Gary Hobson

When Terror Strikes Part 5

By: Stacy L.

PART 5

Amanda walked down the sidewalk in the brisk morning air just reveling in the fact that she could take a walk on her own without having to be told at what time she needed to be back. She glanced at the tons of people rushing in and out of stores and up and down the sidewalks then looked up as an El train flew across the tracks overhead. She noticed that she was near her destination. She could see the sign for McGinty’s just up ahead and hastened her steps. Should she really even attempt to do this? The man had every reason in the world not to want to see her again. Should she really enter his place knowing she’d probably only run into a wall of hostility? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, maybe she should just go home and forget the whole thing. She started to turn around when she mentally yelled at herself. She had vowed never to let fear and uncertainty get the best of her again. She would face Mister Hobson if it killed her to do so. She refused to back down. She was not going to turn and run like a scared little rabbit. She refused to let fear rule her life any longer! She would see him now. She would beat down his door if she had to in order to get the man’s attention and, no matter what, Mister Hobson would see her and he would listen to her. She would make the man listen! Feeling her courage and strength freshly renewed she strode purposely towards McGinty’s. Her mind was made up and nothing would make her change it…nothing!

As she entered the bar emanating an air of determination she failed to take notice to how several men eyed her up. She approached the bar and, seeing a barkeep heading her way, she cleared her throat. The man spoke, “Well good morning, ma’me. May I get you something?”

“No thank you, but you may be able to help me.”

“I’ll try my best, ma’me.”

“I’m looking for Mister Hobson, Gary Hobson, is he here?”

“Mister Hobson? Oh…do…do you know each other?”

“We’ve met…a few times. I really must speak with him, please.”

“Say no more… Hey Scott, is Mister Hobson here?”

“I believe he’s still upstairs with Miss Clark.”

“Thanks. Uh, he’ll be down shortly…”

“I’ll just go upstairs and see him.”

“You can’t. Mister Hobson…”

Before he had a chance to finish his comment Amanda walked away heading towards a set of stairs located at the rear of the bar, half way up them she stopped mentally asking ‘What are you doing? Are you just going to barge in on the guy? This is crazy, Amanda…It may be crazy but I’m doing it…’

Her mind made up she approached the door. She stopped as she heard a voice, his voice saying, “I’m fine Marissa, honestly…”

She heard a feminine voice respond, “Look Gary, I know you may think that you’re fine, but you’re not. You need a break. You need to take some time off.”

“We’ve been over this before, Marissa. I can’t take any time off because of this… I have things to do, important things… Look Marissa, I feel fine really. I slept well last night…”

“You may have slept well last night Gary, but one night of undisturbed sleep is not going to change the fact that you’re totally exhausted.”

“Look Marissa, don’t worry. I’m fine. I can handle this.”

“But what if you can’t?”

Amanda heard the room fall into complete silence. She heard a heavy sigh and some pacing then Gary’s voice again as he spoke softer now in a calmer tone as if he were trying to relay in his voice that he was, would be, just fine. He said, “I’ll be fine, Marissa. I promise you…”

“Gary, you know you can’t lie to me, so don’t even try it. I know you want to make me feel more at ease but it won’t work. I know you too well, Gary.”

Gary glanced up at his friend feeling frustrated. He and Marissa had been over this same conversation so many times in the past month that it was becoming old very quickly. He knew he was still exhausted but he also knew that he had to keep going. He had no choice in the matter. As long as the paper gave him stories on people who needed helped and saved his job was not over. He knew that Marissa could read him like a book, and often wondered why he chose to argue with her so much knowing that in the end she would always win in some way. Marissa always seemed to win.

Gary hastily rubbed the back of his head with his left hand looking down at the floor not focusing on anything in particular. He was deliberately avoiding Marissa’s eyes. He spoke up again saying, “Yes, I suppose you do Marissa,” and fell silent again. The silence seemed to stretch until Marissa questioned, “So what’s in store for you today?”

