Truck Stop

– Epilogue-

Donaldson kept one hand on the wheel. The other caressed the cell phone.

The cell phone with Jack Daniels’s number on it.

It had been over a week since that fateful meeting. He’d headed southwest, knowing there was a nationwide manhunt going on, knowing they really didn’t have anything on him. A description and a name, nothing more.

He’d been aching to call the Lieutenant. But it wasn’t the right time yet. First he had to let things cool down.

Maybe in another week or so, he’d give her a ring. Just to chit-chat, no threats at all.

The threats would come later, when he went to visit her.

In the meantime, he’d been so busy running from the authorities, covering his tracks, Donaldson hadn’t had any time to indulge in his particular appetites. He kept an eye open for likely prospects, but they were few and far between.

The hardest thing about killing a hitchhiker was finding one to pick up.

Donaldson could remember just ten years ago, when interstates boasted a hitcher every ten miles, and a discriminating killer could pick and choose who looked the easiest, the most fun, the juiciest. These days, cops kept the expressways clear of easy marks, and Donaldson was forced to cruise off-ramps, underpasses, and rest areas, prowl back roads, take one hour coffee breaks at oases. Recreational murder was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

He’d finally found one standing in a Cracker Barrel parking lot. The kid had been obvious, leaning against the cement ashtray near the entrance, an oversize hiking pack strapped to his back. He was approaching every patron leaving the restaurant, practicing his grin between rejections.

A ripe plum, ready to pluck.

Donaldson tucked the cell phone into his pocket and got out of the car…

For a continuation of Donaldson’s adventures, read SERIAL UNCUT by Jack Kilborn & Blake Crouch.

For a continuation of Jack’s adventures, read FUZZY NAVEL by J.A. Konrath.

For a continuation of Taylor’s adventures, read AFRAID by Jack Kilborn.