With his feet on the dash and a belly full of ice cream, Timmault leaned back in the passenger seat. A sign passed behind them that read Ohio: 40 miles. They were making good time without the traffic.
Luke adjusted himself in his seat. “You know, I’ve been thinking, Cody. This has to break the first rule of evading vampires; traveling at night.”
“You’re right,” Cody said. He gave up on trying to get Luke to call him Timmault. If it made the man happy, he would be Cody. “Traveling at night is a terrible idea. But big cities are havens for vampires, and they have a way of communicating with each other. It’s like telepathy or a hive mind or something. Figured it was best to put some miles between us and Chicago.”
Luke side eyed Cody from the driver’s seat. Cody knew that look. Luke was nervous but didn’t want to show it. Again Luke adjusted his seat. “Yeah, well it’s 3:30 in the morning and I’ve been up for almost 24 hours. Might be better if we find a place to pull over.”
“I could drive,” Cody said.
Luke cackled at the idea, but then realized Cody was serious. “What? Your feet couldn’t reach the pedal.”
“Sure they can,” Cody said. “I stole your truck yesterday, didn’t I?”
Luke furrowed his brow and bit on his upper lip the way he did when he was annoyed and refused to say what was on his mind.
Cody continued. “Besides, I’ve been driving longer than you?”
“Is that right, El Filo,” Luke said sarcastically.
“Luke, I drove a Model T,” Cody smiled smugly, but then felt the need to correct himself. “er - dad.”
Luke said nothing for a moment. He looked in the rear view mirror, then checked the dashboard.
“What is it,” Cody asked.
“Guy’s flying up on me like a bat out of hell,” Luke checked the speedometer. “I’m going ten over. Just go around me if you’re in such a rush.”
Cody unbuckled and turned around in his seat to have a look. The headlights behind them shrank the gap between them.
Luke tapped Cody’s shoulder. “C’mon, face forward. And buckle your seatbelt.”
Cody did as he was told.
The headlights from the car behind flooded the inside of the Lincoln as it neared.
“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Luke said, changing the subject. “Correcting yourself all the time. I prefer dad, but if a ‘Luke’ slips out, I’ll know who you mean.
Cody looked down at his hands. The conversation made him uncomfortable. “I know - I just. In all my years. In all the Comebacks, I’ve never done -”
Cody was cut short by blue and red lights flashing behind them.
“Shit,” Luke said. “I can’t believe this.”
Cody jerked his head back toward the cop car. “Were you doing anything wrong?”
“Well, I was going ten over.” Luke’s hands moved to 10 and 2. “But come on, it’s the middle of the night. This guy got a quota or something?” He slammed his palm on the steering wheel. “I can’t believe I’m getting pulled over in a stolen car.”
“No!” Cody snapped. “Do not pull over.”
“What do you want me to do, Cody? I can’t run. We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s no offramp for miles.”
Cody tried to think of a way out, but before he could come up with something, Luke pulled over onto the shoulder.
Luke parked the car and took a deep breath. “What are the chances he’s another vampire?”
Cody shook his head. “The feral ones couldn’t control their bloodlust enough to maintain the ruse. And it’s beneath the older ones.”
Luke nodded in agreement. “Okay, so just a cop.”
“Just a cop,” Cody echoed.
“And we’re just a father and son driving cross country.”
“In a stolen car,” Cody added.
“With a warrant for fleeing the scene of an accident.”
The cop slammed his car door shut with a thud and approached Luke’s window.
“Just be cool,” Luke said. “I got this,” and he rolled down his window.
“Good morning, officer,” Luke said.
The cop was a tall man in his mid-40s. He had a grey mustache and thick, military issue black-frame glasses. A name plate read ‘Shelton’ above his badge.
“License and registration,” the cop said.
Cody tensed. “Don’t,” he whispered.