“Well there’s a…”

A loud knock resounded in the room and Gary glanced at his door. Marissa turned her head then asked, “Expecting someone?”

“No, no one…”

He could see the shape of a person outside his door. The figure was definitely feminine, which puzzled him. Who would be visiting him here? He glanced at Marissa then said nonchalantly, “I better get that.”

“Gary…”

“Hold on a minute, Marissa.”

Gary opened his door at first caught temporarily off guard by who his visitor was then shocked. As he stared into the face of the woman who accused him of stalking her not long before he found he couldn’t speak. He had no idea what to say to her.

Amanda decided she had no right to eavesdrop on Mister Hobson. She barely knew the man and had no excuse for hanging around outside his door being privy to what he and his friend were discussing. She collected herself ready to face the man she had insulted and knocked on the door. In her mind she had all of these ideas of what she was going to say to the man prepared but as soon as he opened the door and faced her all of those things she had meant to say simply died on her lips. Instead of speaking she found herself staring at the man before her. He seemed taller than she had remembered him…and more handsome. She mentally yelled at herself for even daring to think of the man as being handsome.

Both her and Gary’s attention was quickly drawn to Marissa as she asked, “Gary who is it?”

Gary looked at his friend then finally found his voice answering, “Marissa this is Miss Riley.”

“Oh,” came Marissa’s surprised response.

Amanda focused on the woman ready to introduce herself more formally when she noticed that the woman before her couldn’t see at all. In fact, she was blind. The last thing she expected was to discover that the man before her had a blind friend. She always felt sure that men wouldn’t even give the time of day to a woman with special needs. She felt somewhat ashamed that her past experiences with one particular man had made her so biased against the whole general male population. She felt as if she might’ve misjudged Mister Hobson… Could she be so naïve to willingly allow one bad experience with a man completely change her own outlooks on things? She began to wonder if her ex-husband had instilled more into her then just fear of him. She became angry with herself as she realized that part of the reason she treated the man before her so badly is because of what her ex-husband had done to her.

She heard a soft voice inquire, “Miss Riley, are you all right?” and realized that the voice belonged to Mister Hobson and instead of being full of anger, which she had been expecting, it was filled with concern. She spoke, “Uh yes, I’m fine. Thank you…for asking.”

“Is there some reason you’ve decided to visit me?”

“Yes I…I wanted to speak with you. If that’s all right…”

Marissa interrupted, “Uh Gary, I just remembered I have to call one of our suppliers about a shipment. If you’ll excuse me Miss Riley…”

“Oh yes, of course.”

Marissa walked over to the two. Gary said, “Marissa, I’ll be down shortly.”

“Take your time Gary…”

She turned towards Amanda then continued, “It was nice meeting you, Miss Riley,” she then left and headed downstairs.

Amanda laughed nervously when she became aware that she was now alone…with him. She said, “Well, um…she seems nice.”

“She is. Miss Riley, is there some reason you’re here?”

“Yes. Yes there is… I…”

“Pardon me but would you like to come in?”

“NO! I…I mean I’ll be fine…out here…”

Gary didn’t miss her immediate refusal to enter his home. He also didn’t miss her sudden nervousness and her sudden discomfort of being here…with him. He watched her as he again offered her entrance into his home. She again refused to enter so Gary spoke up, “Look if you want to speak with me then let’s go inside. I for one don’t like to hold conversations at my doorway. Please come in…”

“Oh…okay…but only for a moment.”

Amanda hesitantly stepped over the threshold. She felt very uncertain and very afraid. Once this man got her alone and behind a closed door he could do anything to her. She knew that she was taking a huge risk with trusting him even a little, but there was just something about him that made her WANT to trust him.

Gary noticed the tension rapidly increase in the woman as soon as she entered his home. He immediately asked, “Would you prefer that I leave my door open?”

“Wha…what?”

“Look Miss Riley, there are a lot of people downstairs. If they hear anything they will most definitely come running to investigate…”

“I’m fine.”

