When Terror Strikes Part 4
By: Stacy L.
PART 4
Gary approached the store where the attack on the woman was to occur. He inhaled deeply, preparing himself for this save, then pushed open the door. As he entered the store several people looked up. He scanned the area for the woman but could see no sign of her. He started towards the back of the store when he saw a man that looked somewhat familiar heading towards him. The man eyed him up looking at him as if he were about half piqued. Gary felt just a little bit disconcerted by the stranger. He watched as the man continued on out the door. Then he refocused continuing his search for the woman. He glanced at his watch noticing the time. She should be here, so where was she at?
Gary unconsciously pulled out his
newspaper opening it back up to the article. He stared at the page for a few
long seconds dumbfounded before mumbling to himself, “Experts expect analysis
of buses? What the hell?”
The article was gone, which made
no sense at all. He hadn’t yet done anything, so how on earth could the article
have changed? Unless… Gary’s mind flashed back to the face of the man who had
walked past him only a short time ago. He stiffened as it registered in his
mind that the guy who had past him could’ve been the woman’s attacker but…
Suddenly a feminine voice
interrupted his thoughts, “Mister Hobson, how are you?”
Gary glanced up but didn’t really
focus on the woman as he muttered, “Fine, I’m fine…”
“Mister Hobson?”
He was still staring off into now
where not even focusing on the person talking with him. He jumped as he felt a
hand touch his arm. He jerked his head up asking, “What…?” and as he saw the
person before him he stared at her then quickly muttered, “You…where were you?”
“What?”
“Didn’t you just talk with some
man?”
“Wha…what?”
“Didn’t…?”
“Mister Hobson, I’m here alone.
What are you talking about?”
“Nothing…nothing.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah…yes, I’m fine. I’m just a
little tired that’s all… Hey, what…what brings you here?”
“I do some of my shopping here.”
“Oh…”
“And you? How come I keep running
into you?”
“Right place…”
“Yeah, I heard that already.”
“What?”
“At the police station…from your
friend…Armstrong was it?”
“Yes…”
“I’m sorry I never really
introduced myself. I’m Amanda Riley.”
“Uh Gary, Gary Hobson…”
“So Mister Hobson, what’s your
answer?”
“To…to what?”
“Why do we keep bumping into one
another?”
“I don’t know. Fate maybe?”
“No I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t believe in fate, and I don’t
believe in coincidences either. So tell me Mister Hobson, why do we keep
bumping into one another? Are you following me or something?”
“No. Why would I follow you?”
“Who knows…maybe to threaten me.”
“No. Why would I threaten you?”
“Lots of reasons… Let me tell you
something Mister Hobson, I don’t like to be threatened and I don’t like to be
followed so if that’s what you’ve been doing then I suggest you stop.”
“Look lady, I don’t know you. I
helped you and that’s it. I don’t have any ulterior motives, and I sure as hell
don’t want to follow you. I’m a very busy man, Mrs. Riley. I don’t have time to
follow people around.”
“It’s Miss…and you had better take
heed to what I’m saying.”
“Maybe you are being followed, but
not by me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have things to do.”
“I mean what I say, Mister Hobson.
Don’t follow me or I’ll call the police on you…”
“Good bye, Miss Riley.”
Gary quickly left trying his
hardest not to let her accusations infuriate him any further. He came down here
with the sole intent of helping her and ended up being accused of stalking her.
He was through with her. Every time he ran into the woman she angered him some
how. She ran hot and cold. One moment she was thanking him for his help and the
next moment she was accusing him of following her.
Gary headed outside yanking the
paper out of his back pocket. He then flipped to the third page where he knew a
story existed in which a child disappears from a mall. Gary was so focused on
the newspaper that he failed to see the man hovering nearby monitoring his
actions…
The man waited patiently for
Hobson to appear. He was ready to kill the man for interfering in his plans yet
again. Why did the man keep showing up everywhere? He would have to deal with
the intrusive Mister Hobson soon. The man was becoming a complete pest, always
interfering in his plans. He would pay for being such a nuisance! Oh how he
would pay.
Gary quickly reread the article
about the missing boy then started making his way to the shopping center. Once
there he again pulled out his newspaper. There were people everywhere and the
mall was huge. Gary knew that trying to find one boy in this shopping center
would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, so he began reading the
article in hopes of finding some clue: ‘At 11 am early Saturday morning six
year old Gregory Evans disappeared from a local shopping center. Gregory Evans
was with his babysitter outside of Sears Department Store when an unidentified
man grabbed the boy and took off with him… Police have started the search for
young Gregory…’
Gary looked up from his paper to ascertain just where exactly in the mall he was. Once he got his bearings straight he again glanced at his watch then made his way to Sears Department Store. He surveyed the vicinity searching for a boy who matched the picture in the paper. He was about to give up when the boy came barreling out of a bookstore heading right towards Sears. Gary saw movement off to his left, turning just in time to see the would-be kidnapper make his move. Gary moved faster approaching the woman with the boy asking, “Excuse me, ma’me…?”
