Page 2 of In Cold Blood

She didn’t look back to see if he was directly behind.

If her truck had rolled over his sorry ass, it wouldn’t have been the worst thing in the world. He was lucky she didn’t shoot him. Her cheek stung as she floored it. Bringing down her windows, she reached for a bottle of water and splashed it in her face. The fumes in the back of the truck would clear soon enough. Trinity didn’t scan her rearview mirror or sweep the side ones as she knew that slime wouldn’t follow. A married man, he couldn’t afford that heat. No, he’d learned the hard way. No doubt he would return to his wife with some sob story of being attacked and that would be the last time he paid for sex.

Trinity on the other hand would have to return, tempting fate again.

As the rusted-out white F-150 snaked southeast through the boreal forest heading for the hamlet of Underwood, Trinity felt a wave of emotion hit her. She wanted out of this putrid life but with no family to help or prospects of a job that didn’t mean slaving away for scraps, she’d accepted that this was her lot in life.

Hedged in by a steep rocky hill on the right and a boreal forest of tall spruce, hemlock, beech, and pine on her left, it felt like dark walls closing in on her.

Bright headlights blinded her as a van passed heading in the opposite direction. A thick mist had settled, making it feel even more ominous. Glimpses of the moon through the tendrils offered some illumination. She hated coming out here and tonight’s attack had only given her another reason to leave it behind.

Not letting up off the gas, Trinity accelerated close to eighty,putting as much distance as she could between her and the past.

Reaching over to calm her nerves, she switched on the radio and tuned into some classic rock station. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

As her truck rounded a bend and straightened out, Trinity eased off the gas at the sight of pulsating police lights up ahead. Blue and red drove her stomach into her throat. She didn’t have time to turn around. She’d been seen. Experience had taught her that was the last thing to do out here at this time of night. Any sudden change in direction would look suspicious. No, stay calm, she thought, willing her heartbeat to slow.

She scanned her appearance in the mirror.

Her eyelids were raw from the pepper spray even though there was hardly any that went in her eyes. Great. Now she would look as if she was stoned.

Relax.

Keep to the speed limit and hope to God the cop is too busy dealing with…

There was something unusual about the two-lane highway.

Up ahead the lone cruiser was parked at an angle with the driver’s side door open.

Trinity eased off the gas and for a second considered again whether to turn her truck, but fear of being arrested made her cautious. Besides, going back the other way would add another hour onto her night, and force her to pass that creep.

At least with a cop, she was relatively safe.

With her truck brought to a halt, Trinity stared out.

Nothing. No movement.

Cautiously, she climbed out. “Hello?”

No answer. She glanced off to her left and right. Her hands trembled, adrenaline still pumping through her system. As Trinity moved, glass crunched beneath her shoes. She lookeddown. It was scattered across the road. Had there been a vehicle collision? As her gaze followed the ground, she noted the silhouette of a body lying face down in the middle of the road.

A knot formed in her stomach.

On closer inspection, she noticed the uniform.

What the…?

Human instinct kicked in. Trinity hurried over, stopping only for a second to soak in the horror. She reeled back. Nerves taking over. She glanced down the road. No headlights. No one was coming. “Hey, mister?”

No response. No. Not here. Not now, she thought. Crouching over him, she did what anyone might, she placed two fingers on his neck to check for a pulse.

Nothing.

He was cold to the touch.

Fear spiked; her gaze roamed the darkened woods. Who had done this?

Were they still out there? Was it a traffic stop gone wrong? She’d seen numerous videos of officers being shot while performing their duties. She couldn’t say it was common but it was likely.