Meanwhile ...

It was a clear sunny day with only a few wispy clouds in the sky. It was one of the first pleasant days for the season. Ben, a short, muscular man with short, curly hair strolled into the bank and quietly swore under his breath. He'd been hoping to spend his lunch break enjoying lounging about in the sun. Instead it looked like he was going to spend it waiting in line at the bank. He took his place in line, inwardly cursing his manager; Ben had wanted to take his lunch break twenty minutes earlier to beat the midday rush and avoid this exact situation. But his manager had given him a pile of paperwork and informed him that he had to finish that before heading off to lunch.

And now Ben was going to waste his lunch break waiting in line. He would be lucky if he had time to stop somewhere to get some takeout on his way back to the shop. The line moved forward half a step, and Ben continued to fume at his manager, wondering about the best way to get back at him. Everything within the law really didn't satisfy Ben, although he was sure getting his manager fired would actually be quite satisfying if that happened. Ben glanced at the clock on the wall and made a sound of annoyance. He was sure that he was going to be very late getting back from lunch.

"One of those days, eh?” A voice asked behind him.

“Uh? What?” Ben turned to look at the man who had asked the question, and immediately felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He had no idea why though. The man looked innocuous enough in a fitted plain white t-shirt over a pair of navy blue cargo shorts. He wore a Dolphins baseball cap low over his face. Even though he was indoors, he was still wearing a pair of dark aviator sunglasses. He smiled disarmingly and gave a small shrug, looking completely harmless. But there was something about him that unnerved Ben. He took an involuntarily step backwards and almost tripped over the heels of the woman in front of him. “Sorry.” Ben mumbled, his eyes never leaving the other man, completely missing the icy glare the woman shot at him before she stepped forward a little.

“It's just one of those days, brah.” The man shrugged, continuing to smile disarmingly at Ben, who was starting to get the impression that this man’s smile was more like a wolf smiling at a sheep. He didn't like being the sheep.

Ben glanced along the line. It wasn't moving. He was sure that the tellers were also on their lunch break, and wondered if he should change jobs and become a bank teller instead. At least they got proper lunch breaks instead of having to wait in line in the bank.

The other man also glanced along the line, smiling broadly. There was no mistaking it this time. His smile was definitely that of a predator. And Ben was his prey. Ben held his gaze, trying to work out why this man was after him, but couldn't figure anything out. He had paid all of his debts. Well, most of them; there had been an unpleasant situation a few years back where Ben's debtor's had demanded that he work for them in order to pay off his debt. Ben had refused and been forced to go on the run when things turned ugly. Really ugly. That’s when he decided it was time for him to go to the police who very quickly redirected him to the FBI, who then put him into a witness protection program. He had fled the program, however, when the court case against them collapsed when what little evidence they had was destroyed. Then the detectives and the prosecutors in the case began turning up dead. It hadn’t taken Ben long to realise that there was probably a mole in the FBI and that he was no longer safe in the witness protection program. He was on the next bus out of town with his entire life packed in an old duffel bag. He changed his name several times before finally settling down and even managing to get his hands on the appropriate documents to make his new identity appear legitimate. It would take some serious deep digging to find out the truth about who he really was and his past.

Still smiling wolfishly, the other man glanced down at his watch. “Looks like it’s time to get to business, brah.”

”What are ya doin' here?” Ben asked suspiciously.

“I have business here.” The man quickly glanced around and then leant a little closer to Ben as the line moved forward another half step. “I actually have business with you, Ben”

Ben stared at the man with wide eyes. He took a step back and tripped over the heels of the woman in front of him again.

“Goddammit! What the hell is ya problem?” She demanded angrily, taking another step forward and glaring icily at Ben.

Ben didn't pay any attention to her, though. All his attention was on the man standing in line behind him. A man he had never seen before but who knew who he was, and claimed to have business with him. Ben glanced down at his chest. He wasn't wearing a name badge. This man was serious. “How d'ya know my name?” Ben was too afraid to ask what business the man had with him. There was a part of him that hoped that this had nothing to do with his old life he had been forced to flee.

The man smirked. “I know all your names, Ben. Or should I say Clark Menzies?”

Ben gaped at the man in horror. His mouth hanging open a little. Clark Menzies had been given to him when he had entered the witness protection program. He assumed that was still officially his name since he never officially left the program. A tightness was beginning to spread across Ben’s chest, making it difficult for him to breath.

“No, I guess I shouldn't. You made sure Clark Menzies died years ago, didn't you.”

Ben could feel the ground slowly disappearing from under his feet, and he swayed as blackness threatened to envelope him. If this man knew that he once had gone by the name Clark Menzies, then Ben was in some serious trouble. He tried hard not to think about the fate of the detectives and prosecutors. Some of them had suffered terrible, and most likely excruciating ends. Ben had little doubt that he was about to meet his end in a similar fashion. His mind clicked into gear and he realised that he was safe as long as he remained in public. He was determined not to be alone with this man under any circumstances. He had little doubt what would happen to him if he did.

