Narrow Escape

Neil cursed out loudly and hit his fist on the steering wheel with pent-up frustration. He watched the cops further down the road flag down the cars before his for their routine check. Mist had told him the coast was clear on their last call after he had secured the package. It was easier smuggling out drugs than bringing them in. So what was this? His was be supposed to get out of this mess!?

He rubbed his palm across his face as he broke out in a cold sweat. His thoughts jumped from one option to the other but none proved viable. Was this the end?

The line of cars before him seemed to be exceedingly slow, a look through his rearview mirror showed it was the same behind him. There was no way out at this point, that much was obvious. 

Digging his hand into his back pocket, he took out the burner phone he had used to call his boss some minutes ago. With clammy fingers, he pressed his fingers against the buttons, dialing his boss. It was worse that he had no backup. Even if he did, it was not like they would begin a shooting spree in the middle of the road into Arizona. Heck, he didn't even want a shooting spree, he just wanted to go home.

He listened desperately to the phone ring for several minutes. Mist was not picking his calls! This was obviously a trap since he had always picked up on the first ring prior to this time. 

"Fu*k! Mist is a slimy son of a bitch!" Neil yelled again. He noticed the driver of the car parked next to his turn to look at him with a look of concern on her white face. 

He realized he had yelled louder than he thought and gave a slight wave. 'I'm sorry 'bout that.' He mouthed at her and before he could blink, she rolled up her windows and inched forward on her steering wheel. Neil scowled at her before he faced forward too, he had bigger problems that didn't have to do with an obvious racist like her.

It was obvious that someone had tipped off the Cops and he had to be smart about this if he planned to head home to his mother and sister. How he played this would determine if he would sleep in his house tonight or get locked up with criminals in a cell instead.

Glancing surreptitiously at the officers up ahead, he realized that there were still three cars ahead of his. No one had looked in his direction for some time. Without wasting any more time, he pushed the phone in his hand deep into the space in between his seat and the other, looked it over carefully, trying to gauge if it was noticeable or inconspicuous enough. Confirming that it looked the same as always, he opened the glove compartment where the package was hidden. He grabbed the stash hidden in the brown envelope and sighed. It was crazy that he had no idea about what was stored in it or at least he preferred not to know. He had an idea but ignoring it made the job easier for him to do.

All he had to do was religiously follow instructions he had received from the boss, including but not limited to, him getting caught with a package. Stealing a quick glance at the cops, he exhaled noisily and raised his body upward, struggling to lift the seat. Another curse left him when he noticed a cop walking toward him. He stuffed the thick envelope underneath, gently brought it down so the Cop wouldn't see the sudden movement. The Cop motioned at him, asking him to roll his window down. 

"Hello, Officer." Neil smiled, with a small wave of his hand. He placed his hands on the upper part of the steering, making it visible to avoid aggravation. He could hear the sound of his heart thumping wildly as he sat still, awaiting instructions from the cop.

"Good day. Can I take a look at your license and registration papers?" He stuck his neck inside the car, watching him closely. 

Neil took out the keys from his ignition and fumbled with the glove compartment. He handed the bulk of papers over to the cops who glimpsed through it and handed it over to him. 

"Your insurance papers?" He asked again, with his eyes staring at him suspiciously. Neil stiffened, trying his best not to fidget in his seat. The slightest suspicious movement would give him away and blow his cover. 

"It is right there among the other papers." He answered. The officer went through it again and nodded at him to indicate that he had seen it. 

"I noticed the way you crouched down in your seat a few minutes ago. Anything the problem?"

His lips quivered for a second as he thought of what would be the best reply to that trick question. Just then, he noticed another cop stroll in their direction and he bit back on a frustrated exhale. "No, not at all. I only reached for my drink down there. The heat has been intense for some weeks." Neil rubbed his hand across the back of his neck to further buttress his point. He had to employ every strategy possible to get out of this. Thankfully, the plastic bottle he had downed the chilled soda from was still at his feet. He nudged it, drawing the Cop's attention to it and adding, "Noticed that the line was not moving as fast as I imagined and I had to take a sip of my drink to stay hydrated while waiting. Is there a problem?" He finished with a small smile, trying to look as relaxed as possible while hoping he didn't look like he was trying too hard.

The two uniformed men didn't look impressed though.

"Can you step out of your car for a quick search?" Neil Rickson stiffened in his seat with his eyes staring vacanctly ahead. Stepping out of this car equalled handing himself over to them on a platter. He could as well go ahead and confess to his crimes while hoping for a light sentence. The punishment for being in possession of drugs back here was not lower than four years for a first time offender. He would have to be on probation for several months as well.

"Can. You. Step. Out. Of. Your. Car?" The officer asked again, biting his words slowly. His assistant raised his brows at him, his hand had moved to his duty belt while they waited for him to comply.

Neil glanced around at the other drivers to notice that everyone's attention was focused on him and the cops. The line had cleared up in front and he had to move for others to pass. Horns were already hooting at him and any further delay would make it obvious that he had something on him. "Damn Cops and their stress," he mumbled beneath his breath, opening the door handle so he could let himself out. Once out, he made a show of stretching his legs as he stepped aside for them to serch his car, likely find the package, and throw him into a cell.

They advanced to the car and pulled the door wider. The first officer who stopped in went straight to the drivers seat, checking underneath. He raised his head and flippantly picked up the foot rest, and peeked at the crevices at the sides of the seat. His hands went everywhere in the front before he withdrew, silently gesturing for Neil to open his car's trunk. Neil threw his keys towards him, his heart in his mouth. 'Act like they were annoying you' one of Mist boys had told him.

It was surprising that he had not noticed the brown envelope underneath the seat. He could not mellow down still, not with the cops hovering around him. After fussing for a few minutes, the cop returned his keys and nodded to his partner, showing that he was clean.

"You are clear and can go now. There has been an unusual inflow of drugs and arms in here from Mexico and we are only doing our job by checking every car to ensure that our towns and children are not affected by this scourge."

"Thank you for your cooperation and helping us do our jobs properly." The cop stretched out his hand with a smile on his face, every trace of hostility suddenly disappeared. Neil grabbed his hand and shook it firmly before climbing back into his car. The roadblocks moved and he drove past, unable to believe his luck.

He watched the scene from his rear view mirror. It was almost suspicious that he had been let off that easily and he checked to see if he was being followed. There was the risk that his car had been checked by a cop gone rogue and the prospect of dealing with a cop who wanted a cut out of a deal he did not make enough from was not something he wanted to do.

His thoughts strayed to his mother and sister, she was the reason that he went through all of this. Keeping his sister alive and making sure that the smile on his mother's face stayed intact made all of what he was going through worth it. Or was it? If he was caught doing...what he was doing, how would his sister and mother survive then?

The road was clear and he could feel the gentle breeze in his face as he sped down the road, past the Arizona plains. Neil detoured from the highway, easing down the trail slowly. He rested his head on the steering, muttering a silent prayer of thanks to whatever entity had saved him today. He was grateful for it, and had also learned his lesson.

This was going to be the last time he would run errands for Mist, no matter what the pay would be. He waited for few minutes and when he heard no sound of an approaching vehicle, Neil dug in his seat for the phone he had called Mist with, his fingers still shaky from what had just transpired.

That bastard better give him a bonus.