Page 2 of The Samaritan

This was where the warning bells in her head should have gone off. Most people would turn their heads and keep on moving. She was a thirty-one-year-old woman alone in a dark, deserted rest area. No one was around. No one but her and the old man. What if he was a psycho serial killer? What if this was his ploy to capture and kill his next victim?

She waited for her own fear to set in. It didn’t. She knew it wouldn’t. Dying for most people was a fear. For her, it would be a welcomed end. She shifted her car into park and grabbed the door handle. She had nothing to lose. She had already lost everything.

He stepped away from her as she slid out of her seat and stood. “You okay?” she asked.

His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. His back straightened, and he stood well over six feet tall. She angled her head up and took another step toward him. Her initial assessment had been off. This man, though frail and gaunt, was not helpless. He probably had enough strength to snap her neck, or at the very least squeeze the life out of her.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Marissa asked, scanning the empty lot again. It was just the two of them. She wasn’t panicked or anxious. Her heartbeat was steady as she approached him and halted only a few feet away.

The man stared back at her in wonderment, and she smiled. If this guy was a killer, he was doing a crappy job at his capture. His eyes followed her smile, and the corner of his mouth quirked up. He seemed mesmerized by her smile. It had been a long time since she smiled, she realized.

She inhaled a deep breath and looked over her shoulder and then back to the man. She could offer him a ride. Why not? She had nothing to lose.

She raised her eyebrows and pointed over her shoulder to her car, which was running. “Do you want a ride somewhere? I’m heading west. I can drop you off at the next town if you want?”

She could almost hear the mental scolding from her father. “Are you insane? A woman alone does not offer a stranger a ride!” She smiled faintly. He would have been furious with her. If he was still here.

He continued to stare at her, focusing on her mouth. His lids were drawn down and his head cocked to the side. She stepped closer but immediately paused and exhaled a harsh breath. She let her own gaze travel over the man standing in front of her. The putrid smell of urine invaded her nostrils before noticing the oval-shaped dark stain on the crotch of his jeans. Oh crap, he pissed himself.

“Don’t know where I am.” His voice was deep and shaky. His gaze was solemn as though he were in a trance. Was this guy high? She bit her lip, considering her options at this point.

She blinked in his direction as he moved closer to her. He was examining her face. It was as though he knew her, or he thought he did. Marissa stood grounded. Again, no fear. She just watched as he inched closer. There weren’t many times she felt emotion, but his eyes met hers, and she felt his sadness and uncertainty. He was so lost. Her heartbeat was steady, an ache penetrating her skin. This man was scared, not of her but of everything.

She licked her dry lips. “Do you know how you got here?”

His gaze was trained on her when he shook his head. She couldn’t leave this man. Shit. She held up her hand. “Wait here a sec. I’m just going to grab my phone, okay?”

He stood frozen without a response. She sighed and stepped back but halted when he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and extended his arm. She took it from his hand, glancing down and seeing black dirt under his overgrown nails. His wrinkled hand pulled back from her sight, and she glanced up at him.

She saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. He was showing a bit of trust, something she hadn’t seen in years. She curled her hand around the phone and turned away from him. This never happens. A perfect stranger was evoking emotion. It was as if a knife had been speared through her heart, an ache so deep she dug her fingers over her breast, trying to release the pressure. Here was a man, obviously troubled, looking to her for help. Her.

She inhaled deeply and fidgeted in her stance. When she turned back to him, he was staring at her expectantly. She forced a smile, which seemed to ease the stress lines on his forehead. Leaving him alone was not an option. She could do this. She’d help him because that’s the kind of person she was, or at least the kind she used to be.

Her shaky fingers slid across the screen. She pulled up the keypad and prepared to call 911 when she heard the man speak.

“My boys, call my boys.” There was a surprise in his tone, and he looked away deep in thought, as though he had forgotten he had sons. It was strange. How could he forget he had children? She would never forget. The thought felt like a slap to the face, and immediately, her mind drew back to her past. No! She clenched her jaw and jerked her head, shaking her memory back to the present. She straightened her shoulders and inhaled a deep, long breath. She eyed the man in front of her.

“Your sons? You want me to call them for you?”

He slowly nodded as his lips curled down.

“Okay, what are their names?”

She waited and watched as the confusion flashed across his face. His bottom lip trembled slightly, but he remained silent and looked up to the sky. Oh God, he doesn’t know. It all made sense, a very sad sense. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there. He had forgotten he had sons, and then couldn’t remember their names. It all made sense now.

“No worries, I’ll find them in your phone,” she lied.

She gulped and drew her attention back to the phone and away from the man in front of her. The sight of him was growing gloomier by the second. She scrolled through his contacts, which were dominated by male names. Great!Needle in a haystack. As she continued down the contact list, she finally caught a break. Bingo! She smiled as she clicked on the contact named Ice. She had seen a special on television about the Ice contact as an “in case of emergency.” Bringing the phone up to her ear, she sighed in relief.

It rang twice before a loud booming voice shouted from the other end of the receiver. “Where the hell are you?”

Marissa jumped and yanked the phone from her pulsing eardrum. The cell phone slipped in her hand, but she tightened her grasp to keep from dropping it. Who answered their phone with such an abrupt greeting? She blew out a breath and arched her brow. She raised the phone to her ear again.

The shouting man continued. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been looking for you? Cade called the fucking hospitals, dammit.”

The man on the other line was livid. She glanced up to the older man standing across from her and raised her eyebrows. This is your in case of emergency person? As if he could read her expression, he shrugged and looked away. She focused on the positive. At least someone was looking for him. It was a good sign.

“Pop?” The menacing shout was followed by a snarl. Whoever was on the other line sounded more like a rabid dog than a concerned son.

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