128 (16)

Felix drummed his pen nervously on his desk.  He had only been on hold for a minute, but every second that ticked by felt like another icy stare from the Captain Hale.  Finally, he heard the telltale click that relieved some of his stress.  He didn’t even notice Officer Bucholz walk up behind him.

“Officer Moore, this is Derrick Warren.”

“Yes, yes…this is Felix Moore…is this the chief?”

“It’s as close as you’re getting right now.  Our chief is on vacation.  Dispatch was telling me you think those two men I saw on KELO are in our city?”

“Yes, we have reason to believe they’re staying at the Super 8.”

“Well, that’s great.  Which one?”

“Excuse me?”

“We have several Super 8’s in this town Officer Moore.”

Felix started shuffling papers around on his desk.  “Just a moment, I have that here somewhere…”  Paper began flying off his desk, and he held the phone tightly against his chest to keep his disorganization a secret from Warren.  While Felix shuffled papers, Bucholz crossed his arms and cleared his throat.  Felix paid him no mind.

“FELIX!”

Felix jumped in his chair for a moment.  He spun around, winding the phone cord around his chest.  “Bucholz, I’m a little high strung today.  Jeez.  I’m trying to find that Super 8 info about the Elson check in.”

Bucholz walked over to the back of Felix’s desk.  “You mean this stuff you sat on your monitor?”  Felix took the paper and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Thanks.”

Bucholz smiled as Felix put the phone back up to his ear.

***

“Thick?  I honestly didn’t think there was a way for you to know.”

“Listen to yourself.  I can’t believe I’ve been thinking about you lately.”

Bob glanced at her.  She had a fiery look in her eyes and he could almost see a vein starting to pop out of her head.  It was becoming clear that the longer he stood by and did nothing, the closer Phil was to finally closing this chapter of his life.

The problem was, Bob was no good at standing by and doing nothing.  He remembered taking the blame on more than one occasion for a brother or sister when he was a kid.  He thought back to the times in High School he was a shoulder to cry on (and to a lesser extent, how he sometimes used that to his advantage).  He kept friends safe and jail free during college, and even kept a few of them from failing.  He had only stood by and done nothing once that he could remember, but the memories were not ones he cared to revisit.  Besides, this time was different.  Wasn’t it?

Bob snapped his focus back to the conversation, which was getting hard to ignore due to the volume.

“YOU are MAKING no SENSE Michelle.  I’m sorry.  I didn’t think you’d know.”

“STOP SAYING THAT.  YOU’RE the one not making any sense.  This little chat is reminding me why I left in the first place.  You’re just too damn DENSE sometimes.”  Michelle slid out of the booth and started to stand up.

120 (8)

“How many?”

Phil paused for a moment, then turned to see Bob looking through the rack of newspapers. Phil rolled his eyes and said “Two for non-smoking please.” The waitress looked and saw Bob lower his sunglasses after finding a recent copy of the Aberdeen American News. She took them to a booth, and then disappeared. Phil sat with his back straight and his elbows on the table, while Bob eased back in the booth, so his back was too the wall and his feet were kicked up on the rest of the booth. “I wonder how they feel about customers sitting that way.”

“Hey, I won’t eat like this. That would just be rude.”

Phil shook his head as a glass of water appeared in front of him. The waitress handed them each a menu. She had blond hair that was in a rough bun in back, and her name-tag was peeling a bit on all the corners. “My name’s Abbie…would you like to start your meal off with any appetizers or a salad?”

“No thanks Abbie” Bob said while barely looking up from the paper.

“Water is fine, thanks.” Phil said. “We should be ready in a few minutes.” Abbie smiled a half-hearted smile and walked away. Phil leaned towards Bob tried to see what he was looking at. “What is it?’ Phil’s voice was a loud whisper that barely got Bob’s attention.

“Just seeing if we’re news in this town yet. We got a mention but no pictures, thank goodness.”

“I’m sure they get KELO and KSFY up here.”

“Relax. No one is expecting to see us out in public. Hiding in plain sight my friend.”

