Indigo Incite (The Indigo Trilogy) (9 page)

Sarah
had stopped to stare and realized that, in doing so, she was holding up the
flow of customers who were in line to exit the store. She pushed her cart off
to the side, took out her phone, and pretended to send a text while she
considered her options. After a minute of deliberation, she decided that she
wasn’t mentally prepared for any sort of confrontation and continued on. She
resisted the urge to look back and kept her sights on the exit.

The sky
began to spit miniscule snowflakes as she walked toward the truck. Her hands
shook—not from the cold but from nerves—as she all but threw the boxes from the
cart into the back of the truck. Without wasting time to return the cart, to
the cart corral, she left it beside the truck, jumped into the front seat, and
made a beeline for the exit.

Before
she turned onto the street, she checked her rearview mirror to see if she was
being followed, but there was no one behind her. Maybe her overactive imagination
had played tricks on her after all.

It
wasn’t until she had exited the freeway and was headed down the quiet highway
to Granite Falls that she was able to relax. Another check in the mirror
revealed an aging, red minivan but no one else. She breathed a sigh of relief
and shook her head at her excitable state of mind. Obviously no one had followed
her.

She
adjusted the volume on her favorite radio station and turned her thoughts back
to her morning visitors. Why would they claim that she was in danger unless it
were true? What could they possibly have to gain from her involvement? They
hadn’t asked for money, so it wasn’t like they would benefit financially. She
drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. Was it possible that there was an
ounce of truth behind their story?

For a
few moments, she noted the evergreen trees, fields of horses, and occasional
houses. Then her surroundings became indiscernible as she replayed their
conversation in her head. But after reviewing everything they had told her, she
was drawn back to her original conclusion. “They must have had the wrong
person.” She spoke out loud but found that her fears weren’t suppressed. She
couldn’t unleash the feeling that she was being followed. She began to doubt
herself and wondered, not for the first time, if it had been a mistake to send
Eddie and Liliana away.

“But,
why would anyone want to find me?” she asked herself, out loud. “What purpose
could they possibly have?”

They
want to find you, so they can get to me
, the voice in her head replied.

The
truck swerved dangerously close to the ditch, on the side of the road. With a
racing pulse, Sarah realized that she had crossed the white line and quickly
straightened her course. For a minute she focused to keep the truck between the
lines, but soon her thoughts wandered as she thought about the voice.

She took
her left hand off of the steering wheel and placed it on her baby bump. It
wasn’t possible, was it? Her rational mind told her that she was ridiculous;
mothers didn’t hear the thoughts of their unborn babies. And yet…what else
could explain the distinct voice in her head?

"They
want to find you, so they can get to me", the voice had said.
Is that
the answer
? she wondered.
Maybe the kidnappers aren’t interested in me
at all. Is it possible they’re after the baby?

As she
contemplated this new idea, a black four-door sedan came up from behind and
passed her on the two-lane highway. Sarah checked her speed; she was going five
miles per hour over the speed limit.
Hmm, they must be in a hurry
, she
thought. Just as soon as the car had passed and taken the lead, however, it
slowed down. It slowed enough so that Sarah was forced to reduce her speed to
twenty miles per hour below the speed limit.

There
were double yellow lines, and so she had to follow at the snail speed for two
miles. Once it was safe to pass, she took the first opportunity. She looked
over to get a glimpse at the driver but couldn’t see through the vehicle’s
dark, tinted windows.

After
she had safely passed, she reset her speed, and then glanced in the rearview
mirror to see if the car now lagged behind. Her heart skipped a beat when she
discovered that the black vehicle was now riding her bumper.

With
both hands firmly gripped to the steering wheel, she glanced at the road sign.
The town was still eight miles in the distance. She debated if she should pull
off at the nearest gas station or if she should continue on to the restaurant.

Slowly,
she increased her speed—not too much, just enough to get to town faster. She
also hoped that the increase in speed would encourage the driver to back off.
This was not the case; as her speed increased, the driver matched it and stayed
dangerously close to her bumper.

It
occurred to her then that if she slowed the vehicle might pass her, once more.
She didn’t tap her breaks to draw attention but took her foot off of the gas
pedal and allowed the truck to gradually slow on its own. The car continued to
match her speed for a minute, and then, it suddenly swerved around her and
narrowly missed an oncoming semi before it shifted back into her lane and
continued ahead. For a moment it seemed as though the driver was going to speed
off and leave her behind, but then he slowed, and Sarah found herself stuck
behind him, once again.

Like a
vision of a water mirage in the desert, a gas station miraculously came into
view about half a mile up the road. She continued to follow behind the car at
the same speed. Her pulse continued to race as she neared the gas station, and
then, just as the car passed the entrance, Sarah slammed on the brakes,
careened into the parking lot, and brought the truck to a sudden stop in front
of the building.

She
looked in the rearview mirror to see if the black vehicle had retreated;
thankfully it was nowhere in sight. She wished that she could call her husband.
If he were home, he would run to her rescue. But, she couldn’t call him, and
she was on her own. She wondered if there was enough cause to call the police.
What would they say if she told them that she had been harassed on the highway?
The car was gone, and she hadn’t gotten the license plate. They would probably
tell her that there was nothing they could do.

Frustrated
and feeling helpless, she leaned back, pressed her head against the back of the
headrest, and kept watch in the rearview mirror. And then, just as suddenly as
they had disappeared, they were back. The black car had returned and was parked
at the entrance by the road.

