at the stranger and said:
– Hi handsome. How’s your evening, you wonder?
There was silence in response. Dana asked:
– Can’t sleep? Or do you ride in search of adventure?
Having not received an answer this time either, Dana came close to the car, leaned her elbows on the door and said:
– And you are not very accommodating. How about giving the lady a ride?
The stranger nodded affirmatively. Dana smiled and then began to walk around the front of the car. She walked, holding her purse in one hand, and ran her free palm along the curves of the body, feeling the coldness of the metal. She walked in front of the headlights, the scarlet glow of which did not surprise her at all. Dana saw a lot of different cars used by truckers and various car enthusiasts with whom she had promiscuous sex when they visited Gomorrah. Therefore, the appearance of the car, whatever it was, never seemed strange to Dana.
She placed her fingers on the door handle, pulled, slid into the front passenger seat, and closed the door behind her.
– Well, shall we go for a ride? – Dana asked in a playful voice under the influence of alcohol.
This was followed by a loud roar from the engine. The car set off, rapidly picking up speed, accelerating along the federal highway at night.
This was the last trip for Dana Host, while for the Racer the journey was just beginning.
4. Sighted and fast
Norman Hughes was another deputy sheriff. At thirty-three years old, he achieved what was quite enough for him for the life that suited him. Stable work; not huge, but decent income; an occupation that, in terms of the moral side of the issue, did not raise any doubts at all, because Norman maintained order and fought against lawlessness. He didn’t grab stars from the sky. A single life seemed to him a very comfortable scenario, when there were no obligations to anyone and all his attention could be focused on work and his personal interests, without being distracted by anything else. It was unacceptable for Norman to have a reputation as a womanizer. He saw in this something that discredited the honor of the uniform. So he just started affairs that dragged on for several years, and then suddenly something went wrong and Norman breathed a sigh of relief. So he seemed to those around him to be a man who was sincerely trying to improve his personal life in search of his missus, but he was simply unlucky.
When Norman got a job with the sheriff, he had only one drawback – post-traumatic syndrome. But since Norman was taking pills to suppress his trauma, Desmond Poe had no problem hiring him. The sheriff valued his experience in the army. Norman managed to fight in Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He refused further service after five children were killed in front of his eyes. He served out the remainder of his contract and returned home from service. Peaceful life became a problem for Norman. He didn’t know how to do anything except fight. Therefore, the first thing that came to his mind was to get a job with the sheriff. A week after starting work, Norman realized that he had found his calling.
He was sitting in a patrol car near the federal highway when the clock showed half past two in the morning. There were often reckless drivers in this area, so there was no need to doze for too long. But as luck would have it, it was this time that Norman began to pass out and slept for more than an hour. Opening his eyes, he experienced a feeling of intense thirst. Before his hand could reach for the thermos, a car rushed before his eyes. Norman realized that there was no time for coffee now. He started the engine and followed, turning on the siren. Driving out onto the highway, Norman thought that he could not remember a time when he had seen a speeding driver in the middle of the night with headlights off. He caught up with the suspect and began to demand through the loudspeaker to pull over to the side of the road. The reckless driver didn’t even think about stopping, but only increased his speed. Norman managed to notice that it was not his imagination and the headlights were indeed turned off. He continued to press on the gas and demand to leave the road. Getting the most out of the car, Norman began to close the distance and soon saw the outline of the taillights, from which he assumed that a Dodge Challenger was in front of him.
He again caught up with the pursued and repeated:
– Pull to the side of the road.
The Dodge rammed and hit the patrol car in the front fender. Norman didn’t say anything into the loudspeaker, but instead reached for the walkie-talkie. There was a second blow, causing Norman to drop the radio. He forgot about the connection and took a revolver from his holster. Norman began to overtake on the left, but at the same time the Dodge began to slow down. Having caught up, he hit the patrol car again in the side, and then again, but now at the very edge of the front fender near the bumper. The final impact was much stronger, causing Norman’s car to be thrown off the track. He began to return to the road, but the Dodge pressed him to the side of the road and did not let go for several more seconds, until an obstacle appeared ahead. Norman began to hit the brakes only when the bottom of the car was already sliding along the bump stop. At a speed of one hundred and forty-five kilometers per hour, the bump stop served as a springboard and Norman’s car took off from the ground. The grinding of metal was interrupted quickly, followed by the idling roar of the engine until the patrol car flew off the road, falling off a cliff in the darkness of the night, which was diluted by the flashes of the explosion when Deputy Heartstone’s car collided with the ground.
And the Racer continued to press on the gas. Nothing could stop him anymore.
5. Good morning, good boss
Not a single appearance of his in the office has yet caused anxiety or dissatisfaction among his subordinates. It was a pleasure working for him at Heartstone. Not only did he pay several times more than the average salary in the town, which is why employees held on to their jobs with both hands, but he also had an innate talent for working with people. Carter Beckran walked through each of the departments and asked if everything was going according to plan and if anything was needed.
– Well, do all the numbers agree, or is it time for us to think about offshore? – Carter asked after greeting the chief accountant.
When the housekeeping manager said that new materials were needed to clean the premises, Carter replied that cleaning was too expensive and suggested ordering a couple of flamethrowers for complete disinfection in order to sterilize the office for the next six months and forget about cleaning. A couple of minutes later, another deputy reported that, most likely, the expected volume of wheat would be too large for which the existing storage facilities would not be sufficient.
– No problem – Carter said. – Let’s start a parrot farm. My daughter has two. They eat like pigs. – And then he added quite seriously: – We’ll order a new warehouse. We’ll put it there and sell this part first.
Carter Beckran in the eyes of his subordinates was not a boss, but a dream. He never ignored requests from employees, and at the same time he taught everyone to come with specific proposals to resolve the issue. Everyone could joke with him or talk in a language convenient for themselves. Carter knew how to feel for the general wave, using a variety of slang words depending on how the interlocutor expressed himself.
At forty-two, Carter continued to maintain his usual appearance. He wore short black hair without bangs and always had light stubble. With a stocky build and a height of one hundred and eighty centimeters, Carter’s light blue irises especially stood out. Even with a wide lower jaw and a dimple on his chin, his brutal appearance became much softer. Carter also did not change his clothing habits over the years. He always wore either light blue jeans or comfortable semi-sweatpants. He had approximately equal numbers of shirts and T-shirts in his wardrobe, but if every single T-shirt had short sleeves, then on his shirts he always rolled up the sleeves to the elbow, not being able to stand a longer length. There was a little more variety on Carter’s feet, but no matter the color, material or thickness of the shoes, they were always sneakers.
After