raced back to the warehouse doing close to ninety miles an hour in a fifty zone most of the way. On his way there his mind was racing trying to figure out what to do now. He had the police radio but the battery only will last for so long. As he sped onto the dirt road his back end slid out. He corrected his vehicle and raced into the warehouse. On his way in his almost hit the wall, missing the opening but instead he whacked his mirror on the edge of the wall and his door made a loud screech as it scraped against it. He skidded to a stop and threw open the door. He didn’t bother to turn off the truck. He ran to the showers where he left Hunter and called out his name. He threw the door open and found Hunter standing under the water still in his clothes facing the wall, but this time with the .38 revolver in his hand.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A lot of events in this chapter. The escape from the police to the ending facing Hunter. No weakness in this action filled chapter. Good description made the story come alive. Thank you for the excellent chapter.
Coyote