I’m
safe. This is a public place
, she thought. Her self-affirmation did little to sway her
fears as she realized that there were no other vehicles at the gas station.
Still, she decided that she wasn’t going to sit there and hide. She grabbed her
cell phone, stepped out of the truck, and took a firm stance. She couldn’t see
them but had no doubt that the occupants concealed behind the dark windows were
the man and woman from the restaurant. She was also certain that, from behind
the veiled windows, they had their eyes trained directly on her.

Her
glare didn’t falter as she made a production of holding up her cell phone. She
pretended to dial a number and then placed the phone up to her ear.
Let them
think I’m calling the police
, she thought. For a moment, she wondered why
she didn’t just call the police, but she remembered Eddie’s answer to that same
question.
The people who are after us are more powerful than the police
,
he had told her.

They
might be more powerful than the police, but it looks like they don’t want to
face them right now
,
she thought with glee, as she watched the car pull onto the road and continue
the drive toward town.

She
climbed into the truck and immediately pushed the lock button.
Now what
?
she wondered.

Now
you go to the airport and find Eddie
, the voice in her head clearly responded.

She
placed her hands and forehead on the steering wheel. “What am I supposed to
tell Aunt Mae?” she asked out loud.

The
voice didn’t respond, but she figured that sitting in a parked truck would get
her nowhere. Before she had time to reconsider her actions, she pulled a small
piece of paper out of her pocket and dialed the number. The phone rang, and
rang, and rang. She listened to his message and then the beep. “Hi, Eddie...”
she began.

*****

When she
reached the inn, she half expected to find the black car waiting, but
thankfully, it was nowhere in sight.

The
pelting snow had been replaced with large, fluffy flakes. It fell heavily from
the low-lying clouds; already, the ground was white. As she hauled her
purchases inside, she noticed the imprints of her footsteps between the truck
and restaurant. The snow was piling up fast.

On her second
trip through the backdoor into the kitchen, she ran into Julie. “Hey, how was
that table I left you with? You know, the couple who looked like they were from
out of town? Did you find out anything about them?”

“Oh
yeah, they were quite the pair, weren’t they?” Julie replied. “No, I didn’t
find out much. They said that they were just visiting and checking out the
area, but that’s about all that I gathered. They weren’t quite dressed right to
be checking out the local sites if you ask me. But whatever. They left a
twenty-dollar tip. I’ll split it with you, of course.”

Sarah
was disappointed that Julie hadn’t discovered more but hadn’t expected that she
would have. “Don’t worry about it. You did the hard work, you deserve the tip.
It’s yours.”

“Really?
Thanks! Next time we get rich looking tourists, they’re all yours.”

“Thanks.
Hey, I’m going to head out of town for a couple of days. Do you think that your
sister could work and cover for me?” A few drops of water, from her
snow-covered hair dripped down her forehead, and she brushed them away with her
gloved hand.

“Yeah, I
don’t see why not. Are you supposed to work tonight?”

“No, I
don’t work again until Monday.”

“All
right. I’ll let her know.”

“That’s
great. Tell her I said 'Thank you', all right?”

“I will.
Where are you going?”

“I’m
just heading back home for a couple of days to say hi to friends and stuff. I
should be back within the week.”

“Cool. Well,
have fun. We’ll miss you.”

“Thanks.”
Sarah hoped that she was realistic and a week was all that would be needed.

She found
her aunt, in the house they shared behind the inn. After she had provided a
similar explanation for her departure, she packed a bag with a week’s worth of
clothes and walked back toward the restaurant where she had left her car.

She
tossed her duffel bag into the back seat and was ready to hit the road but was
soon frustrated to discover that the car wouldn’t start. She turned the key
twice more, but the results were the same. The car was dead.

That’s
odd
, she thought.
The
weather is cold, but it’s not that cold. The car should start. It worked just
fine this morning
. She got out of the car, closed the door, and stood in
the falling snow.
So much for that plan
, she thought.

A
screech of a woman’s voice from across the parking lot caught her attention. It
was followed by a declaration of, “Chuck! Don’t let the door close!”

She
looked over to see the source of the raucous and spotted the funny older couple
she had served that morning. They stood outside of the first motel room, next
to the office. The woman with the purple sweater was throwing her hands in the
air as she shouted at her husband, “My purse was still in there! Now we’re
going to have to find someone with a key to let us back in!”

“I’m
sorry, Bonnie. Had I known that your purse was in there, I wouldn’t have closed
the door. I told you to check to make sure that you had all of your things,”
replied the man in the blue flannel shirt.

Sarah
chuckled to herself and headed across the parking lot to assist them.

“Hi
there,” Sarah said. “It looks like you got yourselves locked out of your room.
I’d be happy to help.”

“Oh,
look, Chuck. It’s that nice waitress from this morning.”

Sarah smiled.
“Hi again! I have a master key. I can let you back in your room. Have you
already checked out?”

“Yep,”
Chuck affirmed. “We
were
just headed out for the airport, until my wife
here locked her purse in the room.”

“
I
locked my purse in the room?
I
did that?
Really
?” his wife
exclaimed.

Sarah
fought to contain her laughter as she listened to the couple’s tirade. “Here,
it’s not a problem,” she interrupted. “We’ll get your purse out in a jiffy.”
Sarah took out her key ring, found the master key, and let the woman into the
room to retrieve her purse.

While
she stood beside Chuck on the sidewalk, a sudden thought occurred to Sarah. If
these two were heading for the airport, maybe they could give her a ride. The
people in the black SUV would never look for her in a Buick rental with an overweight
balding man and his loud-mouthed wife. If she went with them, she wouldn’t have
to worry about her car until she returned.