AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
ABBIE
The snow would be no problem. That was what I told everyone back at school, anyway.
I’d hopped in my car and headed in this direction, smiling when I saw that the roads were mostly clear. Whatever they put on interstates before it snowed was magic sauce.
But my smile faded as I got closer to my hometown of Blackbear Bluff. The snow was coming down harder, rushing at my windshield. The snowflakes tried to distract me, but I could do this. I’d driven in snow all my life. I just had to take the exit and go a quarter of a mile up the main road through town. My family’s bar and grill would be on the right.
“Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” I said out loud.
But it wasn’t easy. Not at all. I slowed to a crawl as I neared the exit, fearing I’d miss it. I almost did.
And I still couldn’t relax once I made it onto the off-ramp. It was covered in white, making it impossible to tell if it was slick or not. I took it as slowly as possible, frowning and hoping like hell that I wouldn’t suddenly go into a tailspin.
I squinted at the reflection in my rearview mirror as a vehicle rushed up on my rear bumper. “Seriously?” I asked, frowning.
He didn’t back off, even on the curve. Was it evil to hope the driver would hit an icy patch and spin out? Maybe just to get a little scare in him.
Funny that I assumed it was a male driver. It was a pickup truck with an aggressive driver. Of course, the driver was a man.
I finally breathed a sigh of relief once I hit the main road through town. It was covered in white too, but at least it was straight. This jerk wad had a second lane to go around me now.
It was all a smooth ride from here. Smiling, I reached over and turned the volume up a little. My smile turned to a frown when the sound of an obnoxious car commercial filled the car. Yeah…no.
I was turning the volume back to zero when I noticed the driver wasn’t going around me. Was this one of those situations where I was being followed? Was the guy going to run me off the road and kill me?
It might be possible. Normally, this road was well traveled, but with the snowstorm, not so much.
“Go around,” I said, even though the driver couldn’t hear me.
I waved my hand wildly in the air, continuing to flip my stare between the windshield and the rearview mirror. I needed to be focusing on what was ahead of me, not behind. But this dude was making me a nervous wreck.
The sign reading Scoreboard Bar and Grill was within sight. It was like a beacon, urging me to safety. Once I arrived, all my problems would be solved.
But getting to that bar wouldn’t solve any of this. It was only the first stop. I had to somehow make it all the way up to the top of the mountain by morning. The good news was, my brother was inside that bar, and it was his wedding. He had to get there, and he’d take me with him.
I flipped on my turn signal and narrowed my eyes at my rearview mirror. In just seconds, I’d be off the road and the guy could drive twenty miles over the speed limit if he wanted.
But instead of swerving around me as I expected, the truck stayed right behind me, tailing me every inch of the way as the tick-tick-tick-tick of my turn signal took me all the way into the Scoreboard Bar and Grill parking lot.
I squeezed my eyes closed as I made my way across the lot. I’d made it safely. My brother’s truck was parked right in front of the door.
But as I pulled into the parking space, I realized I wasn’t alone in the parking lot. The obnoxious tailgater had followed me.
My heart was racing, my breath coming in short, quick spurts. I had to get inside. I didn’t know what this guy was up to, but it was no good.
I grabbed my cell phone, unfastened my seat belt, and shoved the door open. I set both feet on the slick surface outside my car. It was only a few steps to the sidewalk. Surely, I could manage that without falling flat on my rear.
I didn’t even glance back over my shoulder as I made my way toward the sidewalk that ran in front of the bar. Nobody had salted it. No surprise, considering the place was closing up for my brother’s wedding. Maybe the slick ground could serve as a trap for the killer in the truck behind me.
With my gloved hand, I grabbed the door handle. I smiled, knowing I was mere seconds from a well-heated building and my brother’s protection.
I tugged. Nothing happened. I tried again, frowning at it.
Only then did my gaze skim across the sign on the front door.Closed due to the weather. Reopening Tuesday at eight a.m.
Crap. Double crap. Triple crap.