Gary could tell that she wasn’t fine at all. In fact, she seemed very edgy. She was acting like a caged rabbit, quickly scanning the room and focusing longer on the possible exits out of the room then on the décor.

Amanda scanned the place accessing her options should it become necessary for her to escape from him. She caught herself in the midst of the action and forced herself to stop before focusing on the man in front of her. She noticed that he was watching her with nothing but concern written all over his face…he was concerned for her? What? She then became aware that he was waiting silently for her to gather herself. Strange.

Once Gary was certain that his visitor was focusing on him and listening he spoke again, “Miss Riley, are you sure you’re going to be all right?”

“Yea…yeah. Yes. I’m fine Mister Hobson.”

Gary nodded his head before continuing, “Would you like anything to drink?”

“No thank you. I don’t drink.”

“I was referring to orange juice, coffee, milk…water perhaps? Not alcohol Miss Riley.”

Feeling foolish she fumbled an apology, “Oh…oh, I’m so sorry. I, yes I’ll have some water. Please.”

Gary nodded before turning to get her a glass. He gave her space and time to get better collected spending more time than necessary to retrieve a glass of water for her. He sensed that she needed it.

Amanda felt more at ease when Mister Hobson placed more distance between her and him then turned his back as he got her the glass of water she had requested. She took advantage of his apparent inattentiveness to again survey his place stopping as she noticed that his door was slightly ajar. Why hadn’t the door shut behind them? As she looked closer she could see a door prop against it. He had purposely left the door hanging slightly ajar? Why? Was it for her benefit or what? She looked back at him caught completely off guard by the small gesture and watched as he opened a window before turning back to her and saying, “I have your water. Ice or…?”

“No, no ice. Thanks.”

Gary strode over to her and handed her the glass of water. He sensed that she was very afraid and very uncertain. He had never expected that this particular woman would have the amount of fear and uncertainty that was presently emanating from her. She had literally lashed into him at the store accusing him of stalking her and warning him to stay away. He never expected a woman that determined to be scared of anything. It took a lot of strength, guts and courage to stand up to someone she barely knew and give him the fifth degree for coincidentally showing up at the same place she was at. He now realized that there was a lot more to her than met the eye. She was spirited, but also very uncertain, which made him wonder about her. As he realized that he was staring at her longer than was necessary to hand her a glass of water he quickly redirected his gaze and took a seat before asking, “So what did you want?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why are you here?”

“Oh um, we got off on the wrong foot the other day and… I should’ve never accused you of…what I did. I tried to apologize at the police station but…you ran out before I could.”

“I was in a hurry,” came Gary’s simple reply.

“Why?”

“I had things to do… As I told you before, Miss Riley, I’m a very busy man.”

He mentally hoped that his answer was enough to quench any more of her curiosity as to where he had run off to on that particular day. She seemed satisfied with his answer as she continued “I also want to apologize for the way I treated you at the store. I…I should’ve never yelled at you. I’m sorry. It’s just that…well…ever since that night in the park I’ve been…a little bit on edge.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I know that I had absolutely no right to have a police officer take you downtown. I just… I recognized your voice and…I became very afraid. I’m sorry I put you through all of that.”

He nodded his head before clearing his throat in preparation to ask her if someone was after her. He sensed that she would argue that point with him but had to ask so he spoke gently questioning, “Miss Riley… There have been several…problems revolving around you lately and I was just wondering… Well, I guess what I’m trying to say is… What do you think about these…attacks?”

“What?”

“Well, I keep running into you and you have to admit that the circumstances have been a bit…bizarre. First, someone attacks you in the park and then there’s the mugging and at the store…”

“What about the store, Mister Hobson?”

“No…nothing. It just seems as if…someone is after you. Have you ever considered the possibility of…?”

“NO! No one’s after me Mister Hobson. I’m fine. Nobody has any reason to be after me.”

“But…”

“No one is after me.”

