Exponential
Page 47
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Enrique studied the couple as they finally emerged from the diner. As she sort of hopped down the two steps, her blond hair bounced in a sensual way and finally settled in a sort of disorganized but attractive heap. He had to look away for fear of being noticed in that ‘I feel like I’m being watched’ kind of way. He swore to himself though when they did not go their separate ways – they both got into the cop’s car. He was hoping to follow the girl on her own.
He studied the car they drove as they went past, a late dark blue Malibu. After a moment, Enrique pulled out of his parking spot and began following. He didn’t think of it as following, more like “stalking”. He was skilled. It would be unlikely that anyone would detect he was following Dell and Mara. His secret lay in attempting to anticipate the direction his prey would take. People didn’t just drive aimlessly, they had a purpose, a destination. Once you figured out the general direction they were headed in, you could relax a bit. Seem a little more natural in your own driving and not draw attention to yourself by sudden stops or quick turns.
It looked like they were headed toward the Clarendon Hill area from the direction they were headed. It wasn’t that Enrique lived in the area that he was so familiar with the layout, he just had a very good sense of direction and he had been to the Metro Boston area several times in the past.
As he approached the Russell Field Tee station a few moments behind them, he became furious. The cop was just pulling away and he caught a glimpse of the girl as she disappeared into the Tee facility. If she happened to catch a train before he could get in there, he would lose her. Where the heck was she going? He hadn’t foreseen this and could kick himself for letting it happen.
He haphazardly pulled to the curb and jumped out of the car. As he walked past the rear bumper and stepped up to the sidewalk he heard shouting. It was a traffic cop, or rather a “parking enforcement officer” who just happened to be there to “enforce” the parking requirements of the station. The “officer” ran up to Enrique and immediately began to argue.
“Hey, hold on a sec, that spot is strictly for unloading passengers! You gotta move it!”
In his most cultured voice, Enrique replied, “Oh, excuse me, I’ll just be a moment, my party should be arriving just now.”
“I’m sorry pal, you can’t leave it there, you’ll have to move it. There’s plenty of space over in the lot.” He indicated a lot about 150 meters down and across the street. Enrique was really getting angry. While he stood here and debated with this drip of a cop, his prey was likely to be making her escape. He had to make a fast decision. He abruptly turned and headed straight for the Tee leaving the cop standing there in mid sentence.
As he reached the steps, he sensed that the cop was approaching from behind, the cop wasn’t hiding the fact that he was mad by the way he noisily stomped after Enrique. The cop was about to reach up and grab Enrique by the shoulder. However, Enrique anticipated the move and spun toward the cop at the last moment. Using the momentum of his turn, he came around and grabbed the outstretched arm of the cop and spun him around. The cop was taller than Enrique, so it was easy for him to step right into the cops space, buckling his knees with his own right leg and stepping in front of the cop with his left leg. The cop went down hard and fast.
Again Enrique turned toward the station. He knew it was a stupid move, because now there was no turning back. He had limited his options to escaping by train only. The police would impound the car and that meant he would have to find another one.
He threw money at the ticket attendant and frantically scrambled into the main concourse with a sickening dread. The Russell Field station was small, in fact it had only one track heading into the Metro complex. The place looked rather empty. He realized the train had already left.
At this point there was only one place to go…