Chapter 28
Gabriel turned Alexandra’s car key in the ignition of her red Mustang and the engine roared to life, eagerly awaiting his demand for speed. He depressed the gas pedal gingerly and the car responded with immediacy propelling them forward out of the parking space it rested in for several hours until a traffic light at the end of the long entrance path halted them. The engine rumbled anxiously as it idled, as if waiting patiently to be tested on an open road or highway. But Gabriel and his friends were not headed for a destination that required either. To the contrary, they would be traveling along back roads and side streets in hopes of remaining inconspicuous. The Mustang’s tight suspension and nimble handling hugged the narrow lanes and winding roads of Harbingers Falls. Gabriel obeyed each speed limit imposed, careful not to draw attention to them despite the showiness of the color and model option of their mode of transportation.
He quickly arrived at the threshold of his former driveway thanks in part to minimal traffic and was stunned to see lights flashing in the distance. He slowed to a stop, turned off the headlights and squinted. At the end of the gravel-filled pathway red lights flickered incessantly from a multitude of vehicles. The colorful pulses of light, all blinking at different intervals, combined to form a visual discord so disorienting the effect was similar to that of a strobe light.
“What’s going on?” Melissa asked.
Gabriel could not be sure but he guessed Kevin, John and Chris were dead. The presence of several ambulances, a fire truck, three police cruisers and an SUV with the words County Coroner emblazoned on its doors suggested they were not just dead but that foul play was likely. He was reluctant to tell her what he figured, what he knew had happened, but saw lying as both futile and an insult to her integrity.
“Eugene did this,” he admitted. “And we are being blamed.”
“What? Why would anyone think we did anything?” she questioned.
Before he could answer her, paramedics and a man wearing a jacket with reflective letters announcing his position as County Coroner exited his front door. They maneuvered a stretcher with a covered body atop it. Behind them, more emergency personnel followed with matching stretchers, four in all.
“They’re dead, Melissa. Kevin, Chris and John are dead. Eugene was here, I’m sure of it,” Gabriel said.
“They killed Eric and Eugene killed them and we’re being chased by the cops?” Alexandra asked incredulously. “This is beyond a nightmare!”
“Why would Eugene kill them?” Melissa probed.
“I don’t know for sure, but maybe he was unhappy that they weren’t able to stop us,” Gabriel offered.
“Or for fun,” Yoshi said solemnly.
Gabriel felt a shiver pass through him. His friend was likely right. Eugene did not merely kill for utilitarian purposes; he was not practical by any means. Whatever the reason for their death though, he and Melissa, along with their friends, had been indicated.
“Regardless of his sick reasoning, aren’t we better off or safer in jail than being hunted by him?” Melissa stated.
“He’s driving around in a cop car. I would imagine he’d get to us long before that happened,” Gabriel replied.
“You think he’d try to kill us in front of a bunch of cops?” Melissa asked.
“I wouldn’t doubt it. He could kill them just as easily as he could kill us from what you guys have told me,” Yoshi added.
“Yoshi’s right. He’d probably get some sick thrill out of it,” Gabriel agreed.
“But everyone would see,” Melissa said, her features twisted in shock.
“If anyone lived to tell about what they saw, Eugene would disappear before a search for him even started. And with us dead, there would never be a reason for him to return,” Gabriel said solemnly.
Silence blanketed the car. Gabriel regretted his candor but felt everyone deserved to know the unfiltered truth about their circumstances and what they were up against. He looked to Melissa. Her eyes were filled with tears, her face oddly placid. She stared at the scene in the distance and brushed back silent tears with her fingertips.
Gabriel was mildly startled when Melissa leaned forward in her seat and pressed her face to the window.
“What is it?” Gabriel asked.
“I know that cop,” she said pointing to one of the many uniformed officers. “That’s the jerk cop Chucky Miller that’s been harassing me.”
She pointed at him. Gabriel didn’t recognize him but suddenly felt the urge to punch him in his smug-looking face based solely on Melissa’s testimony.
“I know that asshole too,” Alexandra chimed in. “I’ve actually been pulled over by him. What a prick! He gave me a ticket for doing thirty-five in a thirty-mile per hour speed zone. Can you believe it! Worst part is, he was in his glory doing it, like he was all puffed up by it. He also kept looking down my shirt; fucking pervert.”
As Alexandra spoke, Gabriel watched as the officer looked up from his notebook and seemed to gaze in their direction. He felt certain Chucky Miller had noticed them and was looking right at them.
“He pulled you over in this car?” Gabriel asked Alexandra.
“Yeah, about a year ago. Why?”
“It looks like he’s looking right at us.”
“What? No way! I doubt he would remember,” Alexandra dismissed.
Alexandra leaned across Melissa and looked out the window.
“Holy shit! He is looking right at us. We need to leave right now!” Alexandra exclaimed.
No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, Gabriel depressed the gas pedal. He did not turn on the headlights and he did not accelerate too quickly. He did not trust that the powerful engine would not accelerate beyond the ability of the tires to gain traction. Skidding on wet leaves would gain the attention of the entire group at his former house. As far as he could tell, Chucky Miller was the only officer who had spotted their car. He drove away slowly with Yoshi watching Officer Miller’s every move.
“Okay, it looks like he’s walking toward his car,” Gabriel announced.
“Shit!” Alexandra shouted.
“Just keep driving slowly and don’t put on the headlights until we turn on to the next street,” Yoshi said calmly. “Once we turn, hit the gas.”
Gabriel inched the car out of sight unhurriedly.
“He’s getting in his car,” Yoshi said.
“He can’t know it’s us,” Alexandra declared.
