Slow Burn(25)

    The only light in the parking lot came from a buzzing, flickering light on a pole at the edge. It illuminated a broken, empty sign above the sign that gave the list of gas prices. Another sign next to it proclaimed that there was Mario’s Pizza inside, with a picture of a cartoon character flipping a pizza crust. It the scant light, the bright reds and yellows of the signs looked sickly and sinister.

    I slid down in my seat, clutching the steering wheel. I didn’t like this.

    Griffin had asked if I told Benton where I lived. He’d only asked that to be cautious, right? Or did he think that there was something to my idea that Op Wraith was after me?

    If he did, he wouldn’t tell me to sit in my car, would he?

    I peered out my windshield at the night sky, wondering.

    Outside the gas station, there was an ice chest next to two vending machines. I stared at the Pepsi logo for a long time. It seemed like I’d been at this gas station for hours. It had only been a few minutes, but I was tense and frightened. I wasn’t sure what was going on. There were signs on the glass in the front of the store advertising the prices of cigarettes.

    Where was Griffin? Had he told me when he’d be here?

    He’d only said it would be a little longer than five minutes.

    God. I should have asked him where he was when I called him. I should have found out. Because then I’d know. And it would be better to know than to be stuck here, all alone, confused and afraid, waiting.

    Maybe I should get out of the car.

    No. Griffin had told me not to. He’d said to stay inside with the doors locked. But would locked car doors be any barrier to these guys? I didn’t think they would. They could get to me if they wanted. Griffin must know that. So, why had he told me to lock my doors, if it wouldn’t make any difference?

    They were after me, weren’t they? And close? Maybe they were outside now.

    I lifted up, peering over the back of my seat, looking into the darkness. I couldn’t see anyone out there.

    But I wouldn’t see them, would I?

    I turned back around. Screw this. I was only making myself paranoid. There was no one there. Griffin had probably told me to lock the doors in order to make me feel better. If I thought I was behind locked doors, he figured I’d feel safer.

    But he didn’t know me very well. When I was a little girl, I’d learned that I never felt safe unless I proved to myself that I was. If I thought there was a monster under the bed, I had to look and make sure. That’s what I needed to do now. Reassure myself that there weren’t any monsters out there. What would make me feel better right now was if I could get out of the car and get a can of Pepsi out of that machine. I took a deep breath. Yeah, if I did that, I’d know everything was okay. I dug through my purse and got out the change.

    Holding the cold coins in my hand, I gazed at the vending machine again. I guessed I could wait until Griffin got there. He’d have to get out of his stolen car, anyway, right?

    I looked around again. There was no one here.

    I was freaking myself out for no reason.

    I unlocked the driver side of my car.

    I looked around again.

    “Get a grip, Leigh,” I said. The only way I was going to be able to shake this fear was to prove to myself that everything was okay.

    I opened the door and got out of the car.

    I didn’t hear the bullet, but I felt it.

    It punctured my chest. It felt like being hit by a train. It pushed me back into the car. I fell back, and my head glanced against the emergency brake. For some reason, that pain seemed sharper and more intense than the one in my chest.

    I was bleeding. I was bleeding a lot.

    I wanted to scream, to call out. I wanted to laugh at my own stupidity. Why had I gotten out of the car when Griffin told me not to? But all of that was fading quickly, swirling away from me. I was being funneled down into a dark hole, like... Alice in Wonderland...

    I smiled. I liked that story.

    But no. I needed to be thinking about doing something. I’d been...

    What had happened?

    Everything was warm. And dark. And quiet.

    That was all I knew.





Chapter Five

    I woke up with a start. I was lying crumpled in my car, my legs dangling out of the open door. There was blood all over my shirt and the seat. It was on my hands. It was spattered on the inside of the windshield.