On the Run

Julia

I look behind me to find the cops are closing in. I always knew my past would catch up to me. I just prayed that it'd be closer to the end of my days. What am I going to do, I think, scanning my surrounding. The cops continue to close the gap.

John and the kids come to mind. I picture them crying as I'm being hauled away. I then recall my big accomplishments. Getting an undergraduate degree and then being accepted into law school. I've come too far to give up now. I take off across the lot. The officers are a short distance away.

"Stop, or I'll shoot," one of them screams.

I imagine being gunned down in the parking lot the way I've seen them do on TV. That's not happening to me. I pick up my pace.

I turn the corner to find a dimly lit parking garage. I glance around to find a troubled gentleman climbing into his car.

Opening the passenger door, I hop inside.

The man's tan face turns ghostly white when he sees the weapon in my hand. "What the...?" The gentleman begins.

Aiming the rugger at his head, I yell, "Go. Go."

Tires squeal as he speeds out of the cement block.

Eyeing the gun shaking in my hand, he says, "I...I don't know what's going on, why you're running from the law, but I'm an attorney, and I might be able to help."

"You're a lawyer?"

"Yes. So let's go to my office and discuss your case figure out what the best strategy might be."

"Not your office, your home. I'll feel a lot safer there."

Rachel

I'm trying to finish up a stack of paperwork at my desk when I see the Captain running towards me. I've been with the police force for fifteen years. My career began after I helped the captain and his partner, Jerry, solve the widowmaker case. I loved police work so much that I decided to join the academy. I made detective in a little under four years and a sergeant in eight after Jerry's health issues forced him to step down.

"We have a situation on the square," Joe breathlessly blurts out as he crosses the station.

"A situation, sir?"

"There's been a shooting, and the suspect fled."

"How do you want to handle this?"

"I want you three to retrace her steps. Get camera footage, eyewitness statements, anything that'll help us locate her."

"We're on it, Captain," Jerry says. He's been a part of the force for nearly thirty years. His goal was to become Chief of Police, but his doctor said all the job stresses, lack of sleep would lead to a heart attack. Not wanting to give up police work entirely, he chose a demotion over early retirement.

I see a couple of cops interviewing potential witnesses as we pull up to the scene.

"Someone must have seen something," I say, scanning the busy parking lot.

"You'd think so." Jerry agrees, climbing out of the car.

"Jerry, I want you and Kirk to check security cameras. I'll see if the officer's found anything."

"Sounds like a plan." Kirk has been at the station for thirteen years, ten years of that in the lab.

Walking over to the first officer I see, I tap him on the shoulder. "What do you have so far?"

"The ones I've talked to said they arrived after the incident occurred."

"Keep canvassing. Someone had to see something." Looking around, I continue. "Has anyone talked to the shop owners yet?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"That's where I'll be if anyone needs me."

I'd just stepped out of the coffee shop when I see Kirk walking towards me.

"Did you find something, Kirk?"

"I checked the security tapes from the bank. It shows the suspect running into the parking garage but doesn't show her coming out.

We searched the building and can't find her anywhere. So I'm going to check the cameras see if I can find her that away."

"Keep me posted."

"I will, Serg."

Larry.

I reread my notes, look up at Julia and say, "That's quite a story."

"It's not a story; it's the truth. I've been using an alias for the past ten years. I even made it look like the woman Andy killed was me so the cops would stop looking."

"You should've known that would work with all the technology they have today."

"Why do you think I put my blood on the knife then set the car on fire with her in it." Julia glances out the window again. Not seeing anything, she closes the blinds.

"That might've bought you more time. How did you know to do that anyway?"

"I read a lot."

It's scary what you can find out these days.

"Do you think you can help me?"

"I don't know if anyone can get you out of this mess."

She runs towards me. Grabbing my hand, she begs, "Oh, please, Larry, you have to help me. You have to. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder all the time. Wondering if today will be the day." Julia did the best she could to keep the fear at bay, but there was always that uncertainty, the not knowing when her whole life could change.

Seeing tears in her big baby blues rips my heart in to. As you well know, I have a thing for women, especially when it comes to blond hair, blue-eyed beauties like her. Dirty thoughts creep into my head. I reluctantly push them aside so I can concentrate on the task at hand. "Why didn't you just leave?"

"I tried to, believe me, I did, but he'd find me and beat me worse than before. The last time I left, he threatened to kill me. That's when I knew it was either him or me. Oh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do?" Julia sobs.

"Our only option is to prove it was self-defense."

"It was, it was. I would've died if I hadn't killed him."

"Did you ever report the abuse?"

"No, but I went to the emergency room a lot. He made me make up excuses like I ran into the door or fell down the steps, but I'm sure they saw right through my lies."

"We'll need to get those records faxed to us right away."

Rachel

I'm finishing up with a shop owner when I see Kirk running towards me.

"Sergeant, Sergeant, I have great news," he says as he closes the distance.

"What is it, Kirk?"

"A camera shows her and a man driving away in a Black Cascade. The plates come back to a Larry Wilson. He lives at the old Douglas place on Spring Street."

"Let's get a team together and head over."

"Jerry is getting them ready for you now."

Larry

"The hospital should be getting the release form any minute now," I say, glancing towards the machine. As if on cue, my fax machine roars to life.

"I pick up the first page. "One of twenty?"

Shrugging, Julia gloomily says, "I was in the hospital a lot."

"I'm surprised the staff didn't notify the police."

"They did, but Andy was always able to smooth it over with his cop pals. He used to be one of them back in the day. His father and grandfather too. That's one reason I decided to go to law school to help battered women like me. I'm on an internship at a law firm here in town. I'm learning a lot about probate law, but I don't think it's my cup of tea."

Larry chuckles, "I can see why."

Hearing pounding at the front of the house, we both turn towards the noise.

"Berryville PD, open up!" A deep voice replies. I turn to find Julia running towards the back door.

"Don't do it," I warn. The door flies open, an army of cops trample inside. I hear a loud bang. I then see Julia fall to the floor.