“He obviously suspects something, but he’s not telling the others,” Melissa said.
Gabriel felt a modicum of relief as he reached the stop sign at a near roll and made a left. He immediately turned on the headlights and stomped on the gas pedal. The Mustang sprung to life and launched forward with a rolling growl. He sped along weaving in and out of side streets until he reached a juncture in the road that would place them on one of two main thoroughfares.
“Where do we go now?” Melissa called.
Headlights rapidly approached from behind them. Alexandra twisted in her seat to get a better view.
“Shit! It’s him! He’s behind us!” Alexandra cried.
“He hasn’t turned his lights on yet,” Yoshi said referring to the fact that Officer Miler had not yet engaged his emergency overhead lights.
“He’s probably calling in the plates. We’re screwed,” Melissa said to Alexandra.
Within seconds of her statement, Gabriel noticed the light bar atop his cruiser illuminated and emanated short, electronic pulses in blue and red.
“What the fuck do we do?” Alexandra yelled.
“Try and get away. We have no choice,” Yoshi asserted.
“We can’t outrun the cops,” Gabriel said. “He’s not stupid. I’m sure he already called it in. There will be a dozen cops here in about two minutes. We’re going to have to try to explain the situation.”
“No one is going to believe us!” Melissa shouted.
“What o
ther choice do we have?” Gabriel reasoned.
Three automated beeps sounded from their rear signaling them to pull over. Reluctantly, Gabriel slowed and pulled to the shoulder. He looked up into the rear-view mirror of the Mustang and saw Officer Miller approaching cautiously with his firearm drawn. Gabriel lowered the driver’s side window.
“Get out of the car!” Officer Miller screamed. “And keep your hands where I can see them!”
Gabriel opened the driver’s side door and stepped out. Yoshi, Alexandra and Melissa followed.
“Well I’ll be damned!” Officer Miller bellowed. “If it isn’t Miss Melissa I-know-what-I-saw Martin. There are a whole lot of people looking for you right now.”
“We didn’t do anything,” Melissa began.
“The fuck you didn’t!” Officer Miller hissed. “Now put you prissy little hands on the car. Same goes for all of you!”
Gabriel felt his temper flare and roil at Chucky Miller’s sardonic tone, his insolence. However, he complied with the officer’s demands in hopes of persuading him to at least hear their version of matters. The notion seemed far-fetched, ridiculous even, given Officer Miller’s facial expression that could only be described as equal parts rage and exhilaration; he looked like a madman.
He watched as Officer Miller approached him and began to pat his body in search of a weapon. His inspection was brief. He patted the length of Gabriel’s leg from ankle to groin as well as his torso from armpit to waist. He quickly moved on to Yoshi and conducted a similar, albeit short, search before he turned to Alexandra and Melissa. A look of derangement flashed in his beady eyes and the wind stirred gently whipping his hair into a frizzy pompadour. He began with Alexandra and took his time, allowing his hands to linger about her chest. He then traced his hands in a slow serpentine motion down her torso to her legs then back up her inner thighs.
“Hey, get your hands off me you pervert!” Alexandra protested.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch! I’m conducting official police business here,” Officer Miller spat and continued his lewd groping. He cupped and squeezed her buttocks then leaned his pelvis against her backside. He slid his hand up her thigh again and was about to place it between her legs when a voice halted him.
“Get your hands off her,” Yoshi warned through his teeth and began to back away from the car, clearly riled. Yoshi advanced several steps, his stride confident, his jaw set resolutely. Gabriel had never seen his friend look upon another as fiercely as he looked upon Chucky Miller.
“You better stand-down and put your hands back on the car before I put a bullet in your head!” Officer Miller ordered as he backed his crotch away from Alexandra. He then strode up to Yoshi and placed the barrel of his revolver at his forehead.
Gabriel watched as Yoshi locked eyes with Officer Miller boldly, defiantly. He did not demonstrate the slightest hint of intimidation. Officer Miller had no idea who he was standing off against.
But suddenly, their standoff was interrupted by blinding light.
An additional patrol unit had arrived its headlamps bathed the confrontation between Yoshi and Officer Miller in a dizzying array of colors. Red, white and blue flashes throbbed from its roof rack and a double set of headlights glared.
“You’re lucky,” Officer Miller uttered as he quickly withdrew the barrel of his pistol from Yoshi’s forehead. He looked over his shoulder at the unit that arrived. “Very lucky.”
Gabriel squinted and shielded his eyes with his hand, despite cautions from Officer Miller. Initially, he could not discern any facial features or even the silhouette of the police officer that hesitated to exit his vehicle. When finally the driver’s side door opened and a leg emerged, followed by another, he was better able to gauge the officer’s physicality. He watched as the officer rose to his feet and stood with his fists balled at his hips, a mountainous shadow, broad, brawny, and colossally built. Gabriel immediately recognized the considerable outline; Eugene.
He was not alone in his immediate recognition. Melissa gasped and Alexandra whispered a profanity.
“Chucky, I mean Officer Miller, turn around,” Melissa began in a trembling voice. “That guy coming toward us is not a cop. You have to let us go. Please! He’s going to kill us.”
“Shut your mouth you murdering little bitch. You think I’m stupid?” Officer Miller replied and released his handcuffs from his utility belt.
The enormous shape moved slowly, deliberately toward them and paused after every few steps to inhale deeply as if savoring the scents in the air. Officer Miller remained fixated on their compliance. With handcuffs in one hand and his firearm in the other, Officer Miller appeared poised to discharge his weapon at the slightest hint of resistance.
“Turn around!” Melissa urged. “I’m not playing games!”