He saw the man curse but back off. Then he directed all of his attention towards the woman just catching what appeared to be a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. The woman looked up at him smiling as she responded, “Yes?”
“Nothing…nothing…”
Gary turned and quickly high-tailed it out of there leaving the woman staring after his retreating form.
Meanwhile…
The man who was planning to grab the kid cursed viciously. He had better call his boss and let him know that the kidnapping was unsuccessful. He walked outside then, using his cell phone, he placed a call to his boss. The man answered saying, “Thompson, you better have some good news for me.”
“I’m afraid I don’t, boss.”
“WHAT? What the hell happened?”
“What happened? Interference…someone called out to the damned babysitter. You know it was almost like the guy knew what the hell was about to happen. Niles got a picture of the woman, the kid and the stranger if you’d like to see them.”
“Yes I would. Ever since we’ve arrived here we’ve had nothing but bad luck. Someone’s always messing up my plans.”
“It would seem that way, boss. What would you like us to do?”
“Stay on the boy and the babysitter. You see an opportunity to grab the boy don’t hesitate. Then bring him to me.”
“No problem. I’ll contact you when I get him.”
“Good.”
* * * * * *
Gary returned to McGinty’s at 10 pm. Marissa was still there so Gary approached her questioning, “Marissa, why are you still here? Go home. I gave you the night off.”
“I know but…”
“What?”
“I was waiting…for you.”
“Marissa, you don’t have to wait on me.”
“I know I don’t.”
A brief silence followed Marissa’s comment before she spoke again, “How did it go today?”
“Good. Good.”
“And the woman…?”
“She’s…just fine.”
“But you don’t sound happy about that… Gary what happened?”
“I stopped the attack on her…”
“And?”
“And she thanked me by accusing me of stalking her. I’m through with helping that woman Marissa.”
“Gary you don’t really mean that.”
“Oh yes I do. She runs hot and cold, Marissa. One moment she’s thanking me the next she’s accusing me of following her.”
“Well she’s scared, Gary.”
“I know that but still…”
“Everyone handles fear in different ways, Gary…”
“But…”
“Dealing with her is hard, I know, but all you can do is what the paper tells you. And if saving her life is one of those things… Well then you have to…”
“I guess you’re right, but I’m not helping her again.”
“Gary…”
“I’m going upstairs to take a shower. What about you?”
“I’m heading home.”
“Would you mind some company?”
“No but I thought you were showering.”
“I know, but I’d much rather walk you home.”
“Thank you, Gary.”
Gary walked Marissa home then returned to his home, showered and went to bed.
* * * * * *
The man who was responsible for the attempted kidnapping waited patiently for his men to return with those pictures. He looked up as Thompson entered. The man looked nervous as hell. He knew that failure was not tolerated but in this case, “Thompson relax. I’m not going to kill you or anything.”
“Yes Mister Wallis.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to use my name? I can’t be connected to anything here. The cops hear my name and my plans are ruined. They’ll call my wife and she’ll run again taking the boy with her.”
“Who is the boy, Mister Wallis?”
“None of your concern. Just get me that kid.”
“I will boss, I promise… I have the pictures.”
“Give them to me.”
Thompson handed the pictures over, and Wallis looked at the first one. It was of the babysitter and the boy. The next photograph was a side shot of the two and the man whose face couldn’t be clearly distinguished in this photo. The next photo, however, was clear and it was of the man. Wallis cursed then said, “Just who the hell is this guy?”
“Who boss?”
Wallis showed him the picture of the man. It was Hobson…again. Damn, why did he keep interfering? Wallis thought in disgust and anger.
Thompson questioned, “Who is he, boss?”
“HE is a nuisance. He is the one who keeps interfering in my business.”
“Well, who is he?”
“His name is Gary Hobson. He owns a bar called McGinty’s over on Illinois…”
“Do you think he’s a player? He could be using that bar as a front…”
“What?”
“He could be a drug dealer or something.”
“Thompson, you’ve been watching too many damned movies. This guy is just a pain, plain and simple. Don’t ask stupid questions or make stupid comments.”
“But boss…he could be a snitch or someone could be feeding him information…”
“Thompson, I am going to just pretend that we never had this stupid conversation.”
“Well, how else does the guy know so much?”
“How the hell am I supposed to know? Maybe he’s psychic or something. I want you to make a thorough background search on this guy. Find out all you can about our mysterious Mister Hobson. Make the search discreet. We don’t want to attract any unnecessary attention. This guy has a connection to Armstrong.”