“You’re just saying that because you want a burger.”

“Your words wound me, both with their bite and their accuracy.”

Phil smirked and started to slouch in his chair. He knew Bob all too well, and he knew that Bob’s mood was not what it seemed.

***

“Anything?” Julio’s eyes were still closed. He was getting closer to sleep every minute.

“Got it! The ATM receipt does go back to one Robert Fulton of Sioux Falls! We know they were on that train! The captain is going to want to hear this.”

“That’s not all he’ll want to hear” came a voice from behind Julio’s ear. Julio opened his eyes and looked up. Another officer was now standing across from Bucholz. The new officer beamed confidence, and he had a grin that a kid gets before telling on someone.

“Felix? I thought you were told to take the rest of the day off.”

“I was told to, but they didn’t make me. I came back in to run a few more checks, and check this out.”

Bucholz looked at the printout. “Big whoop. It’s a list of people who’ve checked into hotels in South Dakota tonight. So what?”

“Check the name I’ve highlighted.”

Bucholz moved his finger along the page until he found the right line. “Super 8 Aberdeen, this afternoon. Eli Elson of Dell Rapids. Big whoop.”

114 (2)

Will Hetfield’s mind was a mess. It was a jumble of images and sounds, and none of them were helping him relax. He kept flashing back to the black Cadillac, in a moment there, and the next moment gone. He remembered getting up and grabbing his head, and seeing his hands bloody as he looked around. There was broken glass everywhere, and Tina’s body was limp and partially on top of his. He remembered hearing sirens in every direction, and stumbling into the station, only to be hauled out to an ambulance. Now, he was sitting in a waiting room with an ice pack on his head, squinting to see the closed captioning on the KELO newscast.

“Mr. Hetfield?”

Will looked up and to his left. He vaguely recognized the doctor who had worked on him earlier. He was a middle-aged Hispanic man, and his face looked alert and serious. “Yes…I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“I am Doctor Henriquez. I treated you and several others who came in today. Thankfully, there were very few severe injuries.”

“What…what happened to me?”

“You have a mild concussion, and a piece of debris nicked your head. We had to do a few stitches, but you’re free to go.”

“How, how is officer Tina Vig?”

Doctor Henriquez took a deep breath. Will had seen that before, whenever a doctor was telling a family bad news. “She isn’t good. We had to dig several pieces of shrapnel out of her back. She has a concussion, and she lost a lot of blood. She’s still unconscious and in intensive care.”

Will lowered the ice pack from his head and stood up. He teetered for a moment and the doctor quickly caught him. “Can I…whoa…”

“Easy Mr. Hetfield. You do have a slight concussion, and you’ve had a long day. I think you seriously need to get some rest.”

“I’ll rest later. I need to see her.”

***

“Hale, who’s all there?” The police chief’s voice boomed through the speaker phone. Captain Hale leaned forward.

“I’m here sir, along with N.R.O. agent Garrett, N.G.A. agent Lewis, and F.B.I. agent Iron-Horse.”

“What the hell are we going to tell the press? Who do we pin the blame of this cluster on?” The chief’s voice was angry, and the speaker crackled in spots.

“I have a story ready to go about a training exercise with explosives that we can pin back on the explosives manufacturer.” Garrett closed his laptop as he bent towards the phone. The four of them were all bent slightly forward around Hale’s desk.

“Who on Earth is going to buy that malarkey?”

“It’s textbook, but it seems to work most of the time.”

“I want options dammit! The mayor is on my ass to ease the public’s mind about this!”

“Say the matter is under investigation but have the boys in the lab cook up a reason that it was mechanical failure, causing the gas tank to blow.”

“Not bad Hale.”

“Actually, bad. Anyone who’s watched Mythbusters knows that gas tanks don’t explode at the level that car blew.” Clayton finished his statement and felt all eyes shift to him, and few of them looked happy.

“Is that the F.B.I. guy? Well, what’s your bright idea?” The chief’s question echoed for a moment, and Clayton carefully considered his response.

113 (1)

“Good evening, I’m Don Jorgensen for KELO Land news at six.”

