September 16, 2010

It was that dreaded sound again. The ringing of my phone.

It gave me a good rush of anxiety. They must have figured out what I had done.

I rolled over in the hotel bed and saw that sure enough it was my mom's contact flashing over the screen.

Better to face it now rather than later.

I picked up the phone and slid to answer her.

"Hello?"

"John Arthur Grimes, are you crazy? With your own dad's money? What the hell are you doing?"

"I… I told you already. I can't tell you, but listen, I'll pay Dad back. Every penny that I've spent. You just have to trust me."

"Trust you?" she was pissed.

"Yes. This is important. It is to me."

"Your father is in a coma, I've got your grandparents and uncle and little brother breathing down my neck, expecting me to know what the hell is going on with you, and I don't. I don't know what to tell them. I don't know how to handle this shit. It's bad enough I have to worry about your father, and now you're out there spendin' his money."

"I will pay it back," I said this firmly. "And then some. You don't need to worry about me."

"You can't ask me to not worry about you."

"Yes, I can, and I just did. I've been on my own the past few years. I've done a good job takin' care of myself. And before that too."

"It sure doesn't sound like it, Jack-"

I hung up the phone.

I felt bad. I did. I knew she was going through a lot, and she wasn't in the wrong. But I was pissed off too. She should trust me on this. If I said I'd pay them back, I would. I had every intention of doing so.

I'd gotten to Alpharetta yesterday, but I didn't know where to start. I sat outside of a Kroger for a few hours to see if she- or anyone who looked like they could have been a hungry escaped prisoner just looking for some food. Magna didn't know anyone down here- besides me- and there was no way she knew I was here. She had nowhere to go. She had to have gone and looked for food somewhere.

After I got no leads at the Kroger, I drove all around the city and the nearby towns. There was nothing. That was no strategy, no plan.

If she was still here, I had to find her before the cops did.

I'd stayed out late- figuring she might be moving around at night time, taking advantage of the cover of darkness, but eventually turned in after 5AM to a local Motel 6.

So now I lied here. It was sixteen after one according to my phone. I needed to think. There had to be a better way of going about this.

Magna was smart. And she was already a survivor. If she didn't want the cops to find her, they wouldn't. She wouldn't stay in Alpharetta- at least I doubted that. She would get out if she could.

But the escaped prisoners were big news here. They had roadblocks on all the roads leading out of the city. She wouldn't trust anyone to smuggle her out of here, so there was only one way she could have left the city.

She had to have gone through the woods. And the woods only engulfed the border on one part of Alpharetta. She was heading towards Big Creek.

That wasn't much, but it was a start. All I'd have to do is drive down I-19. It would be slowed down because of the police roadblocks, but there was no reason for them not to let me through.

I got ready as quickly as I could, brushing my teeth for what I was sure was less time than recommended by dentists. The longer I waited, the further she could have gotten.

Here was as good a place as any to stop. The roadblock had taken up a good chunk of time, and I knew I only had a few hours of daylight left. I didn't know how long I'd be out in the woods, so I'd stopped at a Dick's Sporting Goods and bought as much camping gear as I thought I could reasonably carry, and some extra stuff to store in my car. I'd loaded up a khaki colored backpack with things I might need. I also grabbed a camo tarp to hide my car in the trees.

Amongst my camping gear was a small pop-up tent, a sleeping bag, some protein bars- I wasn't going to be bothered with cooking. I grabbed some spray paint in order to mark my location just in case I got lost. I also bought a reusable water bottle, a small hatchet, a lighter, sunscreen, bug spray, a solar lantern, and a first aid kit.

I tried to keep it light.

I covered the Corolla with the camo tarp, and made my way into the woods.

The sun had set now, and I had the solar lantern out, but I didn't need it. Through the woods, I could see a big pink neon sign.

My feet were burning, and I was still left disappointed not having gotten any leads. This little sign of civilization left me dejected. But there was more ground to cover. I'd see if I could find a hotel near wherever I was and then head back to the car in the morning.