“Detective Paul Armstrong?”
“Yes. You know Armstrong, he’ll get very suspicious very quickly if someone starts accessing files.”
“I thought Armstrong moved to California or something.”
“So did I…until recently. He got a transfer out of his last precinct to this one.”
“Are you sure Armstrong is here?”
“Positive. He paid Mister Hobson a visit. The two had a nice long chat.”
“About what?”
“Probably her… She went to the station with Mister Hobson the other day. Armstrong’s probably doing some background checks, research…who knows. I have a feeling she didn’t tell him who was after her. She may have told him about her restraining order against her husband but she would’ve never told him my name…”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because she knows I can kill her…plus Armstrong would’ve made me his number one priority if she would’ve given him my name.”
“But wouldn’t her last name…”
“No. She changed her name again. Anyway, as I was saying, find out about this Hobson guy and steer clear of Paul Armstrong.”
“Are you sure this Armstrong is the same man from…?”
“Yes, I’m positive, unless the man has a twin brother out there somewhere. Same guy, trust me on this…Detective Paul Armstrong is a man I wouldn’t just forget…oh no. I quoted the man to memory.”
“Wasn’t he just a rookie when all of that stuff went down?”
“Yes a rookie, but even back then he was a damned good cop. He has a knack for the job. He was born into it. This guy’s instincts are so sharp… Steer clear of him, I’m warning you. Never underestimate our buddy Detective Armstrong. We have a very long history he and I… Cat and mouse… Trust me, stay away from that man.”
“What ever really happened between the two of you?”
“None of your business.”
“But…”
“Drop the subject. My past relationship with Detective Armstrong is personal…”
“But…”
“Thompson, drop it!” Wallis said in a stern somewhat threatening voice.
Thompson knew when to take a hint and his boss was warning him not to pursue the topic any further so Thompson backed off, “Okay…sure boss. Sorry.”
“Good. Now getting back to Hobson… He’s becoming more of a problem then I had previously foreseen. We may have to eliminate him.”
“I’m your man…”
“I don’t want him harmed or killed. I just want his background searched. After I get more information on him then I’ll decide what to do with him. Besides, he may become very valuable to me. Don’t touch him or go near him. Do you understand, Thompson? All I want is you to dig…quietly into the man’s past. You got that? Quietly.”
“Sure.”
* * * * * *
Gary awoke with a start to the insistent meow of his feline friend. He had returned after walking Marissa home last night then crashed. He yelled, “All right Cat, I’m coming!”
He hastily threw the blankets off of himself, getting up and walking to the door. Same old routine day in and day out: get up at six-thirty, get the paper, let in the cat and read the newspaper. Sometimes his morning routine seemed rather monotonous, but it was his life…especially ever since he started getting his special newspaper some five years before. He was past the point of questioning the origin of his special edition of the Chicago Sun, but he still sometimes wondered about the thing. This morning the question of its origin wasn’t far from his mind. He found himself mentally trying to determine where the newspaper came from exactly. He suddenly remembered those written words of Lucius Snow’s the day he had past his legacy onto a young girl by the name of Lindsey Romick: ‘We are the messengers between time and its keeper…’
The messengers between time and its keeper…interesting phrasing there, and even now Gary still could hear those words echoing through his mind. What they meant he wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he knew those words were important. In some odd way they helped give him some bearing on his newspaper. Could there actually be a keeper of time, so to speak? It was possible, wasn’t it? He never believed in that kind of stuff before but ever since he became the recipient of a future newspaper he began to discover that just about anything seemed totally possible. A keeper of time… He kind of liked the sound of that. It made him feel like he wasn’t completely alone in this world of unexplained phenomena…
The cat chose that particular time to jump up on Gary’s counter and gently nudge his hand with its nose. Gary glanced at the cat then spoke up, “I’m thinking too much aren’t I, Cat?”
The cat only looked up at him with those all-seeing eyes of his. He had never really liked cats before his new friend appeared on his door step one early morning but now, especially after all he and this particular cat have been through, he found the animal to be a truly fascinating creature. Gary had never believed that a cat could understand a human being, but his particular feline visitor proved him wrong there. His cat was definitely no ordinary creature…
The cat nudged his hand again then meowed. He was growing impatient waiting for Gary to pour him some milk. Gary smirked at the cat then said, “Well, aren’t you just a little bit demanding this morning, Cat? Hold on and I’ll get you some milk.”
He opened the refrigerator then pulled out a full container of milk. As he turned to the cat he saw its pink tongue flick out to lick its lips. He laughed saying, “Patience is a virtue. Didn’t anyone ever teach you that, Cat?”
“Rowl.”
