The Great Escape

Tommy looks over to find a hoard of cruisers pulling into the park. You're not catching me. Putting a death grip on the steering wheel, he pushes the pedal down more. Sweat gushes from every pore in his body as he circles around. 

The sergeant sees Tommy heading towards the exit when she enters the park. "You're not getting away again." The cruiser tires screech as she makes a quick left.

Tommy glances over to see Rachel heading his way. I've got to get over there before she does. He shoves the pedal to the floor. Tommy looks behind him to find reds and blues on his tail. Please let me get out of here, please, he begs, mere inches from the exit.

Pulling alongside Tommy's back fender, the officer taps it with his cruiser. Tommy's car swerves to the right. He clinches the steering wheel tighter trying to regain control. The cop smacks the car again. The vehicle slides around to where the front end is facing the pond. The sergeant and her crew quickly box him in.

Pulling her gun from its holster Rachel springs out of her car. "Stop! Police, " she yells, running across the pavement, her gun pointed towards his head. "Get out of the car, now," she orders, opening the driver side door. 

Tommy sees several guns pointed at him when he looks around. "I give, I give," he yells, lifting his hands in the air. 

Grabbing a hold of his shirt Rachel jerks him out.

Tommy gives her a hard shove.

Stumbling back a step, Rachel tumbles to the ground. 

Bullets ping off neighboring trees as Tommy darts through the woods. That was too close, he thinks as he continues though the dense forest.

Seeing their sergeant down, the officers' race to her side. "Go, go," she yells, motioning them along. 

"Grace is back, I see." Jerry chuckles, offering her his hand. He nicknamed her Grace, short for graceful when she first started on the force, claiming she has some type of calamity every other week.

"You're not funny, Jerr." Rachel slaps his hand out of the way. Dusting herself off she says "I want the canines out here and the rest of you secure the premises. Go. Go."

She turns towards Kirk and asks. "We still have eyes and ears in place, correct?"

"Yes, sergeant."

"Good."

***

Jimmy trudges towards the kitchen, anticipating a hot cup of brew. His bed clothes are wrinkled and his hair a frightful mess. I'm more tired now than when I went to bed, he thinks as he slowly works his way towards the counter. Grabbing the largest mug he could find, he pours himself a cup. I hope this does the trick. He spent most of the night tossing and turning, worrying about his dear friend. When he finally did get to sleep, he'd have nightmares about Tommy's ill fate. He'd startle awake in a state of panic, his pajamas soaked with sweat. Realizing it was only a dream, he'd fall back to sleep only to find himself in another nightmare worse than the one before. I do hope Tommy is safe. He starts to take a sip when his phone rings. "Hello?"

"I'm in serious trouble man and I need your help." 

"Tommy?"

"Yeah, man. The police are on my ass and I don't know what to do." 

Jimmy starts to answer when he remembers the phones are bugged. How am I going to tell him, without the police catching on?

Hearing a noise, Tommy nervously peeks around the tree. "The cops are coming, I've got to go."

"Mom and I will pray for you at our church," Jimmy blurts out right before the line goes dead. "I hope he understands." Scooping the keys off the table, Jimmy heads toward the door.

***

Linda is tidying up the kitchen when she hears pounding in the other room. "Knock it off, boys," she warns as she continues to wipe down the counter. She hears it again. "I said cool it." The noise gets louder. I honestly don't know how Jen does it day after day. Frustrated, she tosses her washcloth down. "You guys are in big trouble now," she says as she storms towards the back. 

She's halfway down the hall when she realizes the noise is coming from the door. Thinking it's her baby brother, she throws the barrier open. She sees Jimmy in the doorway instead. He looks like a mad scientist on the verge of a mental breakdown. Frightened, Linda nervously takes a step back.

"I need to talk to you, now," Jimmy says, dragging her into the hall.

Fearful of his change in demeanor, Linda pulls away. "Why, what's going on?" Reaching around, Jimmy closes the door behind her. Linda quickly side-steps an arm length away.

"The guy who came here last night wasn't a priest, he's a cop and I believe he came here to bug the apartment and I think they're somehow using our phones as a portable listening device."

"That's crazy Jimmy. The police would never do that." 

"How else would they know where Tommy is?"

"The town is small. There's not too many places to hide."

"Just be careful what you say, and who you call, alright."

"Ok. Ok, I will. You want some coffee, I just made a fresh pot?"

"No, I need to go, I have a doctor's appointment here soon."

In his jammies? Maybe it's a sleep study and that's why he didn't dress. "Hope it goes well. Love the pj's, by the way," she yells, as he bolts down the stairs.

"PJ's?" He glances down to discover he forgot to change. He chuckles and says, I"'ll be the pajama man today. Hearing the door shut, Jimmy doubles back to the exit. Reasoning that the police would think he's still inside as long as his car's in the drive. Unless my suspicions are correct then they'll know I didn't come in. It'll take them a few minutes to figure it out and I should be long gone by then, he concludes, darting through the courtyard.

Jimmy races to the chapel on the corner of Church and Main. He knows Tommy wouldn't like the idea of meeting him there, but it's the only thing he could think of at the time. He glances around to find the cathedral is empty. "Maybe he hasn't made it yet," he thinks, plopping down on a pew.

**

Tommy darts through the woods in a grand attempt to escape. He recalled what Hernandez had said about an underground tunnel at hideout as he was being blocked in. Hernandez claimed he constructed it for situations like this and that only a few people know that it existed. Tommy figures he'll be home free if he can make it to the warehouse without getting caught.

"I'm almost there," he thinks as he continues to run from tree to tree. He read somewhere that darting around confuses the canines, throws them off your scent.

He starts to run to the next one when something jerks him down. In a state of panic, Tommy scrambles to his feet. He feels a tug on his pant leg as he plummets to the ground again.

Tommy glances back to find a thorny vine wrapped around his extremity, blood oozing down his pant leg. He then hears dogs in the near distance. I have to get out of here, he thinks, trying to pull the greenery loose.