“You don't know me, but I believe I know the kind of man you are. I'm gambling that you would never dismiss a woman in distress. Please.”
Leaving the engine idling, Rudy climbed out of the car.
A non-descript black sedan crept forward between him and Grant's Toyota.
The man behind the wheel gave Rudy a long hard stare as he slowed his car to a stop.
Rudy coolly returned the stare. He reached down into the pocket of his jacket.
The sedan pulled abruptly away.
Rudy’s fingers loosened from around the hidden switchblade in his pocket as he watched the sedan sail down the ramp leading to the exit of the garage. When he finally looked over to Grant's parking space, he found the Toyota gone.
“Shit!”
13
A thin misty rain had begun to fall as the Toyota pulled to a stop at the airport’s small police substation.
Maddy peered out her window. “What’s this?”
“Airport police. You'll be safe here,” Grant replied, glancing into his rear-view mirror.
“No-no-no,” Maddy said, stiffening anxiously. “Look, I know you think this will help, but you just don't know what these people are capable of.”
“They aren't after you. Trust me when I say...”
The black sedan screeched to a stop just in front of them, effective cutting Grant off. Grant watched with trepidation as two men in black raincoats emerged from the car.
“Maybe you should just go ahead and get out now,” Grant urged his passenger.
Maddy closed her eyes and lowered her head.
“Are you okay?” Grant asked her.
“First, get the door. Wait. Wait.”
Grant studied her with steadily growing concern. “Ma’am, what’s wrong?” he asked.
The taller of two men appeared at Grant's window, motioning for him to lower it.
Grant tried to get a good look at the man’s face, but the rain on his window partnered with the fog on the window from the heat inside the cabin, made it difficult for him to focus.
“These people are not interested in you. Just open the door and go to the police right outside,” Grant attempted to reassure Maddy. “Can you hear me?”
Maddy blindly reached out and put her hand on the handle of her door. She shook her head twice, then suddenly nodded resolutely. “Got it!” she snapped, opening her eyes and turning to Grant. “How do you feel about guns, Grant?”
“G-Guns?” Grant stared at her with confusion. “Did you just call me by my name?”
Just outside Maddy’s window, a uniformed police officer in a green rain coat stepped out of the substation.
The tall man in the black raincoat knocked loudly on Grant’s window. “Sir, will you step out of the car, please?” he asked in a low muffled voice.
Grant wiped his hand across the window to try and see more clearly, but it didn’t seem to help. The rain gave the man outside a foggy appearance.
Grant cranked his window down a crack. “She doesn’t have anything to do with any of this,” he called out. “I'll go along quietly to see your boss if you just let this woman go. Okay?”
The man seemed to look past Grant.
Through her own window, Maddy watched as the other Blank Man showed a uniformed police officer what looked like a badge. Unlike Grant, she could see the man outside very clearly.
“Step out of the car, sir,” the man on Grant’s side commanded.
“Grant, no!” Maddy snapped.
Grant pushed open the door, giving Maddy a discreet nod as he slid out.
The man stepped back slightly to allow Grant to climb out, then rushed forward, twisting his arm behind his back and effortlessly pressing him chest-first against the roof of his Toyota.
“Hey,” Grant exclaimed angrily.
The Blank Man’s hand disappeared into his coat and reappeared with a gun.
“Here we go,” Maddy murmured to herself shakily.
The second Blank Man started to open Maddy's door, but she threw all her weight against it. The corner of the door connected with his chin, sending him to the ground.
Maddy scrambled out and grabbed the arm of the officer.
“Help,” she shouted. “These men are not cops!”
Pushing her firmly aside, the officer dropped his right hand to his holster and unsnapped the guard as his left hand hit the transmit button on the radio attached to his coat pocket.
“Unit six! Lou! Get out here!”
The fallen Blank Man leapt up, burying his knee in the officer's crotch.
As the officer hit the ground, Maddy drew the officer's gun from his holster and pressed the gun to the Blank Man’s head.
“Down! Knees! Now,” Maddy barked in an authoritative voice. “You with the gun! Drop it!”
He stood stock still.
The Blank Man with Grant gave an almost infinitesimal nod and the other man dropped slowly to his knees. Grant attempted to look up over the roof, but Blank pushed him firmly against the car.
Turning her attention to the other man, Maddy called out: “Get rid of the gun and let go of him! Now!
The tall Blank Man did not move.
“Bert, you and your friend Ernie read my file?”
The taller Blank Man released Grant, returned his gun into his coat and backed away palms turned out to Maddy.
“Now go get in your car and keep your hands on the wheel where I can see them.”
Pushing away from his car, Grant looked from the Blank Man to Maddy. “You aren’t here for me?” He attempted to get a look at the man’s face but he smoothly turned aside. “Who are you with?” Grant demanded.
On his knees at Maddy’s feet, Ernie-Blank gave just the hint of a cold smile.
Bert-Blank dutifully climbed behind the wheel of the black sedan, the Toyota’s headlights brightly revealing every movement as he placed his hands almost demurely atop the steering wheel.
“Grant! Car! Now!”