“Authorities are still not commenting any further on an explosion that occurred earlier today near the Sioux Falls police station. There have been unconfirmed reports that a car exploded near the station, but so far we have not been able to confirm this. There have also been unconfirmed reports that at least one officer is in critical condition at Avera-McKennan. Sioux Falls’ Police Chief would not address the situation, other than saying no one was killed, and it was not an act of terrorism.”

“The explosion comes on the heels of another tragedy, the death of police officer Jeff Stevens sometime yesterday. While his death has not been listed as a homicide, Sioux Falls police are still looking for two men for questioning. Those men are Phillip Anderton and Robert Fulton, both of Sioux Falls. Anderton is a native of Mitchell, and Fulton is originally from Spearfish. Authorities are expanding their search to those areas, and to areas North and South of Sioux Falls. It is still unclear whether those men are being sought for information about the death of officer Stevens, or the multi-car pile-up on interstate 229 Friday evening. Amazingly, no one was killed in the accident, but two people remain in critical condition, including one unnamed member of the South Dakota Highway Patrol. “

“As if Sioux Falls police weren’t busy enough, they are also seeking this woman. Authorities do no know her name, but she is known by the alias Laura Black. She was being held by police earlier today, but escaped during the confusion after the explosion near the police station. Sioux Falls police have an officer named Laura Black on staff, but it is not known at this time if the two Lauras are one in the same.”

“Let’s turn things over to Jay Trobec in the KELO-land storm center, where he’s tracking a storm front moving into South Dakota at this hour.”

“Well, this one is an unstable front that’s moving in, and we could see a lot of atmospheric turb-”

CLICK

Phil’s face was frozen in shock. Bob hung his head after turning off the television. Bob’s mind was all over the place, and now he knew his family would be calling his cell phone non-stop until he got ahold of them. Phil swallowed a mouthful of Pepsi, then spoke. “So…I’m thinking we should turn ourselves in now.”

“Phil, I have no doubt that explosion near the police station has something to do with all this. If they can get a bomb right outside the police station, I don’t feel safe there, and especially at a station in a town like Aberdeen.”

“So…what do we do? Do we keep running? We can’t afford to just run from town to town like this.”

“I don’t know. I really should call my family somehow. My parents are going to worry all night.”

“Well, my mom might get worried” Phil said as he stood up, “but my dad won’t notice for a few days. I think he’s in Vegas for some kind of business seminar. He tends to forget his cell phone.”

“Let’s go get a bite to eat…we’ll decide what we do next after some food.”

94 (10)

Eli Elson’s eyes slowly opened. It had to be getting close to noon. His head slowly lifted from the pillow, while his eyes barely opened. His head was pounding out what would be a great native beat, but he wasn’t in a musical mood. He shuffled to his home office and plopped into his desk chair. His phone was blank, and he didn’t have any new messages in his email. He looked over his list of projects, and he was ahead on them all. One was crossed out in an unusual manner. Someday I’ll learn not to code drunk he thought. He flipped on the TV which was strategically placed on the other side of his desk. I’d better see what is going on…I have a reputation. He started to log into his Dakota Infodump blog, and once in, he fiddled with the remote to watch all of the morning news he’d missed. Ah, good old KELO he thought as he scooted the chair backward to a small fridge. While he was pulling out an Amp, he heard the news anchor’s voice.

“Good morning. Our top story today is the ongoing investigation into the death of Sioux Falls Police Officer Jeff Stevens sometime Friday. HIs body was found at the apartment of a man named Gerrard Dinkley, who had died earlier yesterday as well. Police aren’t releasing any more details, but they are still looking for two people of interest. They are Phillip Anderton and Robert Fulton, both of Sioux Falls.”

Eli’s head darted up. He pointed the remote at the TV and rewound a few seconds back.

“…derton and Robert Fulton, both of Sioux Falls. These are their pictures, released to us by the Sioux Falls Police.”

Eli paused the TV again. “Son of a bitch. Bob, what are you into now?”

