Chapter One
Flicking the volume up on the steering wheel of my gray Lexus SUV, I sang along to one of my favorite Katy Perry songs on my playlist. As I loudly belted out the lyrics to myself, I glanced up to realize my GPS was telling me to turn off on Exit 201 in 0.2mi.
“SHIT!” I yelled out, swerving over two lanes to the right. I heard the loud honk from another vehicle before I even saw the black Jeep Grand Cherokee in the right lane. The Jeep swerved out of my way off onto the exit only lane.
“Oh no,” I said out loud.. “Sorry!” waving at the driver in my rear view mirror. Throwing an angry arm out the window, I watched him flip me off. He began holding down the horn of his Jeep.
I gave him one last apologetic wave, shrugged my shoulders, then flicked my turn signal this time to turn right at the light. Katy Perry was still singing about fireworks when my eyes glanced over to my side mirror. The black Jeep had nuzzled up right on top of my bumper behind me.
Optimistically thinking maybe this was the Jeep’s exit too, I anxiously tapped my finger on the volume of my stereo turning the music down. Peeking up in the mirror to see if the black Jeep was still behind me, I saw in the mirror the nose of his front bumper edging closer to mine.
“This asshole is going to hit me,” I whispered to myself. Thankfully, the light turned green and I turned right onto Main Street. My dental office was just around the corner and I was already 5 minutes late for my 5pm appointment.
Ignoring the honking Jeep behind me, I decided to loop around the block so this jerkoff wouldn’t follow me into the dental office to scream at me for cutting him off.
I SAID I WAS SORRY!
Slowing down for the stop sign ahead, I drove past Davis Dental. I turned right, then right again making a full horseshoe around the block only to look up to see the Jeep was stil right on my ass.
Pulling out my phone, I quickly found the number to the dental office to let them know I was running late, but just around the corner. Hanging up with the receptionist, I glanced up in my mirror as I made another right on the next road.
The black Jeep still followed right on my tail, turning on their brights. My hands started shaking, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. Davis Dental was coming up again on my left, so I quickly turned into the parking lot hearing the blaring horn from the Jeep behind me. I watched the road rager drive past the dental office, still holding down his horn for all of Raleigh to hear as he drove past.
“Asshole,” I sighed. Getting out of my car, I hit the lock button on the key fab, and hurried up the steps to the office. As I approached the front desk, the dental assistant smiled to greet me.
“Hello, Miss Warner. You made it, fantastic! You are our last appointment, so let’s go get your dental cleaning started,” Tiffany, the friendly dental assistant said as she jumped up from her seat at the desk.
“I’m so sorry I was late. I had this road rager tailing me the whole time for accidentally cutting him off in traffic. Honestly, I was afraid to get out of my car with him still behind me. Thought he might follow me inside to scream at me and I wasn’t trying to bring all that drama inside,” I admitted following her down the empty hallway.
“Well that sounds scary. Did you call the police?” Tiffany asked, turning back to face me.
“I thought about it, but I knew I was already late for my appointment so I didn’t,” I replied with a shrug. Tiffany smiled at me, guiding me into Exam Room #4. I set my phone down on the chair and shoved my key fab into my pocket.
“Well, you made it. Don’t worry, you’re safe now,” she said to me, grabbing her tools to begin cleaning my teeth.
Chapter Two
The dental cleaning only took about 45 minutes. The dentist peeked in to tell me to keep up with flossing and they’d see me in 6 months. I was following Tiffany to the front to schedule my next dental cleaning. I could tell both her and the dentist were anxious to shuffle their last patient out the door.
Waving goodbye, I unlocked my Lexus and hopped inside. Glancing up through the office window, I watched Tiffany turn off the lights inside. Starting up my car, I instinctively looked around at the empty parking lot. I tapped the screen on the dash to connect to my bluetooth as I slowly reversed out from my parking spot.
It obviously hadn’t taken Tiffany and the dentist very long to lock up the office because by the time I’d glanced up from fiddling with my bluetooth, I noticed both sets of headlights from the cars pulling out.
