They drove about a mile and the store popped into view. He turned his blinker to turn into the gas station's lot. He pulled up next to the pump and handed her a twenty and told her to tell the attendant that he wanted ten in gas and to buy us each a drink. Jamie smiled. She was feeling a little giddy over someone doing something nice for her. It's not an everyday occurance.
He stood near the pump awaitng approval to pump his gas as she filled up a couple of extra large cups of ice cold Coke. The lady at the register was not too responsive to customer care. Her nose was glued to the T.V. set watching some sort of news bulletin. It was talking about a fugitive from justice. The fugitive's face they had splashed across the screen made Jamie squeeze the two drinks a little too hard together and one of their lids popped off and lost half of its contents. Her insides were shaking like a 7.0 earthquake.
He got tired of waiting on his pump confirmation and he walked into the cool air conditioned store with a frustrated look. He looked to the lady behind the counter and said, "It's bad enough that gas prices are $1.84 a gallon, but I gotta wait three hours to get confirmation?" He took the twenty from Jamie's shaky hand and slapped it on the counter and hastily said, "Give me ten bucks on pump three and give this young lady right here the change. He exited the store as quickly as he entered.
The register lady pushed a silent alarm without Jamie's knowledge after hearing about the $5000 reward she had seen on the news bulletin offered by the Texas Bureau of Investigation. She could have taken her poker face to Vegas and broke the bank.
Local television stations were monitoring their police bands on their scanners and heard about the biggest news story to hit the area in a while. They rushed toward the gas station and got what they would hope to be the best position to get the best shots of the whole ordeal.
Police cruisers and helicopters were en route as the gas was being pumped into the silver sports car sitting at the pump. Jamie looked down at the change in her hand and thought that she could use a Hershey's bar, a little procrastination ploy because she wasn't too sure she wanted to continue riding with him.
The loud speaker at the pump squealed,"Thank you, pump three is ready." He about jumped out of his skin as he was screwing the lid closed to the gas tank. The register lady was thinking how she was going to spend the reward money. Jamie crammed the chocolate bar in her mouth and chewed as quickly as she could.
The fugitive got behind the wheel of the car and waited semi-patiently for Jamie's return with the drinks. He lit a cigarette and started the engine, revving it one time, then he pulled to the front of the store. He motioned to Jamie to hurry up. She swallowed her chocolate and took a sip of her Coke, acting as if she were talking to the lady behind the register. Jamie then handed the lady another $1.45 and asked for a pack of Marlboro in the hard pack.
Most of the T.B.I's cruisers were in place in unmarked cars so the fugitive was none the wiser. The helicopters were in place ready for a chase if need be. They were circling too high to be heard from the ground. Camera crews for the local news stations were pre-telling the viewing audience how great they were for bringing the story to them first.
Jamie turned and tried to see through all of the advertisements pasted on the front door, and she heard a stern voice through a megaphone saying,"Turn off the vehicle, open your door slowly and throw your keys on the ground!" He just sat there waiting to see if the news crews were ready to capture this event on tape. It looked as if they were from his vantage point.
Jamie's eyes met with the lady in the store, and that lady shot her a semi-toothless smile. Jamie asked for some matches and she lit a cigarette. She began to pace out of her dad's sight, which she thought to herself, "What's another ten minutes? It's been over ten years!"
She was experiencing a very funny feeling at a time where she should be scared to death. As she looked at him through a Budweiser advertisement, he seemed oblivious to the goings on just outside his vehicle. He was fully aware. She seen so much fire power and weapons drawn on his car and he just sat there.
Bells jingling above the door distracted her attention. It was an undercover agent coming in to secure the lives within this store. He told Jamie and the lady thank you for the lead in the fugitive's capture. Jamie's eyes narrowed as she peered towards the tattle tale. The lady assured the agent that it was all her doing, as she was the one to push the silent alarm . She had given him the same semi-toothless grin she had given Jamie a few minutes ago.
Again Jamie heard, "Turn off the vehicle, open your door slowly and throw your keys on the ground!" This time even louder. Even though Jamie is just meeting him for the first time, she felt an instant connection with him even as she first sat in the front seat of his car. She was sort of hoping that the man in the picture at home was the same one sitting out in the parking lot with all sorts of guns pointing at him. Only minus all of the guns. She was really looking forward to learning more of the truth, and dispelling any of the lies her mom may have planted along the way.
His door suddenly become ajar because Jamie seen cigarette smoke rising from above his head. She could also hear "Bad Moon Risin'" by Creedence Clearwater Revival blaring from his speakers. Then the door opened a little more. Jamie could not see, but he was uncovering a Colt .45 he had stashed under his seat, reassuring himself that every chamber was full and ready to wage war. Fifty to one were not the greatest odds, yet he knew it would come to this eventually. One of her dad's boots just made the connection with the pavement after Creedence got done playing.
With news crews zoomed in on the action, he took this as his chance to make or break it. He jumped from his car as the announcer on the radio said, "Up next we've got a little Van Halen, baby!" Her dad stepped from his vehicle without turning it off like requested, and he brandished his .45 and pointed it at a T.B.I. officer. Jamie's life was about to change. She hollered, "No!" from within the store and was held back by the officer for security purposes.
