Las Vegas Savior

John watched in the mirror over the clerks head as Derrick went out the door and back to the SUV but this time he got in the passenger side. John saw the headlights come on as the driver started the car but it didn’t pull out right away and John wondered if they were talking about him. Because the windows were so dark, he couldn’t see if they turned to look at him but he also knew that Emily must be terrified in the women’s room.

John told the clerk “Look.” John said as he moved the side of his jacket back and showed the clerk his badge. “Don’t change your expression but just process my charge and when I leave the store, go to the restroom and tell the young lady that is hiding out in the restroom to stay put. Has the black SUV that was at the pumps left yet?”

“Yes sir. The camera shows that they are stopped in the driveway. Wait, one of the men is getting out. He’s walking back here.” The clerk said as he turned the small TV screen towards John so that he could see the screen.

“Is there a backway out of here?” John asked.

“Yeah, the door at the end of the hallway between the bathrooms leads out to the trash cans.” The young man told him.

“Never mind what I said before. Call the cops and tell them FBI officer 74923 needs back up at this location and tell them to hurry!” John said and ran for the back of the store. He quickly knocked on the door and said “Emily, it’s John, come on out. We’ve got to get out of here.” John said.

Emily cracked the door and John grabbed her hand. “Come on. Derrick’s on his way back inside.” He said as he pulled her down the hall to the back door. He heard the bell sound when the front door opened as he pushed open the back door and looked around. All he saw were the dumpsters on one side and the back of another shop next door on the other.

It surprised him when Emily passed him and took off running down the back of the building but he quickly followed her. They ran around the corner of the building and looked back to see if Derrick was following them.

They saw a set of headlights coming down the road between the gas station and the row of houses on the other side. A row of bushes between the stores and the houses made it impossible to see if it was them or not as John pulled her down the side of the building and looked around the corner. He didn’t see anyone and the black SUV was gone. “The cops should be here soon. I told the clerk to call them.”

Just then the sound of sirens filled the air and the night was lit up with red and blue flashing lights. Cops appeared out of nowhere and within minutes, the gas station was filled with cop cars and officers with their hands on their guns as they started exiting the cars. John said “Come on. I feel pretty safe now.” He turned and looked at her for the first time and saw the pure terror on her face. Her beautiful eyes were wide with fear and filled with tears.

“I told you, I’m not going back into protective custody.” Emily said accusingly.

“I won’t let them take you. I called them to arrest Derrick and the other man. They are still in the area and if they suspect you are in the area, then we can’t stay here. Just come with me while I talk to the officer in charge. I can’t just walk away. I gave the clerk my ID. If I have to, I’ll go on the run with you but maybe Derrick and the other man are running now.” That last sentence finally convinced her and she took the hand that he held out to her and let him lead her back over to the gas station.

John presented his ID and introduced himself to the officer in charge. He explained the situation and told Emily “Show him the picture.”

Emily pulled out her wallet and took out the photograph of Derrick. “I don’t have one of the other man but this is Derrick.” She said as she handed over the photograph and a couple of the more senior officers looked at the photo.

“What did you call him?” The officer in charge, a Sergeant Randall, asked.

“His name is Derrick Gibson.” Emily said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

“That may be the name he’s using now but we know him here in Vegas as Louie Grier. He used to be a muscle for hire for some of the organized crime gangs in this area but we haven’t seen him around in several years.

If he’s after you, you are definitely in danger. He’s not a man you want to mess with. He’s got a rap sheet longer than your leg, mostly assault charges but we’ve never been able to pin anything more serious on him that will put him away for very long. What is he after you for?” Sergeant Randall asked the obviously terrified young woman.

“I saw him and the man with him murder someone three years ago. I’ve been running ever since.” Emily admitted.

“How is it you have a picture of him and you together? You obviously look very happy to be with him in the picture but right now, you look totally terrified.” He asked as he watched her look around as she tried to stay close to John.

“It’s a really long story but the condensed version is that I had no idea who he was or what he was capable of when I was dating him until he started trying to get rough with me. I was trying to cut it off with him when I stumbled into a bad situation and saw him and the other man kill a man over money.”

“So he’s back in town. Hmmm.” Sergeant Randall turned and directed his men to search the entire area.

“I think he went into that residential area behind the store.” Emily said.

“Check every street for a black SUV with dark tinted windows and Washington plates.” Sergeant Randall called out to some of the men standing around near their patrol cars.

“Are you going to come with us? We can put you up somewhere safe until we catch him.” Sergeant Randall asked.

“No, she’s going to stay with me. She’s in federal custody now.” John told him. “Can you please assign an officer to the Hampton Inn next door? That’s where we are staying tonight.”

“Sure. Maxwell. Park it outside their door at the Hampton next door.” Sergeant Randall directed one of his men, then turned and told John, “We shift change at 6 am.”

“We’ll be checking out in the morning. I’ll need the officer to lead us to the FBI office here in Vegas in the morning and then we will take over from there. Thank you Sargent.” John told him and handed him a business card. “If you catch him tonight, please give me a call, here’s my cell number.”

“Will do.” Sergeant Randall said, as he took his card.