Grant slid into the driver’s seat of the Toyota without hesitation, glancing over at the grimacing police officer rising slowly to his knees.
Maddy opened the passenger side door, rolled the window down and slid inside, all the while maintaining her aim on Ernie. “Grant, I’m going to fire this gun twice now, but no one will be hurt. You understand?”
“What? What?”
Hanging out the window, Maddy fired one shot each into the black sedan's left side tires. The car sank to one side.
On the driver’s side, Grant covered his head with both arms.
“Sorry-Sorry,” Maddy called out, sliding back inside. “I had to do it.
Grant slowly untangled himself and stared at Maddy with a mixture of shock and anger.
“I shot the tires. Yes, they're still breathing,” Maddy told him. “Drive the car. Now!”
Putting the car into reverse, Grant pulled the Toyota back far enough to get around the sedan and back onto the road.
Ernie-Blank slowly rose from the ground behind the crippled sedan watching the Toyota drive off into the night. Bert climbed out from the behind the wheel and stood beside the car just as a black Mercedes cruised past.
Rudy rolled down his passenger window and surveyed the scene as he passed them.
“I’ll call AAA for you,” Rudy called out, accelerating past.
Bert-Blank yanked his cell phone from its holster and hit the speed-dial.
The police officer finally rose to his feet, patting the empty holster at his side. “Aw hell.”
Turning slightly away from him and without seeming to aim, Ernie-Blank drew a gun and pumped two shots into the policeman —head and chest, perfectly placed-- then returned the gun to his coat.
“Scarlet Fever has spread,” Bert-Blank spoke into the phone.
14
Accelerating down the feeder road of the Beltway, Grant sat red-faced behind the wheel of his car, quietly attempting to digest his chaotic thoughts.
Maddy watched him patiently, trying unsu
ccessfully to gauge his level of anxiety.
Glancing over, his eyes fell on the gun that remained in her hand. His first thought was that he’d never been this close to a gun before, but then he remembered his tour of the chop-shop.
It had been a hell of a memorable couple of days for him.
Maddy followed his eyes and carefully placed the gun on the floor. “You should probably breathe now.”
Grant shot her a wide-eyed look then returned his eyes to the road. “How much trouble am I in right now? Am I going to prison for assaulting a federal agent?”
“Oh those weren’t FBI agents, Grra…Granted, I could see how you might think that.”
She tried to put on the brakes--True, it was a really feeble attempt at damage control--but she’d already said his name once and almost did it again. The only thing left to do was throw up a smoke screen, misdirect him, and hope that she hadn’t completely botched this up by displaying the crazy card too soon. She knew that it was coming but she had hoped to put it off as long as possible.
He shot her another warning. “Tell me how you know my name.”
“You introduced yourself in the restaurant,” she replied quickly, then before he could analyze it too deeply, she barreled forward. “But let’s get back to the gun. It belongs to a police officer and has my prints all over it, so we should get rid of it as soon as possible.”
Crazy card, she chastised herself again. Back your happy ass up, now, and stop talking before he kicks you completely out of his car!
Grant seemed to consider this, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He raised a finger then shook his head and instead pulled the car into the nearest gas station on the feeder road, pulling the car up to the nearest pump.
Too late, Maddy thought dejectedly.
“Out please,” he said in an even tone.
“I’m not a felon.”
“Out now,” he repeated, somewhat louder.
“Grant, you’ve already seen why I can’t involve local authorities. They are ill-equipped to deal with these people.”
“These people,” he murmured to himself. Turning his head away from her, Grant simply stared out his window with a hard expression. “We’ve all got our problems, apparently.”
“You can’t leave me out here in the middle of nowhere. These men are dangerous!”
“You’re at a public gas station two blocks from Bush International Airport,” he exclaimed. “I even gave you a hundred dollars!”
“See! That’s the thing. I know you’re a good man, Grant, for just that reason,” Maddy continued. “I could tell from the coffee shop.”
Grant threw his door open and leapt outside. Walking around the car, he stepped up to the pump and withdrew his wallet from his front pocket. He pulled his lone credit card out and held it out toward the pump. His hand quivered perceptibly as he attempted to slip the card into the appropriate slot. He took a deep breath and managed to settle his nerves enough to insert it.
When it accepted his card, he whistled appreciatively at the fact that it hadn’t been cancelled yet. On second thought, why would they stop him from running up his debt? This only justified the higher interest rates. Bigger racket than the mafia those credit card companies, yet people recklessly signed up for as many as possible.
As he began to fuel his car, the passenger door opened. Maddy slowly rose to her feet. “Thank you for the money, but I can’t take this,” she reached out and slapped the hundred dollar bill to the seat. “Sounds like from your conversation with Mr. Personality yesterday, that you need it more than I do.”
Grant glanced over at Maddy, who stood with her head lowered in front of the open passenger door. She lifted her satchel from the floor.
“Did you get the-the..?” he started, his eyes scanning the floor of the car.
“Gun? Yes?”
Grant sighed and turned his back to her.
“Look, can you at least spot me a bottled water before you leave?”
Grant looked over at Maddy. “Yeah. Okay.”
He turned and started toward the store. Just before entering, Grant glanced up above the entrance, spotting a surveillance camera scanning the parking lot.