I was starting to lose faith, but I wasn't ready to give up. It was a dumb idea after all. How in the hell did I expect to find her?

As I advanced through the trees, I could see what the pink neon sign was spelling out.

Scapegoat.

It looked like some kind of tavern, like a southern California roadstop one. The parking lot sat on the edge of the woods, which in itself was littered with motorcycles and beat down trucks.

I had turned twenty less than two weeks ago, so it's not like I was going to go in and stop for a drink, but maybe I could find out if there was any lodging nearby.

I stomped up to the entryway, walking through the door. Some heads turned to look at me, I was sure I was quite a sight with all my camping gear on. I was also the youngest person in the bar by far. I could pass for older than twenty- I'd gotten my dad's beard genetics, but everyone in here looked at least forty, a lot overweight and dressed in leather. It was a good old southern redneck watering hole, made apparent by the confederate flags and 'don't tread on me' symbols hung all around the bar.

I slung all my gear down next to a table and sat for a moment to catch my breath.

"Can I get you anything, honey?" a warm Georgian accent spoke up, and I looked up to see a blonde waitress in daisy duke's hovering over me.

"Just a water," I requested.

"Sure thing," she walked back towards the bar.

There were plenty of bars like this in Georgia, especially northern Georgia- well, all over the state really. King County was much more cookie cutter than this though. The people out here didn't care to check for ID's before entry. I probably could've gotten a drink other than water if I'd wanted to, but I didn't want to tire myself out more than I already was.

I could smell them before I saw them. Sweat and marlboro with a hint of tangy cat piss.

A couple of leather clad men, about fifty, came and took a seat in the table behind me.

"She's a sneaky bitch," the first man said, his accent something more like West Virginia than Georgia.

"Well, we're onto her, and we're not far. I know that much," the second man was more serious, his voice even and calm.

"Well, that's a big loss if she gets away," the first man said again. "A hundred-and-fifty k? You'd think she'd killed a lot more'n one man."

"Keep your voice down," the second man warned. "People 'round these parts don't like people like us. Half of them got warrants out too."

"Hell, all of 'em put together couldn't be worth what she's worth."

"Yeah, well, it ain't everyday a prison bus crashes out like that."

It was the bus. Someone from the same bus that Magna escaped from at least. But I had a feeling that it was her they were after. So, who were these guys? Bounty hunters?

I turned over a bit to get a better look at them. They certainly looked the part. Leather jackets and chaps, the first guy had a long white mullet and a handle bar mustache, the second a shaved head and goatee.

The waitress had brought me my water, and I dared not move, waiting for these guys to spit out any more information, but they didn't. Only that they were going to turn in at the Quality Inn in Cumming.

After what seemed like too many rounds of Jack Daniels for a couple of professional bounty hunters, they left, and I trailed them out, seeing them take off in an older model Impala.

They were after her, but I would get to her first. I needed to go back for my car. I knew were they were, and it sounded like they weren't going anywhere else for a while.

I headed back towards the woods when my phone rang again.

I really hoped it wasn't my mom, but I think the name flashing across the screen was even worse.

"Hello." I answered.

"Jack, you need to get home right now, I ain't arguin'," Shane said.

"I can't. Y'all need to stop callin' me when I'm tellin' you it ain't happenin'!"

"Where are you? Let me come get you."

"I will be back," I affirmed.

"Listen, Jack, this whole sickness thing on the news. It's bad. It's dangerous. It's here in King County, and you need to come home. Now."

I could hear the fear in his voice, a tone I'd never heard before on Shane. It actually made me consider complying. But this was important. And I wouldn't forgive myself if dumb and dumber got to her first.

"I am close to what I need to get done. I will be back soon, Shane, I'm sorry."

"Goddammit! Your mother, your brother are worried sick, Jack!"

"I have to-"

"You have to get your fuckin' ass home!"

"There's a girl."

"A girl?"

"I love her."

"If you were seein' what I'm seein' here, you would know that no girl is worth this. Come home, man, I'm beggin' you."

"Not yet."

I hung up the phone.