“Maybe we should move this conversation elsewhere.” The man said, noticing how pale Ben was. “You look like you need to sit down and we don't want you collapsing on that poor woman after you've already stepped on her so much. How about over there?” He nodded towards the wall where there a long bench for customers to use to fill out their slips before queuing to see a teller. Ben nodded, barely aware of what he was doing. His mind was racing as he tried to remember names and faces of the people he had dealt with last time. He planned on going straight to the police the first chance he got. He was sure that this man, and anyone else working with the man, would do everything in their power to stop Ben and make him disappear. But Ben didn't plan on taking any of this lying down. He planned on fighting every inch until he was free and talking to the police and stopping these people. The man led him to the bench where people filled out deposit and withdrawal information. Ben leant gratefully against it, trying to clear his mind which was still foggy with panic. He was having trouble believing that this was happening. He had been sure that he had covered his tracks so sufficiently that no one could track him down.

“Judging from your reaction, you know who I work for. That's a time saver. Means we can just jump straight into business.” The man said, casually leaning against the bench and smirking slightly at Ben.

“Ben glared at the man. “I ain't doin' work for ya or ya buddies.”

“Of course you're not.” The man sighed, looking around. “And given your history with us and the police, you can be sure that we've taken steps to protect ourselves should you try talking to them again.”

Ben laughed humourlessly. “There's no threat ya can threaten me with. Ya tried that last time, and it didn't work. I’ll just disappear again.”

“Hmm, yes. I did read something about that.” The man conceded smoothly. “Here, can you hold this please? You should know that we have people on both sides of the thin blue line.” He pushed something cold and heavy into Ben's hand.

Ben automatically closed his hand around whatever he had just been given. He looked down at the cold, heavy object in his hand. “What the-?” His blood ran cold. He looked back up at the man in bewilderment. This was the last thing he had expected.

“Gun! He’s got a gun!” The man in the glasses shouted, sounding genuinely terrified and dropping to the ground. Everyone else in the bank looked around in alarm. A split second later there was a loud mass scream, as everyone else threw themselves to the ground with their hands over their heads. The bank tellers raised their hands up into the air. One was a little slower than the other.

“Wha-?” Ben stood loosely holding the gun at his side, staring dazedly around at the bank, unable to believe what he was seeing. It slowly dawned on him that everyone thought he was robbing the bank. He glanced down at the gun in his hand again, and then at the man who had given it to him. “Wait. No! This isn't a bank robbery!” Ben desperately shouted, waving the gun in the air and immediately realising that was a big mistake. Everyone screamed again and cowered even more on the ground. The man who had given him the gun smirked. “Fucker!” Ben snarled, landing a kick squarely in the man's side. He would’ve shot him, but Ben suspected that the gun wasn’t loaded. He ran for the door, pausing for a moment to watch the man he had kicked gasp for breath on the floor. He took no satisfaction in this though. He could already hear police sirens blaring, growing ever closer. He wondered what would happen to him once he was arrested. He doubted that he would be able to explain that he was set up, that he wasn’t trying to rob the bank; the man had said that they had had people on both sides of the thin blue line. He was definitely going to be locked up for this. From there it wouldn't be too difficult for his pursuers, people he thought he had shaken years ago, to get to him. He would have nowhere to run. He would be completely at their mercy, and it was evident that these people lacked any mercy. He had to run now if he wanted to live.

A young woman in a white, two door sporty car pulled up to the curb near where he was. It wasn't a car he would've liked to flee in, because it stood out so much, but it was a car and that was exactly what Ben needed at this point. He could always ditch the car and get a less conspicuous one later. But first he had to put as much distance between himself, the bank and the approaching police. He crossed the pavement in three quick steps, and opened the driver side door. The young woman looked up at him with alarm.

“I'm commandeering this vehicle, ma'am.” For less than a millisecond, Ben smiled at what he had just said. He had always wanted to say that to someone. But he could hardly believe that he chose now of all times to do so. He was running for his life and it just didn’t seem like an appropriate time.

She looked at him blankly, showing no signs that she was going to leave the car. Her eyes widened with fear, and she cringed back when Ben waved the gun under her nose. But she remained inside the car.