Eli stared at his screen, then he rolled his chair back to the computer. As he was typing in a Google news search, he was unaware of the police cars pulling up outside.

***

Bob’s head spun around. Phil rotated his entire body around. There was a young girl lifting up the pink bicycle, and she was staring at the both of them.

“Uh…well…we…”

“My friend was looking for something he forgot in the store. He thought they threw it out.” Phil knew he wouldn’t need his best poker face for this, but he remained more stoic that Bob.

“Whatever.”

“Say…we talked to a policeman, who told us about a missing girl on a pink bicycle…”

The young girl rolled her eyes. “That’s my mom, she’s awake a lot earlier than I was hoping. Usually she sleeps in on Saturdays when dad is out of town for business.”

“So, are you…running away?”

“No. Why do you care?”

“I just…I mean…”

“Look, I’ve been saving up money and I wanted to buy something, but my mom wouldn’t let me. So, I decided I’d bike over before she woke up.”

“So, you’re being looked for because you wanted to buy something?”

“My mom says I can’t have this, but I saved up for it fair and square. Since she’s awake, I’ll have to sneak it in. The bogus thing is she said I could buy whatever I wanted if I saved my own money. Now I’ll be grounded and I’ll have to be sneaky. You two didn’t call the police yet, did you.”

“Uh…no, no.” Bob said as he placed his hands behind his back.

“Good. Do me a small favor. You never saw me.” The girl started riding off up the street, and then back on the path Bob and Phil had walked down earlier.

Bob looked at Phil and shrugged. Phil gestured towards the front of the store. “C’mon. I have an idea.”

65 (9)

“Well, that was pointless.” Bob’s voice relayed a healthy dose of frustration and exhaustion. He plopped down on the steel floor of the car. Phil slid the door the rest of the way. Phil rubbed his eyes as he leaned against the door.

“That town was barely there. We have to be getting to some town we’ll know.”

“Hey, why am I doing the looking? You’re an east river guy. This should be your territory.”

“You’re a worldly guy for one, and for two you didn’t ask.” Bob shook his head while Phil chuckled to himself. “Seriously, your guess is as good as mine. I haven’t wandered around the state very much. You’re the one who used to love a good, long, pointless road trip.”

“Yeah, like I remember those.”

“Well, if we find ourselves in Mitchell or Sioux Falls, I’ll be set. Anywhere else, you might as well be the one on lookout.”

“Do you have any idea where we might be?”

“Honestly, I don’t. I don’t know how many train tracks are still in use going northward. Heck, we might be in Minnesota for all we know.”

“Nah, I’ve seen way too many South Dakota plates on the small town cars so far for us to have crossed the border. My guess is that we’ll have to hop off in North Dakota, probably Fargo.”

“Do you think we’re still wanted for questioning like that story I saw on KELO?”

“I’m sure by now they’ve found Stevens’s body.”  Bob’s smile faded as he looked out the window.  Phil looked down, then away towards the back of the car.  After a minute or so, Phil looked back over towards Bob.

“I still can’t believe she shot him, just like that without thinking about it.”

“I’m trying not to think about it” Bob said as he stood up.  “It was…not something I’ll be happy to relay to the police about.”

“I’d never seen someone get shot like that before.  I j-”

“Phil, I don’t want to talk about it, alright?  Just…just keep watch for a while.”  Bob walked away from the door and towards the toppled crates near the roof hatch.  He sat down on one and removed his sunglasses.  As Phil took his spot near the door, he saw Bob bury his head in his hands.  It didn’t look to Phil like Bob was crying, and Bob wasn’t.  It wasn’t for a lack of his body trying not to, but Bob kept his sadness at an arm’s length.  The battle in Bob’s mind was won, but he could feel the emotional war inside him slipping away.

***

Will Hetfield flipped open his phone as his car took a hard right turn towards the airport.  “Hetfield here” he said, with one eye on the road and one on his rear view mirror to make sure Clayton was still behind him.

“Detective, this is Officer Baker at the rail yard.  I was told you’d be here to ask the railroad security some questions.”