Gary eyed her up noticing how quickly she denied being pursued. He could tell that she was hiding something because she just couldn’t seem to bring herself to make direct eye contact with him, and she was wringing her hands together as if she were worrying excessively. He was positive that there was someone after her and had a feeling that she also knew it but was hoping to be wrong. He broke the sudden silence by adding, “Miss Riley, you may believe that no one’s after you but…I know someone is.”

She suddenly jerked her head up eyeing Gary suspiciously. She stared at him for what seemed like hours before shaking her head no and replying, “You’re wrong, Mister Hobson. No one is after me. Nobody has any reason to pursue me.”

“Oh, I believe they do have a reason. I just haven’t figured out what that reason could possibly be.”

“You’re wrong.”

“And what if I’m not?”

“You’re wrong!”

Gary noticed her sudden defensiveness. It was extremely noticeable in the tenseness of her body and the straining of her voice, and he felt himself getting more frustrated. It was obvious the woman needed help, so why was she refusing to even acknowledge the possibility of a problem occurring? He spoke again, “Look Miss Riley, if somebody is after you…”

“No one is.”

“Just…will you please just listen to me?”

She knew that she was being silly and she also sensed that the man knew she was lying. She quieted down allowing him to continue, “You need help. You need to tell someone. You can’t expect to be able to deal with this problem all on your own. You need help.”

“I don’t need any help.”

“Why?” questioned Gary a little irritated by her response.

She continued, “Because I’m not in trouble…”

“You need help…”

“Don’t go telling me what I need, Mister Hobson! You don’t even know me!”

“Why are you getting so defensive?”

“I am not getting defensive!”

“Yes you are.”

She jumped to her feet now angry with the intolerable man. How dare he accuse her of getting defensive! She wasn’t!

Gary clenched his hands together into fists. The woman was so damned frustrating! He inhaled deeply then refocused taking extra care to watch how he relayed his next statement, “Miss Riley, you may be in danger. I’m not saying you are but there’s a very good possibility of that. All I’m saying is that you need help. You can’t expect to do everything on your own!”

“I’m the only one I an rely on, Mister Hobson! No one else! Just ME!”

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” he said as he tried reasoning with her. She quickly cut him off yelling, “YES IT DOES! Leave me alone, Mister Hobson! Don’t bother me again!”

“Bother you? Bother YOU? Look lady, you came to visit me remember? I didn’t invite you here. You came to me so don’t go ordering me to stop bothering you. I’m merely trying to help you!”

“Look Mister Hobson I don’t need your help. I don’t need anyone’s help!”

“No I suppose you don’t…or is that because you refuse to believe that anyone would WANT to simply help you?”

“WHAT?”

“You’re afraid…”

“I AM NOT!”

“You’re afraid to trust people and that’s why you refuse to let anyone else help you…”

“That’s a lie!”

“Is it?” questioned Gary in a softer tone of voice.

Amanda fell silent as Gary successfully hit the nail right on the head, so to speak. She didn’t trust anyone but herself. Her husband had taught her just how unreliable others were. He had taught her never to trust anyone again.

She felt full of rage and anger at her husband, ex-husband, for doing this to her. She wanted to scream; she was so furious that tears of anger and rage threatened to spill unchecked down her face. She refused to let them come, but when she looked at Mister Hobson and saw that he was no longer angry, instead he was worried, a single tear rolled down her face. She saw tenderness and understanding in the man’s eyes and seeing those things scared her to death. Before she could stop herself she turned and fled down the stairs.

Gary ran after her ignoring the many stares and looks he got as first she ran through the bar then he did. He ran outside and saw her running, not focusing on her surroundings at all. She started darting across the street when out of nowhere a black Toyota 4X4 truck flew around a corner heading straight towards her. She didn’t even notice the truck barreling towards her as her only goal was to place as much distance between herself and him as was humanly possible.