“Grant!”
At the sound of his name, Grant turned as he was nearly to the entrance of the store. Maddy rushed across the lot and held out the keys he had left in the car’s ignition.
For a moment, Grant stared in confusion before reaching for them.
Maddy held fast for a moment and locked eyes with him. “This is a night which the Lord hath made. You’re an angel of God.”
Releasing the keys, Maddy started toward the store ahead of him.
“Hey, do me a favor and stay in the car,” Grant asked her, his eyes on the satchel on her shoulder.
Hesitating briefly, Maddy finally gave a smile and headed back to the Toyota. “Right, the gun. Sure thing.”
Grant gave a furtive glance at the camera one more time before starting into the store. He headed quickly to the refrigerated case at the back, craning his neck to glance out at his car one last time and nearly colliding with a diminutive little woman with an enormous beehive hairdo trying to reach a carton of milk on a rack just a bit too high for her.
Grant watched the woman struggle for a few moments before stepping around and retrieving the milk for her. “Can I help you with that, ma’am?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, dear,” she responded in a tiny yet warm voice. “Need anything on the bottom shelf?”
“No, I’m good,” Grant answered, handing down the milk and grabbing a bottled water. He flashed the woman a smile and started away.
“Thank you, dear,” the little woman said as Grant started towards the register. “You’re an angel of God.”
Grant craned his neck as he started to the register, but noticed a raised four-wheel drive monster truck blocking the view of his Toyota.
“How’s it going tonight?” the stony-faced black cashier asked Grant.
Grant gave an ironic laugh. “Possibly the strangest night of my life.”
“Thankfully it’s almost over.”
Grant blinked at the casher. “My life?”
“Your night,” the cashier replied flatly, making eye contact with Grant for the first time. “Dollar even.”
Grant scooped the last of the change from his pocket, spilled it to the counter, and began counting out coins.
With a bit of a yawn, the cashier glanced up at his surveillance monitor, where Grant could see that the view revealed nothing beyond the monster truck. “This is a night which the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad,” he stated.
Grant went stiff, his vision going fuzzy as he stared down at the coins. “Excuse me?”
The cashier glanced vaguely at the coins before him and expertly slid the desired amount off the edge of the counter into his hand. “This oughtta do it. God bless ya now.”
Grant retrieved his bottle from the counter, giving the cashier an off-center smile as he backed away and nearly collided with another customer entering behind him. He excused himself and stepped awkwardly down from the curb, breaking into a trot toward the monster truck and his car hidden behind.
He found the car empty.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” a familiar voice said from behind him. “We’ve got cameras.”
Grant turned to look at Rudy, hand placed strategically in his jacket pocket.
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about that than me?”
Ignoring the comment, Rudy took a slow look around the station. “Where’s your little friend, Frederickson?”
“I told her to run.”
Rudy glanced up at Grant, checking him for sarcasm. “The waitress from the coffee shop, right? Y’see, I knew that you two already knew each other.”
“She’s a stranger to me,” Grant replied.
“C’mon to my car. You and me need to talk about what just happened.” Without removing his hand from his pocket, he nudged him roughly with his
elbow toward the Mercedes parked at another set of pumps just in front of the Toyota.
“Where’s the gun?”
“What gun?”
“Don’t play games, Frederickson,” Rudy snapped, prodding him with his elbow.
“She was the one with the gun and she took it with her.”
“You want to tell me what sort of fun she’s into that she needs one?”
Grant stopped and turned to Rudy, giving him a matter-of-fact look. “You mean, you don’t know who she is?”
Rudy studied him for a moment before removing his hand from his pocket and shoving him against the side of the Mercedes. “Get in,” he ordered, throwing the back passenger-side door open.
“I’ve got a better idea,” a voice said from inside the car.
Squinting into the darkness, Rudy found Maddy huddled low in the backseat with the gun trained on him.
“Throw your gun inside,” she prompted.
Rudy dutifully started to reach inside his jacket.
“Stop!” Maddy snapped. “On second thought, take your jacket off and lay it down. Slowly.”
Rudy glared at her. “Now why would I want to remove my favorite Argentinean leather jacket?”
“Because you’re starting to think that maybe you don’t have the full story and maybe we’re capable of much more than you thought.”
Rudy scoffed and glanced at Grant resting against the side of the car.
“You better just do what she says,” Grant murmured. “I’m not sure what this woman is capable of.”
“Fuck this,” Rudy snarled, reaching for his weapon.
Maddy cocked her gun.
Instantly, Rudy showed her his open palms.
“Jacket,” Maddy prompted.
Rudy slowly removed his leather jacket, his face a mask of frustration and tossed it in a bundle on the floor of the car. “Now what?”
“Now you’re the proud new owner of a slightly used Toyota. Fully-fueled and everything,” Maddy said, waving Rudy backwards as she stepped out of the car. “Grant step around to the driver’s side, please.”
Grant rushed around the car without hesitation and climbed inside.
“Keys inside?” she asked him.
“Yeah!”
He cranked the engine.
“Can you please hand me the keys to the Toyota?”
Remember the Future Page 4