“What?  Who said that?”

“Uh…It was the Captain sir.  He said an officer black should have gotten a hold of you?”

Damn, those missed calls this morning were important Will thought to himself.  “I’ll be there shortly, I just got a hot new lead I need to check.  No time.  I’ll call back when I have a second.”  Will closed the phone as he took another hard towards the airport parking lot.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a plane taking off.  “I hope you aren’t Vegas bound” he muttered.

33 (5)

*CLANG*

*RUMBLE*

*KITCH-CLANK*

Old Man B had his hands on his hips, and he just stood smiling. “Boys, you are as good as out of town. This is the best place in town to sneak on board a boxcar.”

“Freight hopping? Seriously? I’m out.” Phil started walking towards the fence. Bob ran towards him and grabbed his arm.

“Phil, this is a great idea. They’d never think to check a freight car for us. We have friends and relatives in almost ev-”

“ARE YOU INSANE? You really think rail hopping is a great idea? Seriously. We’ll just hop in a boxcar and be whisked off while the entire state is looking for us? We should just go turn ourselves in. This madness has to end.”

Bob was about to respond, but a backhand to his head caused his train of thought to jump the tracks. “Hey, when you two are done with your spat, we need to move. The train is going to leave soon. And don’t talk so loud. We don’t want the bull to find us.”

“The bull?” Bob and Phil said in unison.

“Railroad cop. Rail security. Jackass who keeps you off the train. Let’s go girls. I’m not going to get any more charitable, only less. Do you want out of town or not?”

Bob let go of Phil’s arm. “Let’s go then.” Phil just stood there as Bob and Old Man B walked off. In the distance he heard sirens, and then ran towards the train B and Bob were heading for.

***

Steve looked down at the caller ID bar. The number looked familiar, and the name under it certainly did. CBS News. He grabbed the phone.

“This is Steve Walter in the KELO newsroom.”

“Hello Steve” came a female voice from the earpiece. “This is Lisa Williams at CBS News in New York. Do you have a second?”

“Sure, no problem.” Steve sat down his desk, eager for his first chance to impress the New York office. “Are you calling for information about the accident on Interstate 229?”

“Maybe. We were checking your report, and we noticed you were looking for two men. A Robert Fulton and a Phillip Anderton? Are they wanted in connection with the accident?”

“We’re assuming that.”

“Assuming?”

“The Sioux Falls police didn’t mention them until around the time they were releasing details about the accident. They gave some details, and then they mentioned that those two men were wanted for questioning. They didn’t take any questions after that.”

“I see. How is the officer whose car rolled?”

“Do you mean the Highway Patrolman?”

“Yes.”

“He’s in stable condition. They don’t know when he’ll be awake, but they think it might be in a few days.”

Lisa paused for a few moments. “We’d heard there was a police death in the city as well. That wasn’t it?”

Steve perked up in his seat. “Police death? I don’t know anything about a police death.”

“Well, we must have heard wrong. It’s a good thing we called. That’s all. You were a big help Steve.”

“No problem.” Steve was smiling ear to ear. “Anything for CBS.”

***

Mokoto turned to the door of the bar. “Just call again if you need any more info Lisa.” Mokoto smiled and opened the door.

“Thanks. I will.” she said, as she closed the phone. She then sighed and walked in, the same thought repeating over and over in her head.

Now what?

18

Phil opened the car door slowly.  He didn’t get in right away. 

Bob’s head sprung up.  He rubbed his eyes, then grabbed his sunglasses and put them on.  He took a few deep breaths and bit his cheek.  Phil still hadn’t gotten in the car.  “What are you doing?”

“Just thinking about the Kmart that used to be here.  Wasn’t there a comic book store over there too?”

“Yeah, it moved down the street about the time I moved here.”

“You’re right” Phil said, finally getting in the car.  “Anyway, we have other problems now.”

“What, we didn’t have enough?”  Bob asked as he restarted the car.

“KELO had a story about the accident on 229.”

“Is the hi-po alright?”

“I don’t know.  But that’s not what I’m talking about, exactly.”

