17

Headlights. Hide or flag the car down?

Still running, she looked up at the dark sky filled with twinkling starts. “What should I do, God?” Her heart lifted in hope. Had to be God. With flailing hands, Chryssie moved to the middle of the road. Please stop. Please stop.

As the car approached, she jumped back but kept waving her arms. The car pulled off the side of the road. “Oh, thank you,” she whispered as she ran to her rescuer.

The door opened and a man stepped out.

She couldn’t breathe. Getting to the other side of the highway was her only hope.

“Chryssie. It’s OK. I’m…” Zack called out to her.

She ran. When she reached the median strip, she put both hands on it to climb over, but a moment later he grabbed her. His arms went around her as she struggled to get away.

“Let me go. Let me go,” she sobbed.

“Chryssie, stop fighting me. I won’t hurt you. I promise.” Zack’s blue eyes held compassion. “Trust me, I’m here to help you. We need to get out of here. Now. Please don’t run away. Get into the car. You’ve got to trust me on this.”

She looked past him.

Another set of headlights approached. Probably Roman—he’d had enough time to double back. Against all reason, she still believed in Zack. Is it You, God? Her heart calmed. She nodded. “Let’s go.”

Zack’s car took off before she’d closed the door. “He’s coming fast.”

A moment later the other car pulled alongside them. Roman, his face twisted with hate, pointed a gun and shot at them. The driver’s window shattered as Chryssie screamed.

“Hold on.” Zack’s tone was terse. A moment later, the car fishtailed as he made a U-turn. They zoomed off, headed down the highway into oncoming traffic.

“We’ll be killed,” she screamed.

“Trust me.”

“I wish you’d stop saying that. I don’t trust you. You’re a liar and you work for Marv.”

“Then why’d you get in the car with me?”

“Because I didn’t have a choice.” But it was more than that. Peace settled in her heart. She did trust Zack. “Oh, no.” Headlights were coming towards them.

"I see them.” Zack pulled off to the side.

The car passed them, and the driver gave them a rude gesture. Chryssie couldn’t blame her. They’d probably scared several years off her.

Zack’s hand touched hers. “It’s OK.”

She’d confessed to a murder she didn’t do. Annie was shot, probably dead on her living room floor. Gabriella was taken somewhere and no one would tell Chryssie where she’d gone. “Don’t touch me.” She pulled her hand away. “And nothing is OK.”

Zack didn’t answer as he maneuvered the car back in the right direction. He exited the highway at the same spot where she’d escaped minutes before.

“I think we lost him.” Zack’s tone was light after he’d made several quick turns down different streets.

“I don’t see any headlights. Stop and let me get out.”

“I’m not the bad guy, Chrys—”

“I trusted you. That makes your part worse than all the others. Are you taking me back to Marv now?”

“I will always choose you over Marv.” His voice was soft and sincere. “I had no intentions of shooting you that day in the basement. But I couldn’t let Marv know that. I would have done whatever I had to in order to keep you safe.”

Her heart pitter-pattered. Chryssie almost believed him. “Then take me to a bus station so I can get away from these maniacs before they kill me.”

“That’s not what a butterfly does. A butterfly doesn’t run away, they soar above the trouble.”

“I’m not a butterfly and never will be. I just don’t want to die yet.” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Then why did you call Annie?”

“What makes you think I did?” How’d he know Annie was at her place?

“Because you’re a butterfly, Chryssie. Even if you don’t know it yet.”

“I need to fly far away from here. Now, I’ll be charged with another murder.” Her words came out in sobs. “That detective is dead on my living room floor. Pretty sure that won’t make things any better for me.”

“She’s not dead.”

“Of course, she is. He shot her.” Chryssie closed her eyes at the memory of Annie Dargols on the floor with blood everywhere. “It wasn’t me. I didn’t do it.”

“Are you listening to me? She’s not dead.”

“How do you know that?” Hope filled her.

“I was at your apartment when Roman dragged you into your car. But I’d seen Annie go in a few minutes before that. I went in and found her. She was hurt but still breathing so I called for an ambulance.”

“She’s not dead? She wasn’t moving when he made me leave.” Tears dripped down her cheeks.

“Still alive when the ambulance left.”

“How’d you find me?”

Instead of answering, he slowed and got on another highway.

“Why are you helping me? Marv’s not—”

“I don’t think Marv has any idea what Roman was planning to do. I was told to watch you, so I am.”

“They’ll kill me now. They have to. It’s the only thing that makes sense. Roman planned to frame me for shooting Annie Dargols.”

“Not on my watch, Chryssie. Trust me.”

Trust? She’d never been able to trust anyone in her life but her grandmother. Not her mother, not her boyfriends, not even herself. It seemed as if she always managed to make the wrong choice.

She was learning to trust God, but that didn’t mean she could trust Zack even though he’d protected her from Roman. “Forget it. I’m tired of talking about it. Where are you taking me?” She asked as he exited the highway.

“To the safest place I know. My mom’s house.”

“You have a mom?”

“Yes, even men with ponytails and tattoos have mothers.” He chuckled.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just never thought of you as having one.”

