Bobbye Terry

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Part 2--[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I sat quietly shaking for what seemed like an eternity. I’m not a coward, you understand. Not really, just a realist. My motto, “Better to live and hide and live another day.” So, I’d call the police, tell them what I could, which amounted to almost nothing. Assuming I could get out of here without the killer knowing what I heard.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] I slowly got up and pulled up my jeans. Then I quietly unlocked the door, and opening it by a quarter of an inch at a time, I peeked out into the open area next to the sinks. He was definitely gone, and there was no dead body left in here.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I looked down on the ground through squinting eyes, afraid to see the blood and guts of the killing. Opening my eyes wider, I realized the floors, while skuzzy like every other rest stop floor, were free of any visible blood. How did he shoot her, drag her out, and not have blood?[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] [I]Okay, Carol, don’t stand here and try to solve the puzzle. Get the hell out of Dodge![/I][/FONT][/SIZE]
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[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I scrambled for the door handle, beat feet around the side of the building and sprinted across the parking lot, almost mowing down an old lady and her poodle. As I neared my destination, I made wild motions with my thumbs for Mara to open the door. She never even looked up from her book. Reaching the car, my breath coming in shallow gulps, I beat on the side window.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] Mara’s head jerked sideways, and frowning, she reached over and triggered the locks. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked as I hopped inside and started the engine almost simultaneously. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] My head bobbed up and down uncontrollably. “Ghost. Yep, no doubt about it. She is now.” [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Carol, did someone try to rob you?”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] I shook my head fiercely from side to side as I adjusted my seat belt and threw the car into reverse. “No, but he would’ve killed me if he’d known I was there. Just like he killed her.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Her who?” Mara asked.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Charlotte.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Who’s Charlotte?”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Don’t ask silly questions, Mara,” I said, as I glanced over at her and then back to the road, speeding up as we merged back on the Interstate. “She’s the one he murdered. I don’t know anymore about her, anyway. Except she’d set him up with the mob. Just dial the police.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “You want me to commit you?” Mara’s forehead wrinkled as she pulled her cell phone out of her purse.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “No! Report the murder!” I screamed.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “What murder?”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “The one in the bathroom!” [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “There’s a dead body in the ladies’ room?” she asked.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “No. It’s gone, of course.” I slapped my hand on the steering wheel and punched the accelerator. “I can’t believe how obtuse you are today. I told you he killed her.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Who killed her?”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Tom.” I bit my lip in frustration.[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Who’s Tom?”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “I don’t know. Give me the cell phone.” I reached out for her flip-top unit. [/FONT][/SIZE]
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[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman] “Not on your life. Not until you pull over.” Mara motioned to the side of the road. “I think that trip to the bathroom strained a little more than a few hemorrhoids.”[/FONT][/SIZE]
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[B]Conclusion tomorrow.[/B]