The Writers' Circle

The Wanted Man (Part 1)
By
Gary Jarvis

"A life on the run is not a life Jake."
"Its life, enough for me hon."
"Seriously if you intend on going through with this I will give them all the information I can." She said with a tears in her eyes.
"That's fine. You know I won't get caught, so this could be the last time you ever see me." He knew his words were true.
"Please Jake don't go. I wouldn't be able to bear it. It wasn't your fault. It was a set up. Please, I'm begging." She said the tears in full flow down her face, causing the long strands of her brown curls to stick to her damp face. Jake knew the arguing would not change his mind so he pressed his body against hers and pulled her tight, one arm around her waist the other up so his hand could wipe the tears from her eyes. "Please?" She asked again. He remained silent moving his lips close to hers until he could feel hers quiver gently under his, then he kissed her.
"I love you. If there is anyway for me to make this go away I will and I will find you again. Put I haven't got long I need to go now."
"No." She broke down dropping to her knees, her head in her hands, sobbing. He said no more and picking up his pre-packed rucksack he left her in the doorway.

He got into a black BMW and starting the engine sped off away from the isolated cottage his headlights off. He thought back to the scene only moments before and realised that walking away from her was the hardest thing he had ever done. Everything ahead of him, all of the possibilities would be nothing in comparison to leaving behind Belle. He rounded a sharp bend almost missing it and driving through a hedge and it dawned on him just how difficult driving in the pitch black was, so he nervously turned on his headlights. The country lanes he was driving down seemed completely different in the dark a whole world transformed by the light or lack of it. The new landscape was not making Jake feel comfortable so he turned on the radio to find nothing but news. "Have you ever noticed that you never hear any good news? Why is that?" He asked himself. He had noticed only a couple of weeks back that he had picked up the habit of talking to himself but he found that he enjoyed it and didn't attempt to stop himself. He began a debate on the matter of the news until a story came up that grabbed his attention.

"Police have today denounced the rumour that they were tipped off about the recent ice pick murders and that they have a lead on the murderer. This comes after closure of the rumour that the murders where connected with a crime syndicate working out of Europe. The lead police claim to have is CCTV footage showing a nervous looking man leaving the building very close to the time of the latest murder. The chief of police went on to say that all available resources are now out looking to bring this man in for questioning. This is the sixth ..." Jake switched the radio off unable to listen to anymore of the newsreader. He had finally reached a main road and immediately switched off his headlights relying solely on streetlights to guide him.
"Ok Jake time to think. Where should I head first?" He racked his brains but nothing other than obvious places sprung to mind. "Come on boyo, where can you go? Ok first I need to get cash." He revved the powerful engine and sped up to the speed limit and headed for the closest cash point.

The cash point was in the middle of a row of shops all adorned with CCTV cameras. The area was desolate at such a late hour but Jake was on edge after the news story, so he parked just out of sight of the shops. He readied himself to get out of the vehicle his three bank cards in hand and then opened the car door. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the cash point and put in the first card. It dawned on him that Belle may have already cancelled the cards so he mashed the keys when entering his pin in the hope it might do some good. The little screen flicked onto the options and he felt more at ease, he selected his way through a couple of screens and withdrew the maximum he was allowed in one day. He then entered the second card and repeated the exercise. Upon entering the third and final card he heard a siren in the distance and panic mixed with adrenaline hit him. He knew that he needed the money and couldn't risk just giving it up there was the possibility the siren wasn't aimed at him. The machine felt like it was purposefully responding as slowly as it could and the siren seemed to be getting closer. Jake wished he could hide his face although he knew deep down there was little point. He made the selections and the machine told him it was counting his cash. It spewed wads of twenty pound notes out and he snatched them away and ran back to the car. He dove in and sunk low in the seat and peered through the window to see if he could see any signs of a flashing siren.

He waited for only two minutes before the flashing blue light lit up the surrounding area ahead of him and the siren seemed deafeningly loud. Could just be a coincidence? He thought to himself. Even if it isn't I can't just sit here waiting to be found. He turned the ignition and the engine sparked to life nice and quiet, waiting for the gears and accelerator to kick in and move it. He slid the gear into reverse and very slowly began to turn the car around so he was facing away from the flashing blue light. Then he put it into first and begun to slowly move away before changing gears and continuing the slow crawl away. Another change and he was up to 20mph then another and he was away and the siren was not closing at all but instead losing its volume. He headed straight out of the village and was on the motorway within five minutes. He started to feel more at ease and decided it was time to find a place to sleep for the night. "I can't keep this car the plates will be readily available. I've got it. A random place any old place along this motorway and stay there that way it will be untraceable especially if I pay with cash." He drove for the best part of an hour changing motorway several times before deciding on a town to stay in.

It was your typical town filled with littered streets and little greenery with its fair share of drunken louts falling out of bars that were closing. He drove around looking for a small bed and breakfast the kind that wouldn't look twice at cash, as they probably couldn't take a card anyway. He found a cozy little place a little way out of the town centre but close enough to walk once he ditched the car. He parked up went in and rang a little bell on the empty desk. A elderly later with a cheery disposition hobbled out relying heavily on a walking stick and greeted him. "Good evening. A little late to be finding a place to stay isn't it." She said noticing the time on the grandfather clock behind Jake.
"Yeah I know. I've been looking all night but everywhere is full. Just my luck for not booking, I guess. I take it that you don't have anywhere for me then." He lied, playing on the woman's good nature.
"I didn't say that did I. Let's just have a look." She said pulling a large dusty old book and flipped it open scrolling through the pages until she found what she was looking for. "Looks like you're finally in luck. Room number three is free, one night only though I'm afraid."
"That would be fantastic." He said forcing a fake smile. "I'll take it."
"Thirty pounds then please. I'm sorry but we don't accept card yet." She held out her hand. Jake leafed out thirty pounds from his wallet and handed it over.
"I will be back in a bit need to attend to a couple of things before I hit that sack. Is that ok?"
"Of course dear. Old Ernie back there likes to go to sleep late so we will be up for a couple of hours yet, at least." Jake nodded and left the little bed and breakfast getting back in his car before driving into the town centre.

He pulled up in an area laden with graffiti and young men dressed all in white sporting large gold jewelry and baseball caps. He put the handbrake on turned off the engine and double checked the whole car to make sure he had not left anything in it revealing it belonged to him. Then he grabbed his rucksack put it on left the keys in the ignition opened the door and left it behind. He knew that an empty car with the keys left in and the door open would be too tempting to resist based on the area he had left it in. The walk back to the bed and breakfast felt like he had walked a marathon, his body was exhausted and the adrenaline had worn off making his legs felt like they were filled with lead. When he got back he didn't say a word to the woman who was still cheery, he simply took his room key pushed himself up the stairs to his room and collapsed on the bed.