Times What They Are by D. L. Barnhart

Author:D. L. Barnhart
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2015-11-24T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

There were few towns on their route and Karla did her best to avoid them. She no longer feared the reach of the Denver men, but each town represented its own threat. She suspected the paranoia from Denver was infectious—that small towns would block themselves from the world, until they found they couldn’t.

North of Ordway, she turned west on Road J, seeking a bypass. A single vehicle had passed earlier and she followed the tracks warily—a rancher, a militiaman, a teenager out for a ride? The road ended at a three way intersection and the tracks turned south. Karla stayed with them, studying the map as she drove. A second small town lay to the southwest. The tracks she followed turned due west, apparently skirting the towns, just as she was. She continued with them.

A large cluster of trees marked civilization far to her left: Crowley, by the map. Beyond them, light towers seemingly out of place in the rural setting. The road continued straight, bypassing the town as she’d hoped. A minute later, the tracks turned into the driveway of a modest two story home on the left. At their end, sat an unoccupied SUV, with the Crowley County sheriff’s emblem on the side panel. As she passed the house, a man stepped out the front door onto the porch. His head tracked Karla’s truck as he strolled toward the SUV. Karla increased her speed.

She turned south at the next intersection and saw the sheriff’s car on the road behind her. The road was untracked and Karla pushed her luck, holding fifty on the straight road. A small drift shook the truck. Jessie opened her eyes.

“Where are we?”

“A couple hundred miles and we’re there.”

They climbed a gentle rise.

“Someone’s behind us!” Jessie cried.

“It’s okay. We passed the sheriff a ways back. He’s making sure we leave town.”

They crested the hillock. Karla hit sixty on the downslope and held it. The SUV appeared on the ridge fifteen seconds behind them. Karla slowed for a turn west and slid through the corner. The back end swung wide and caught a ditch, then pulled the front in after it. She tried to power her way out but only spun the wheels. She grabbed the rifle and watched the sheriff’s car approach.

The SUV stopped in the intersection a hundred feet away, perhaps calling for backup, Karla thought. She didn’t see much choice but to get out.

“If the man gets out with a gun, lay on the floor. Okay?”

“That didn’t work last time.”

Karla kissed Jessie’s forehead. “We’re too close to give up. Just stick with me.” Karla laid the rifle between the seats, stuck a pistol under her top and stepped into the snow.

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