relief, but soon regretted it when I heard the short, sharp burst of the police car’s siren. Its warning sounded again, assumedly because the policeman had left the wake of the fire truck and had set a new course back towards us.
I resisted the urge to turn around. The blue, neon flashing lights reflected dimly on the underside of the roof of our car. The police were definitely behind us. The siren sounded again and George swore underneath his breath, still loud enough for me to hear even above the racket of Lucas’s snoring.
George manoeuvred the car over onto the shoulder of the road and switched off the engine. ‘Stay calm,’ he said to Susan as he wound down the window.
She nodded, seemingly unperturbed by our current predicament.
I heard the slamming of a car door behind us and a flashlight beam glance through the rear window, filling the cabin with mottled light. It moved around the car and then disappeared from sight before flicking back on again and hitting me full in the face with its intensity.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the sudden brightness before I felt the beam move away and I cracked my eyes open again.
The officer, walked around the car very slowly with the flashlight, arcing the beam over every surface of metal and every face inside the car. The fingers of his right hand were stroking the butt of his gun in readiness of a draw. He seemed very wary of us, skittish even.
‘Can we help you, officer?’ George said calmly. Lucas snorted loudly and then shuffled around in the seat until his face was pushed uncomfortably against the glass of his side window. God only knew what it looked like from the other side.
I suppressed my amusement in light of current events.
‘Can I see your licence please, sir?’ the policeman asked sternly.
George made no move to find his licence. Instead, he glanced up and looked in the rear-view mirror, studying something outside the rear window. ‘Are you alone, officer?’
The policeman wrapped his fingers tightly around the butt of the gun and turned the torch on George’s face. ‘Step out of the car please, sir.’
George didn’t even hesitate. He unbuckled his seatbelt, pulled the handle, opened the door, and stepped out into the cold night air.
Susan looked almost bored.
The policeman took a step back and refocused the flashlight on each of us sitting in the car. ‘None of you move, please.’ He focused his attention back on George. ‘Sir, I’m going to ask you to turn around slowly and place your hands on the side of the vehicle.’
‘May I ask what this is about?’
‘Sir, I’ll ask you one more time …’
George did as he was asked and rested his hands on the front of the bonnet and looked back at the police car parked behind us.
I hazarded a quick glance behind me and noted that the police car was empty. That was strange. I thought policeman always travelled with a partner for backup.
‘Please. My family is tired and we just want to go back to our hotel. We took a wrong turn on the road up ahead and got lost.’ George said all this calmly as he looked in the windshield at Susan. She gave him a brief nod.
‘I would believe that story if your face was not covered in ash, sir,’ the policeman offered abruptly as he dropped his hand from his gun and fished around on his belt for handcuffs.
George spun around, hitting the policeman dead in the centre of his chest. The officer dropped to the ground like a lead balloon, surprise plastered across his features.
His flashlight dropped from his hands and hit the road, the arc of light illuminating the road’s centre dividing lines. Air rushed from the policeman’s lungs as he braced his hands behind him to stop falling further backwards. The smell of blood once again hit the air and assailed my nostrils—I glanced down and noted that he had scraped his palms across the asphalt upon impact. It stirred the same feelings of excitement and need that I had felt earlier.
I drew in another sharp
I resisted the urge to turn around. The blue, neon flashing lights reflected dimly on the underside of the roof of our car. The police were definitely behind us. The siren sounded again and George swore underneath his breath, still loud enough for me to hear even above the racket of Lucas’s snoring.
George manoeuvred the car over onto the shoulder of the road and switched off the engine. ‘Stay calm,’ he said to Susan as he wound down the window.
She nodded, seemingly unperturbed by our current predicament.
I heard the slamming of a car door behind us and a flashlight beam glance through the rear window, filling the cabin with mottled light. It moved around the car and then disappeared from sight before flicking back on again and hitting me full in the face with its intensity.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the sudden brightness before I felt the beam move away and I cracked my eyes open again.
The officer, walked around the car very slowly with the flashlight, arcing the beam over every surface of metal and every face inside the car. The fingers of his right hand were stroking the butt of his gun in readiness of a draw. He seemed very wary of us, skittish even.
‘Can we help you, officer?’ George said calmly. Lucas snorted loudly and then shuffled around in the seat until his face was pushed uncomfortably against the glass of his side window. God only knew what it looked like from the other side.
I suppressed my amusement in light of current events.
‘Can I see your licence please, sir?’ the policeman asked sternly.
George made no move to find his licence. Instead, he glanced up and looked in the rear-view mirror, studying something outside the rear window. ‘Are you alone, officer?’
The policeman wrapped his fingers tightly around the butt of the gun and turned the torch on George’s face. ‘Step out of the car please, sir.’
George didn’t even hesitate. He unbuckled his seatbelt, pulled the handle, opened the door, and stepped out into the cold night air.
Susan looked almost bored.
The policeman took a step back and refocused the flashlight on each of us sitting in the car. ‘None of you move, please.’ He focused his attention back on George. ‘Sir, I’m going to ask you to turn around slowly and place your hands on the side of the vehicle.’
‘May I ask what this is about?’
‘Sir, I’ll ask you one more time …’
George did as he was asked and rested his hands on the front of the bonnet and looked back at the police car parked behind us.
I hazarded a quick glance behind me and noted that the police car was empty. That was strange. I thought policeman always travelled with a partner for backup.
‘Please. My family is tired and we just want to go back to our hotel. We took a wrong turn on the road up ahead and got lost.’ George said all this calmly as he looked in the windshield at Susan. She gave him a brief nod.
‘I would believe that story if your face was not covered in ash, sir,’ the policeman offered abruptly as he dropped his hand from his gun and fished around on his belt for handcuffs.
George spun around, hitting the policeman dead in the centre of his chest. The officer dropped to the ground like a lead balloon, surprise plastered across his features.
His flashlight dropped from his hands and hit the road, the arc of light illuminating the road’s centre dividing lines. Air rushed from the policeman’s lungs as he braced his hands behind him to stop falling further backwards. The smell of blood once again hit the air and assailed my nostrils—I glanced down and noted that he had scraped his palms across the asphalt upon impact. It stirred the same feelings of excitement and need that I had felt earlier.
I drew in another sharp
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