They zig-zagged their way through back roads.

“Why are you helping me?”

He put a hand on her arm. “Because I care about you.”

“Then take me to a bus station so I can get far away from here. It’s the only way they won’t find me and kill me.”

“Helping you run away isn’t the best option. I’ll explain why later. But for right now, why’d you confess to shooting Lonnie Davis?”

“What makes you think I didn’t?”

“Remember, I heard the conversation you had with Roman in your apartment and—”

“Speaking of that, how did you get in my apartment?”

“I took an impression of your key while you were getting me something to drink. Had it made as soon as I left your apartment.”

“Aren’t you the clever one? Why?”

“Just in case.”

“In case what?”

“In case you needed me. Which you did. It was a good thing I was there.”

“I suppose.”

“Anyway, I know Roman shot Lonnie. So explain to me why you’re saying you did it.”

“Marv made me.”

“That’s what I thought.” He nodded. “Why?”

A moment of truth for her. For them. A moment when she could do the right thing the first time. He’d told her he cared about her. It was time to trust someone—time to speak out. If she died, she wanted someone to know the real reason. “Because of Gabriella.”

“Gabriella? Your sister? What does she have to do with any of this?”

“Marv told me he’d have her killed if I didn’t confess. So I confessed.” She swiped at the tears.

“What would make you believe he could hurt Gabriella?”

“He told me things about her and about me. Things he couldn’t know unless he was somehow in contact with her. I know it doesn’t make sense. I tried to see her, but the social worker refused. I think she’s in on it.”

“Don’t worry. Gabriella will be fine.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“You’re right, I can’t. But I can promise that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she doesn’t come to harm.” He clasped her hand.

She didn’t pull away.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I was walking to my car after work that night. I heard someone arguing in the alley. As I went further I could see Roman was pointing the gun at Lonnie. I thought they were just arguing, and I was afraid they’d see me, so I hid behind a dumpster. A moment later, I heard the shots. Unfortunately, Roman found me. And the rest is history.”

“Why didn’t you call the police?”

“I think I really was in shock. I certainly wasn’t thinking straight. I prioritized it—I’d take the final, and then go to the police. It made sense at the time.”

“Well, we’ll get this whole thing straightened out. Everything will be fine.”

“That’s what the preacher told me. Trust God and let Him do the rest.”

“The preacher?” He glanced her way. “Do tell.”

“It sounds crazy, but when I was tied up in that basement, I cried out to God to help me. And He did. I was so confused by it I went to talk with a preacher.”

“Wow. That’s wonderful.”

“Wonderful.” Her voice was bitter. “How would you know? You lied to me about everything, including being a Christian.”

“I didn’t lie about that.”

“Then why are you working for Marv?”

“It’s complicated. I’ll explain everything when the time is right.”

“What’s wrong with now?”

“You’ll just have to trust me a little longer. But I really am a Christian.”

“Fine, then tell me about how Jesus saved your life.”

“One day I was skydiving and—”

“Skydiving? Are you nuts? Who in their right mind wants to jump out of airplanes—and for fun?”

He laughed. “Yeah, it is a little crazy I admit, but there’s nothing like floating around in the sky. I loved it. Still do. Anyway, I was skydiving and my parachute failed to open and then my backup failed as well. The ground was zooming up at me and I figured that I was a goner. But my chute got tangled up on something so I didn’t actually hit the ground. I still had a few injuries but I lived to tell about it.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with Jesus.”

He turned toward her. Even in the dark, she could see he was smiling.

“Well…what I got tangled up in was a giant cross. So you see Jesus literally saved my life. I decided right then and there to follow Him.”

“Then why are you mixed up with Marv?”

“Out of time. I’ll explain everything very soon.” He pulled into a long drive.

“Your mom lives here?”

“Yeah, and me, sometimes.”

“You’re a country boy?” She couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

“What? I don’t seem the type to enjoy life in the country?”

“Well, it’s just that you don’t look as if you fit in around here. I’m just a little surprised.”

“I’ve got a few more surprises.” He stopped his car in front of the garage. “But they’ll have to wait. I’ll check things out, then I’ll come back…”

He stopped talking. She looked over at him. “What’s wrong?”

He looked around, and then he pulled out his cell phone and texted someone. When he was finished, he looked at her. “The garage door’s down.”

“And so?”

“My mom never puts it down. It’s been broken for the past six months, and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet, so she just leaves it up.” He opened his car door. “I’ll have a look around. Promise me you’ll stay in the car.”

“Of course.”

He patted her hand then got out.

Zack had rescued her and then told her he cared about her. Now they were at his mother’s house. He seemed to have his own secrets.

He peeked in the garage and then moved toward the house. When he disappeared, Chryssie’s fingers tapped against the dashboard while her feet tapped the floor. She should have gone with him. It would have been better than sitting in the dark and all alone. Everything terrified her right now. She counted to sixty and then sixty more. Something might have happened—she should go check on him. But he’d made her promise not to get out of the car.

Her car door opened.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re back, Zack.”

“Not Zack.”