“I see. Well maybe someone should.”
The cat continued to eye him up as if to demand the milk be given to him NOW. Gary continued, “All right, all right here’s some milk. Enjoy.”
And of course the cat definitely did enjoy the milk Gary provided.
Gary went into the bathroom to take a shower. When he was done he headed back to the kitchen. His thoughts again turned to the mystery of his paper and to the girl who would one day receive it. She was so young when he passed the newspaper to her. She wouldn’t have any idea what was in store for her for quite some time. She was a strong and spirited young girl. She was also very smart. He had noticed immediately the beautiful soul the young girl possessed. It took someone very special to be willing to risk his or her own life to save a complete stranger…or in Lindsey Romick’s case to save an elderly woman’s purse. He had liked Lindsey right away. She reminded him of himself. It was actually kind of scary how he had felt as if he had some kind of kinship with her…
On occasion he would find himself thinking about things, about life in general. Today seemed to be one of those times. Why did he keep thinking of the past? He shook his head when the only response to the question was silence. He decided that he had better check the paper to make sure nothing was going to happen in the very near future while he stood in his home thinking about the past.
He walked to his counter where he had left the paper earlier. As he read through it a knock on his door drew his attention. He asked, “Yeah Marissa, come on in.”
She walked in then questioned “Now just how did you know it was me at your door?”
Gary smiled then said in a joking voice, “I recognized your knock.”
Marissa smiled hearing the teasing in his voice. He sounded cheerier, more himself today…another very encouraging sign. Marissa replied, “I see someone is in a better mood this morning.”
“Yes I am. I feel better to.”
“Well now that’s very good to hear.”
* * * * * *
Amanda Riley awoke with a start to her alarm…six-thirty already? Didn’t she just lay down only an hour or two ago? She had had a rough night and a very hard time getting to sleep. She kept thinking over her conversation with this Mister Hobson guy. She wondered if she had been too abrupt and brunt with him yesterday. She had meant only to talk with him and try to make a formal apology for her unjust accusations towards him, but instead of apologizing she had made things worse. She had accused him of stalking her.
The man left her feeling unstable…actually all men seemed to have that kind of an effect on her, especially after her very rocky marriage to a very angry and bitter man. She didn’t dare trust any man… Well, any man except one and that was most likely because he was merely a boy incapable of hurting her in any possible way. She had a huge distrust of men. She couldn’t fathom how a man could be kind and gentle. No man was totally good at heart. All men wanted one thing and that was to get something from you. Take Mister Hobson for example, the man’s only reason for helping her was so he could get something from her. He had to have some kind of motive for helping her. Didn’t all men have an ulterior motive for their actions? She was positive that the ever-helpful Mister Gary Hobson was no different then any man she had ever met in her lifetime. All men were trouble, plain and simple. Now she didn’t hate men, not at all, she just didn’t trust them. She was willing to trust a man about as far as she could throw him which, in her particular case, wasn’t all that far but…well, she had to admit Mister Hobson had a certain…air about him that made her want to trust him and want to get to know him better…if only as friends. Maybe she should give the poor guy a second chance. After all she succeeded in insulting the poor man on more than one occasion. He didn’t deserve to be the chose recipient of all of her pent up anger just because he happened to be a man…a very attractive, very strong man at that… The man was tall, towering over her by at least a foot or so. He was very tall and tall men were menacing. They made her feel inferior, plus he was very attractive and attractiveness was another strength a man could us to…
‘STOP IT AMANDA! This is totally ridiculous! Mister Hobson is simply a person who helped you and who has managed not to take your head off for wrongly accusing him of things. The least you can do is not insult the poor guy!’
She had to apologize to him. She was not a mean-spirited person; she also wasn’t vindictive. Mister Hobson didn’t deserve her scorn. She decided that she would apologize to him. She had inquired at the police station as to where the man lived and managed to find out that he just happened to own a bar called McGinty’s over on Illinois. She needed to go there if not to apologize for her mistakes then to prove to herself that she was not afraid. She always did little daring games with herself to prove again and again that she was a strong, capable woman who could handle anything life decided to throw her way. Because of that…need of hers she was always pushing herself…that was what had sent her back to Grant Park only a few hours after her attack. She had dared herself to walk there again, to show herself that she was strong and could handle any obstacle. In facing her fears head on she often gained back some of her courage and strength she had lost through out the past few years of her rather chaotic life. She always felt stronger and more sure of herself when she managed to defeat her fears.
She showered then quickly dressed deciding to walk to McGinty’s and see if Mister Gary Hobson would even be willing to speak with her, and she wouldn’t blame him if he decided to kick her out of his bar demanding she never come back his way again.
Next:
Copyright©2004-2008 Midnightstorms.net
All
Rights Reserved.