His gun fired twice below a blazing Texas sun and the T.B.I returned fire. He clutched his chest and Jamie seen blood instantly cover his shirt. His body fell on a cooler shaded area of asphalt near pump number three. Jamie screamed and broke free from the grip of the officer and ran to her dad's side. The music still blaring. This time she was hearing "Jamie's Cryin' by Van Halen.
Local police were sealing off the access to the gas station with their yellow Do Not Cross tape except for one route to be used by the soon to be exiting ambulance. News crews zoomed in on the motionless body on the asphalt and the crying girl beside him for effect. Jamie's mom was watching the news from her hospital room, weaving in and out of conciousness, still very oblivious to what's really going on.
T.B.I officer Warsaw, the man who took out the fugitive, with gun drawn and pointed at the motionless man, walked over to the body and retrieved the smoking gun which was heating up beneath the day's blistering sun. Paramedics then played their part in the scenario. They rolled a gurney to his side as one of them put on gloves and placed a stethoscope to his bloodied chest. He listened for a few seconds and shook his head from side to side. He then placed the stethoscope into a plastic bag, sealed it and walked back to the ambulance he had driven to the scene.
A body board was placed next to the gun shot victim and they rolled his limp body onto the board. They placed his arms across his chest and counted to three. They lifted his heavy corpse and it landed on the gurney with a thud and one of his arms flailed limply at his side. The paramedic replaced his arm in proper transport position. Three black straps were tightened across his body. Then a white sheet was drawn up over his head and began absorbing blood just before they loaded their cargo into the refrigerated bay waiting.
News cameras were not missing a juicy morsel. Excellent footage was gotten here today to earn any news crew a fine promotion. With his body no longer in view, they all packed their shoulder crushing cameras back into their off white vans, satellite dishes and spiral antenna retracted and secured, they scurried back to their respective stations and spliced and diced preparing for the six o'clock feed.
Jamie ran over to the rear of the ambulance and exclaimed," I'm going with him, that's my daddy!"
After they loaded her dad, she climbed aboard and sat beside him. Her mind felt like it was jumping on a trampoline on the moon. Up and down...up and dowwwwwwwwwwwn...and uuuuuuuuuuuup. The ambulance driver bore down on the gas pedal which was still in park and the diesel motor come to life. A member of the T.B.I was riding shotgun instead of the original paramedic which accompanied the driver. Jamie thought,"Life is like a merry-go-round."
In her mind she could see painted horses swirling in a blur. Swirling in a blur. Round and round. She felt sick to her stomach. Up and down...up and dowwwwwwwwwwwn... Thirty minutes into their trip Jamie began thinking,"Are we friggin' there yet?" She looked out the rear window and noticed that they were on a dirt road, one that she has never seen before. It seemed like they were near the ocean because salt water saturated the air. The back of the ambulance grew as dark as night and rolled to a stop. Her eyes flew open along with the back hatch of the ambulance allowing in some diffused light. Car lights? T.B.I officer Warsaw He asked her to wait over by the limo with the ultra tinted windows. She complied as he stepped into the rear of the ambulance, taking over her seat she just occupied. She took three puffs in a row and inhaled so deeply and did not exhale for which felt like three or four minutes. Felt gooood. After she put out her cigarette the limo driver rolled down his window giving her a start. He said,"Sorry about that." She didn't even know he was there because the windows were tinted so dark. He opened his door and stepped to the third set of doors and asked if she would wait in there, he even opened the door for her. Not only were her windows tinted really dark, there were black shades drawn down on each side.
She clamped her eyes shut and just wished that this ride or this day was over. Whichever came first.
The passenger got out and slammed his door. Jamie heard about seven footsteps in gravel and some talking in the distance. Although she couldn't make out what was being said. She just wanted her stomach to stop hurting.
peered in and said,"Miss, would you mind stepping out here for a moment?"
Jamie replied,"No sir, I don't. Can I smoke? He said go ahead. He even helped her to steady her hand to light it up.
It had a mini flat screen plasma T.V. with Dolby surround sound with its own remote, a 200 disc Bose CD player, a mini bar full of anything that a person might desire. She even seen a button reading "Vibrate." She pushed it and her seat began to pulsate. There was even a heat button! She thought,"Yeah, I'll wait in here forever!" Wait for what though?
As she tinkered about in her own little heaven, she opened the door of the mini bar and grabbed herself a Perrier'. It soothed her throat upon impact. She even put her pinkie up in the air. She laughed at herself, "Goofball!"
The silence was cracked wide open by the opposite door opening abruptly and the bang of the recoil of the door handle. She almost wet herself. She seen a tall figure from the chest down standing in the door opening wearing a T.B.I uniform with the name Warsaw sewn across the top pocket. She was breathing so hard. The man leaned down after throwing down his cigarette and said,"Hello Jamie." Jamie fainted.
The man climbed in and chuckled to himself, then he pat her on the knee. He closed his steel blue eyes and picked up the car phone and said,"Driver, it's time."
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