Luke glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “What?” he said as if it was a ridiculous request. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet and retrieved his license. At the same time, he reached into the glove compartment and rummaged through napkins and leaflets for the registration. “Here ya go,” Luke said cooly.
The cop plucked them from Luke’s hand and eyed them for a second before walking back to his car.
Once the cop was out of earshot, Luke shook his head at Cody. “Relax, will you? When he asks, the priest lent us his car to visit family.”
“They’ll have someone listening,” Cody said.
“Who?” Luke said before realizing. “Vampires?”
“They knew about St. Jerome’s. They’ll know your name. When that cop runs you in his system, they’ll know where we are. And they’ll come.” Cody looked through the rearview mirror at the cop car behind them. “We should go.”
Luke rubbed his temple. “We’re in the middle of nowhere, Cody. They won’t find us. I’m more worried about someone reporting my truck parked on top of someone in Rogers Park. I dunno - is that a state lines thing? Would an Indiana cop know that?”
“Probably. We should go.”
“We’re not fleeing. There’s nowhere to flee to.”
The cop walked back to Luke’s window. This time his hand rested on his waist just above his holster.
“Step out of the car, please,” Officer Shelton said.
Cody grabbed Luke’s thigh. “Don’t do it,” he warned.
Officer Shelton leaned down into the window. “Son, do you know this man?”
Cody kept his eyes facing the windshield. “Yeah, he’s my fucking dad, and he didn’t do anything.”
“Well, according to Chicago police, this man was involved in a hit and run last night.” The cop opened Luke’s door.
Luke made a confused face. “What?” he sounded surprised. “That’s ridiculous.”
Cody folded his arms. “Fuck,” he whispered.
Luke protested as the cop pulled him out of the car by his shoulder. “I’m taking my son to visit family in Philadelphia.”
He was a terrible liar, Cody thought.
“Turn around,” Shelton said as he pressed Luke against the side of the car. He pulled Luke’s arms behind him.
Cody slid onto the driver’s seat. “Don’t let him arrest you, dad.” He tried to reach Officer Shelton through the window, but the cop pushed him back onto the seat.
“What do you want me to do, Cody?” Luke asked frivolously.
“Fight!”
Luke started to struggle. He widened his stance and the cop fumbled to keep his arms around him.
“Do not resist!” the cop yelled. He wrapped both of his forearms against Luke’s biceps and tried to pin him against the car.
Luke twisted and jerked to get free, but the cop had a death grip. Finally, Luke lifted both his feet in the air, pried space between him and the car and pushed off the car door with his feet. He and the officer flew backwards and Luke landed on top of the cop.
Cody climbed out of the car window and ran for the cop groaning and holding his abdomen. Cody pulled the gun from the cop’s holster and aimed it down at him.
Luke leapt to his feet and stood between Cody and the officer. “Don’t!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Cody! He’s just doing his job.”
“He’ll call us in. And then we’re done for. We’ll be easy targets at the station.”
Luke waved his hands frantically. “He’s not going to call us in.” He turned to the cop. “Right? You won’t call us in, will you?”
Officer Shelton looked up at the gun pointing back at him. The color left his face. “I already did.”
Luke let out a desperate sigh. “C’mon, man.” He turned back to Cody. “You can’t shoot him. You can’t.”
Cody’s eyes went from the officer to Luke and back to the officer. Finally, he growled. “Shit.” He marched over to the cop’s car and put a round in each of his tires.
He marched back to the cop still lying on the ground. “Give me your walkie and your boots.”
Cody and Luke left the cop in the rearview mirror with no car to drive, boots to chase them in, or walkie to call for help. They drove 10 miles until they reached an exit with a motel. They checked in a little after 4 AM. Luke was asleep by 4:30. Cody stayed awake. He sat by the window with his head pressed against the glass, and watched the vampires just outside beckoning him to come out.
Luke was a liability, he knew. The Order will have to do something about that once they got to Philly.
To Be Continued . . .
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