John didn’t realize until just then that he was still carrying the bag of soda and snacks as he smiled down at her. He took her arm and walked a very shaken Emily walked back over to the hotel. They entered through his room, which was the first one on the corner. They were the only two rooms on this end and they occupied both of them. Emily’s legs gave out as she entered the room and she had to sit down on the end of the bed for a minute.

“I heard one of them go into the bathroom. I started to run when I heard the lock click on the door but if the men’s room is like the ladies room, then it was a single user setup and that meant one of them could have been standing right outside the door, waiting his turn. God, when is this nightmare going to end?” Emily said as she sat on the end of his bed, shaking like a leaf as she stared at the floor.

Her head was beginning to hurt and she just wanted to go to sleep. “I just want to wake up tomorrow back at home in Seattle in my own bed and this whole thing will have just been one incredibly long nightmare. I just want to spend the whole day sitting at my computer entering code for someone’s new program that will make them a small fortune. I just want to travel to Europe, not because I’m on the run, but as a full-fledged tourist, just there to see the sights. I want to meet someone nice, fall in love with a good man who will love me right back. I want to have a couple of kids, buy a house and grow old with my husband. Is that too much to ask?” Emily thought out loud.

“No, it’s not too much to ask. It sounds nice in fact.” John said as he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. Without looking at him, she put her head on his chest and just sighed. Her earlier desire to be intimate with him didn’t even come into her mind right now. Right now, she just needed to feel safe and John had a way of making her feel like that by just being close. She was so tired!

John had not been sure what to do at first. He wanted so much to cuddle with her, make love to her, make her feel safe but now was not the right time. He couldn’t take advantage of her just because he was lusting after her. “Would it be just lust?” His little inner voice asked and without giving it any more thought “NO!” jumped into his head.

If he was totally honest with himself, it was more than just lust he was feeling and he had to grab a tight hold of the reins that was pulling his heart in a very dangerous direction. He had plans too. He wanted to advance at work, maybe become a profiler. He had to admit that the things Emily wanted, he wanted too, someday.

“You had better wake up and realize if you keep waiting to have those things in your life and if you are lucky enough to find someone like Emily again, you are going to be too old to enjoy them. You are going to be 30 years old soon. Right now you are on the brink of being middle aged. If you don’t do something about those dreams soon, they are going to pass you by.” His little voice said.

He tried to keep the wall he had built around his heart in place and solid as he told himself, “But I had those plans with Sharon and it didn’t work out and I knew Sharon for years. What do I even really know about Emily?”

“You know for yourself that she’s not Sharon! You can’t keep comparing every woman you meet to Sharon. That’s just not fair to the rest of the females in the world.” His little voice said. It was something his partner, Chase, had been trying to convince him of for a long time.

Chase’s wife, Alison, had tried setting John up on several blind dates with her friends or women she worked with but John had never met anyone that he had been interested in for more than a roll in the hay with and definitely not anyone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

“Come on. Let’s go put our stuff in the fridge. Do you want to get a bath before you go to bed? A nice long soak in the tub is my mom’s favorite way to relax. She says it does wonders for the nerves. I think there’s some bubble bath stuff on the vanity in your room.”

“Would you mind getting the ice packs out of the cooler in the trunk of my car? I can freeze them in the freezer and then I don’t have to buy ice.” Emily said. “A nice hot bath does sound good.” She smiled weakly at him.

She passed him her keys and went into her room. He could hear her moving around, getting ready to take her bath and he stood fantasizing about her getting undressed and then stepping into a steaming hot bubble bath until his pants began to strangle his crotch.

He cleared his throat, pulled on the crotch of his pants before he left the room to go get her ice packs. He stopped and talked to the officer that had been assigned to watch over them tonight. He gave him a full description of the two men and told him “We occupy the only two rooms on this end of the building so if you see anyone coming around them or our vehicles, lean on the horn and then call it in. These guys are not afraid to shoot first and run later.”

“Yes, sir. Don’t worry, this is not my first protective detail.” The young officer told him.

“Very good.” John said and then went to retrieve the ice packs from her trunk. He was very impressed with the things she had in her trunk, including the rifle that was strapped to the inside of the trunk so that it wouldn’t shift around. He also saw another small bag that he almost mistook for a camera bag but when he looked inside, it had four boxes of bullets inside.

He felt strange poking around in her possessions but it looked like she had everything she would need to camp out just about anywhere. He finally located and grabbed up the ice packs and closed her trunk. He used the key fob to make sure the doors were locked and the alarm came on. It beeped a couple of times and the lights flashed.

He looked around to see if he could spot the black SUV but it was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if they would dare to come back with the patrol car parked in the parking lot. As he walked back to the room, the young officer stopped him. “Hey, would you mind if I use your bathroom before you turn in?”

“No, not at all. Go ahead. I’ll stay out here until you finish.” John said as he used his key to give the young officer access to the room. As he stood looking out at the parking lot and the street beyond, suddenly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle and he felt like someone was watching him. Derrick and his friend? More than likely. He wondered again if they would dare to come back tonight, but he doubted it.

Most criminals were really cowards. They wouldn’t chance getting caught. He almost wished he had a cigarette. He had finally kicked the habit a couple of years ago but sometimes he really missed it but knew that even one would have him smoking again and that he did not want at all.