Must be the back employee parking lot, I thought. Both cars made a right from the office back onto the main road.
Noticing the silence still in my car, I glanced at the screen that said BLUETOOTH NOT CONNECTED. I reached over to grab my phone from the passenger seat. But my phone was not there.
I quickly patted my pockets, then hated myself when I’d remembered I had left it sitting on the chair in Exam Room #4.
“SHIT!” I yelled out in my empty SUV. Annoyed that I’d need to return tomorrow morning when the dental office opened again, I clicked the button on the screen to play the radio instead. I found a song I knew and loudly sang along, creeping my SUV back out onto Main Street.
But I suddenly stopped singing mid chorus when the headlights behind me flicked on, blinding me. Shielding my eyes, I avoided looking up in my mirror and made my right turn at the green light.
Merging onto the highway, other cars zoomed by me, their headlights shining across the vehicle behind me with their brights on. It was the same black Jeep. The road rager had waited for me outside the dental office and followed me onto the highway again.
Chapter Three
Continuing to ignore the Jeep’s blaring horn behind me on the highway, I kept my SUV in the right lane in hopes that he would give up following me and pass in the left lane.
Not a chance.
The road rager kept right on my tail. Telling myself I’d only had two more exits to go until mine, I continued maintaining my speed. Turning the volume up on the radio, I’d also hoped to distract myself. The angry roar from the Jeep behind me, sped up to pass me. My heart beat faster as the road rager stayed in the left lane, matching my speed to keep yelling at me through his window. I had no clue what he was saying. I kept mine closed.
Driving the speed limit in the right lane, I suddenly watched the black Jeep swerve into my lane. Screaming out, I yanked my steering wheel to the right as I drove over the rumble strips on the shoulder. I took a breath when I saw the road rager speed up to get ahead of me. Quickly steering myself back into the right lane from the shoulder, my eyes watched the next exit sign pass by on my right.
Just one more exit, I thought.
The black Jeep suddenly slammed on his brakes, causing both of my feet to spring to mine. I couldn’t stop my SUV in time before smashing into
the back of the angry driver. My SUV spun wildly in a circle into the right lane on the highway. Cars honked as my car stopped. I wanted to throw up when I realized I’d finally stopped spinning. My SUV was facing the wrong
way in the lane with my headlights still on. I jumped when I heard the banging fist on my window.
BANG! BANG! The angry hand beat on my window so hard I was worried it might shatter. Beginning to panic, the driver began yelling at me through the window.
“OPEN UP BITCH!” he screamed. I couldn’t see all of his face in the dark. I pushed down on the brake and the START button, praying the engine hadn’t triggered the SUV to stall.
“I SAID OPEN IT!” the man yelled angrily through my window. “NO!” I screamed back at him. I watched his breath huff out against the cool night air, disappearing once it touched my window.
Suddenly, just like his breath, the man disappeared into the night air. I whipped my head around watching him walk back to his Jeep. I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Good, he’s given up on harassing me, I thought.
Setting my head down on the steering wheel, tears fell from my eyes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been that afraid.
SMASH! The driver’s window broke open with the heavy hit from the lead pipe in his hands. I screamed out for help, but no one stopped on the
side of the highway to help me. The road rager continued hitting me in the head over and over with the pipe. He didn’t stop until I was dead.
THE END
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About
I’m Jill, mom, wife, pet lover, and recently published murder mystery author. I am a very low-key person. I stay at home with my toddler and write when she’s asleep. I love reading other thriller/mystery books and doing yoga at home 2-3 times a day when I’m not playing with my daughter. Every morning we begin our day getting an energy tea, do our daily errands, and sometimes go to the library for story-time. Been happily married to my husband for going on 5 years now. We are truly meant for each other. We like to have date nights with each other, sometimes that’s just us staying up and playing Rummy together after the toddler is asleep or staying overnight with my brother.
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