“What do you mean, exactly?”  Bob asked, as he turned back onto Minnesota Avenue and drove northward.

“KELO had our names on screen as ‘wanted for questioning’ for some reason.”

“For the accident, or for the dead officer at Jer’s?”

“I think the accident.” Phil said, as he opened his bottle.

“You Think?”

“Hey, she had the sound down.  It was all I could do to keep her from seeing our names.  I almost had to take up smoking.”

“Huh?”

Phil took a long drink.  “Never mind.  So, where’s a good spot in town to hide when the police are looking for us?”

Bob handed Phil his soda pop bottle.  As Phil took it and began twisting off the cap, Bob said “That is a good question.  Maybe we need to ditch the car.  Did they have my car and tags on screen?”

Phil handed the soda back.  “Not that I saw.  Granted, I didn’t stick around for the whole newscast.”

Bob took a long drink.  He stared at the soda for a second, then put it in a cup-holder between the seats.  “I hope they don’t run the tags.  Sioux Falls may have over a hundred-thousand people, but news still travels fast.  I think we need to lose this car.”

“Well, if they get your car, I’m sure they can get my car’s plate number as well.  Maybe we get my car and switch the plates?  That would confuse people.”

“Are you serious?  Now you want to go back to our place?”  Bob looked over at Phil as the car came to a stop.  Phil leaned his head to the left for a second.

“Green.”  The car began rolling forward again.  “Maybe we could go to the dealership?  Can’t you check out a Beetle or a Passat or something?”

Bob frowned and pulled to a stop at the next red light.  “Are you kidding?  Can I check out a car?  That’s a great question.  Let’s involve my job in my current mess.  If I survive this, I’d like to maybe still sell cars a while longer.”

Phil looked over at him, but his eyes drifted from Bob to a side-street.  A side-street where a motorcycle was parked, and a helmeted female rider sat upon it. 

She reached into her jacket.

17

“That will be three-twenty seven.”

The graphic was still on screen.  Phil had his debit card on the counter already.  “Uh, wait, I also need…” Phil looked around nervously, then up.  “Cigarettes!  I need a pack of Marlboro’s.”  The lady looked up and pulled out a pack.

The graphic was still on the screen.

“These?”

“Actually, the hard pack?”

“This is the hard pack”

“Then the soft pack.  I can never keep them straight.”  Phil smiled.  It was that smile that he made when he was lying, and not very well.  The lady shrugged and put down the one pack, and grabbed another. 

The graphic was still on screen.  Geez guys, are you still talking about us?  Thank goodness the volume is down.

“These?”

“Uh…you know what, I think it’s the lights I mean.”

The clerk rolled her eyes and set down the pack.  She reached up and got yet another pack.

The graphics were still up.  Dammit KELO!

“These?”

“Um…you know…I think maybe those might be it.  I think.  Do you have any other kinds of Marlboro?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s just…ah…I…just…started the other day…and…I…can’t remember what my girlfriend smokes.  See, she got me hooked.”

“Look, I’m going to level with you.  If you’re taking up smoking to get closer to someone else, let me offer some advice.”

“Excuse me?”

“All you’ll end up with is an ungrateful son, an early 90s minivan, no premium channels and a bad habit that only reminds you of the cancer that left you and the one that’s coming.”

Phil just stared blankly at the clerk.

“Are you pickin’ up what I’m throwin’ down?”

Phil saw a news anchor on her TV.  “You know what, you’re right.  Forget the smokes.”

The lady smirked the tiniest of smirks.  “Three-twenty-seven.”  Phil slid the debit card forward.  She looked at him, then pointed to sign on the door.

CREDIT CARD LINE DOWN.  CASH ONLY.  SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.

Are you kidding me?!? Phil thought.

“Say what?” the clerk asked, as Phil realized he didn’t just think it.

“I mean, uh, cash is fine.”  He reached into his wallet and handed her a five.  She punched in the numbers as Phil took his card back, and then he tilted his head back.  He stared at the ceiling, lost in thought.  Seriously, what are the odds.