Gary saw the truck and felt his heart rate suddenly triple. He could feel his body tense up and pain go straight to his heart as fear for her safety engulfed him. He had frozen only momentarily. His experiences with making so many near saves and being placed in so many dangerous situations helped his body to move out of force of habit. His breathing picked up and he began to swallow hard as all he saw, could see in his mind’s eye was that truck impacting her body and driving her up over the hood then onto the ground killing her instantly. Gary refused to allow the horrible scenario to occur. He felt his body come alive as adrenaline pumped rapidly through his veins charging his body with unbelievable strength and energy. He ran fast and hard darting in front of the fast approaching truck, pushing all thoughts of cracking bones and loud crashes out of his mind, and focusing solely on the woman. He would not let her die! He refused to accept defeat! He could hear the squealing tires of the truck as the driver must’ve noticed the pedestrian running in front of him and slammed on the breaks. The tires screeched and the breaks squealed. Gary kept hearing the echo of shattering glass in his mind. He dared not look up to see just how close that vehicle now was to them. He only saw her and with great agility and fast reflexes he lounged into her wrapping his arms protectively around her, cocooning her in the safety of his own arms. He hugged her tightly to his chest praying he could save her. If that truck impacted them he would take the brunt of the strike, which would surely kill him and just maybe shield her enough to save her life. As he impacted her and enveloped her in his arms the two flew violently towards the ground. Gary saw the pavement fast heading towards them and his mind’s eye could only see her head impacting that black top and knocking her out. At the last possible second he turned his body abruptly around enough that his body would take the brunt of the impact. He vaguely heard people screaming, horns blowing and squealing tires as his body literally slammed into the road. He screamed as pain reverberated throughout his entire being. He felt his head snap back and could only groan as pain exploded like a thousand tiny shards of glass splitting through his head like daggers. He saw bright white light that nearly blinded him, followed by a loud annoying ringing in his ears…then nothing as the lure of unconsciousness sent him spiraling into the deep, dark chasm of total unending pitch blackness…

Amanda had been running full throttle trying to get away from Mister Hobson when she had heard the approach of a vehicle. She only glanced up briefly, for a mere second, before something barreled into her with great force knocking her completely off balance. In that split second she had seen the front bumper of the truck and had thought for sure she had been struck by it. She had felt something wrapping around her, and then she was sailing through the air, heading straight for the blacktopped road. She thought for sure the truck had hit her. What else could’ve possibly plowed into her like that? Only that vehicle could drive into her body with so much force, but if she had been struck why didn’t she feel any pain? All she felt was a dull ache in her hip and throbbing in her arm. Her ankle also seemed to be hurting just a tad. Was she dead? Is that why she wasn’t experiencing all that much pain? She was about to panic when she heard voices and shouting. People were nearby…she was still alive! She felt suddenly relieved but was still so afraid that she was quite literally shaking uncontrollably like a fragile leaf blowing in the wind. She felt cold all over and recognized the first signs of shock. It was then that she felt something across her. Something was pinning her to the ground. She began to panic all over again as she wondered if the vehicle was pinning her in place…but just as quickly as she felt the unbelievably hard grip pinning her the grip suddenly loosened. She then began to focus, truly focus on her surroundings. A groan caught her attention but she wasn’t sure if she had groaned or not. As she began to focus on her surroundings she heard a distraught voice question, “Gary…?”

She knew that voice but… The woman that Mister Hobson was speaking to earlier…it was her voice, but why did she sound so fearful and distraught unless…

Amanda froze as she again remembered something impacting her body just before she hit the ground. She turned rapidly to look at what she was leaning against and again felt cold all over…lying on his side was Mister Hobson. She noticed that his arm was now draped across her body… He had been holding her, that’s what had been pinning her to the ground. She suddenly realized that Mister Hobson must’ve seen the truck heading towards her and pushed her out of the path of the on-coming vehicle. She found her voice then spoke up, “Mister Hobson? Mister Hobson, are you all right?”

She touched his face gently then turned it so he would be looking at her. She paled when she saw blood running freely from his temple. She became very scared for the man as she noticed that he was pale and unconscious. She inquired more insistently, “Mister Hobson? Mister Hobson, please! Talk to me. PLEASE!”

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