“One seventy three is your change sir.”

I mean, If I’d paid cash I’d have been out of here.

“Sir?”

What on earth are we going to do?

“Sir?!?”

We have an assassin looking for us, and the police…

“HEY!  YOU!  CHANGE!”

Phil snapped his head forward.  “Sorry…just…thinking about what you said.”  Phil stuffed the bill and coins into his back pocket.  He took the two bottles and gave a half wave as he leaned into the door.  Once outside, he saw Bob with his head down, and his shoulders slowly heaving up and down.  Phil put his head down and slowly walked to the car.

The clerk couldn’t quite see Bob, but she saw Phil walking slowly to the car.  She glanced back to her TV, and a new graphic was up.

WANTED FOR QUESTIONING:
Phillip Anderton, 27, Sioux Falls
Robert Fulton, 27, Sioux Falls
Believed to be driving a red 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix
License number 1A 3693

She reached for the phone.

16

“…and i was your silver lining as the story goes…”

The Rilo Kiley blared out of Bob’s Grand Prix.  His smile was almost ear to ear.  Phil just shook his head, and reached out to turn down the music for a spell.  “I have to hand it to you.  I didn’t think that would work.”

“Hey, if she’s going to be busy shooting at a hi-po, I’m taking the first exit.  Thank goodness the Minnesota Avenue exit comes up so quick on 229.”

“Do you think this will make the news on KELO?”

“KELO, KSFY, KDLT…I think in this town a gunned down officer and a pile up on 229 will make the lead story.  Hopefully we can stay out of the news for a while, if not for a long while.”

Phil took his eyes off the mirror as the car came to a stop at a red light.  He rolled down his window and put his elbow outside.  “How are you doing for gas?”

“I’ve still got 3/4 a tank, so we’re good for part of the night.”

“Well, hit the next gas station anyway.  I never did get to use the bathroom at Jer’s.”  Phil chuckled for a second.  Bob didn’t join in.  “Oh…man, I’m sorry.  In all the excitement I forgot about Jer.”

Bob shook his head as the light turned green.  “What in the world would Jer have that so many people would want?  He was a shift manager at the coffee shop in the mall, and a part time DJ at Buck’s.”

“Maybe we’re being chased by the RIAA?  He did like to download songs.”

“Dammit Phil, I’m being serious for once.  What is so fucking important that people are breaking into his apartment, chasing us, and maybe murdering him?”

Phil paused a moment.  “I never thought that maybe he was murdered.  I thought you said it was a heart condition?”

“That was what they said they thought it was, or at least what the owner of the coffee shop told me was told to her.”  Bob cocked his head to one side.  “Did that make sense?”

“More or less.  Hey, pull into HyVee gas.”

Bob flipped on his blinker and pulled the car into the gas station parking lot.  “Grab me a Vault will ya?”

“I don’t know why you drink that stuff.  It’s hella nasty.  But yeah, no problem.”  Phil shut the car door and walked hurriedly into the convenience store.  Bob was alone for the first time since Phil got back from work.  He slowly took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes vigorously.  He set the glasses on the dash, and readjusted his rear view mirror into a position that works better for traffic as opposed to pursuit.  He saw himself in it briefly, and his reflection revealed a tired upper face, and eyes that were watery.  He folded his arms across the steering wheel and put his head down.  Guys don’t cry he kept telling himself, but soon he was unable to stop, and he began sobbing as the music kept playing.

“…hooray hooray i’m your silver lining…”

***

Phil, fresh from relieving at least some pressure from his life, grabbed a Vault and a G2 from the beverage case.  He walked up to the counter.  The 40-something female cashier looked up from her small TV that was on the small shelf near the window.  “Did you have gas?”

“Nope.  Just the drinks.”

As she scanned the Vault, Phil looked over her shoulder.  KELO was airing footage from the accidents on 229.  The screen then went to a graphic of names wanted for questioning.

The screen read:

Phillip Anderton, 27, Sioux Falls
Robert Fulton, 27, Sioux Falls