“Seriously? I have to spell this out? Get out of the fucking car!” He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out, shoving her towards the curb before leaping in. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw her stumble to the ground. But he didn't have time to feel guilty. The police sirens were getting closer and closer every second. “I really am sorry about this.” Ben said apologetically as he jumped into the car. He quickly reversed away from the curb, almost crashing into a red SUV. The driver blared their horn angrily as Ben swiftly changed gears and sped away from the bank, fervently hoping that he wasn't heading towards the police cars. He hoped that he could put enough distance between him and the pursuing police to give him time to empty his bank account and swap cars. He was going to have to swap cars a number of times before he could stop running. But he now knew that he wasn't safe, that he would never be safe again. He was going to have to keep looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. He could never stop moving. He fumbled in his pocket for his phone, swerving wildly across the road as he did so. “Fuck!” His driving was drawing attention to himself. If he kept driving like this he was going to have to swap cars sooner than he would like, which was something he wanted to avoid because then he probably wouldn’t be able to get money from his account. He wound the window down a little and tossed his phone out. It was clear that these people could easily track him down, but Ben didn't want to make it too easy for them.

Ben stopped at a red light, keeping an eye on the rear view mirror. He was relieved to see that there weren't any police cars following him. But he knew that he wasn't safe from pursuit until he was well and truly out of town. The light turned green and Ben continued to drive towards the edge of town. He didn't see the police car pull out behind him until the siren sounded and the blue and red lights were flashing in his mirror. For a second Ben froze, his mind going blank. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. “Shit! Shitshitshit!” He forced himself to fight down the overwhelming panic that was bubbling up inside him and causing everything to fade into darkness with flashing red and blue lights. He forced remain calm so that he could weigh up his options. By the time he had calmed down enough to be aware of his surroundings once again, Ben was alarmed to find that he had already made a decision; he was speeding wildly along the road, fleeing the police car that was now in hot pursuit. “FUCK!” He screamed, pulling out into the oncoming traffic lane to overtake a much slower moving car. It wouldn't be long until there would be more police pursuing him now. He recklessly turned right, barely avoiding a head on collision with a blue sedan. He fishtailed along the road, only jus keeping control of his car. A couple of heart stopping seconds later he had managed to regain control of the car and was speeding along the road once again. He was alarmed to see that there were now more police cars in pursuit. That hadn’t taken long at all.

There was a lot of traffic on the roads, which forced Ben to take dangerous risks in order to keep the following police cars at a safe distance. He constantly pulled into the oncoming traffic lane, weaving between the cars on both sides of the roads, even driving through the middle of them a number of times. The intersections caused him the most alarm. The lights were always red when he reached them, which meant that he was forced to speed through them and hope that he wasn't t-boned by another motorist as he did so. There was one such incident, where he barely avoided a collision, which shook him so much that he actually slowed down, considering just giving up … except what would happen to him then?

Jail, for sure. Ben knew that it was unlikely that he would be able to successfully claim that he had been framed for the bank robbery. Even if he did, he would still be facing charges for stealing the car and the pursuit.

And what would these people, the ones who had just successfully framed him for an attempted bank robbery, do then?

Ben didn't want to find out. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and tore through a gas station parking lot, almost hitting a man who was walking back to his car. “Oh, god, help me!” Ben muttered, watching one police car follow him through the gas station while the rest of the squadron stuck to the road. Ben shot back onto the street, swerving frantically between cars as he tried desperately to lose the pursuit and avoid being penned in by the squad cars. It was slowly dawning on him that this wasn't likely to happen and that if he kept going the way he was he would probably end up crashing. He needed to get onto emptier roads, find somewhere he could ditch the car and continue to flee on foot. If he managed to out run the police on foot, he knew it would be simple enough to get his hands on another car and leave town. But he was probably going to have to rough it for a night or two before he could do that.

It didn't take Ben long to find some quieter streets with only a couple of other cars. But as he sped along these lush green tree lines roads, he realised that he was now facing another danger; the less traffic now enabled to police to use slightly more aggressive tactics, like the P.I.T. manoeuvre or box him in and force him to a stop that way. Ben glanced in the rear view mirror again. Sure enough a couple of the squad cars had sped up and were gaining on him. Ben pressed his foot down on the accelerator and drifted into the middle of the road, hoping to avoid any such tactics. Ben crested a small hill, and briefly caught a glimpse of flashing blue and red lights ahead of him before they were lost from view again. “Oh, shit.” Ben sighed. He knew that spike strips had been set up on the road ahead. There was a street to his left. At his current speed, Ben wouldn't be able to safely take it. He would have to slow down, which would allow his pursuers to catch up to him. But that was still preferable to facing the spike strip gauntlet, which would be difficult to avoid. Ben slammed on the brakes and turned. He was barely in control of the car. He gripped the wheel so tight that his knuckles were white. He was half convinced that he was going to crash this time. Everything outside the car was a green blur as his tyres squealed against the road.

He straightened up the car with a relieved whoop. A second later, there was a terrible crashing sound of metal on metal, and Ben was thrown violently in his seat. He fought desperately to regain control of the car as it spun out. It came to rest on the grass beside the road. He had a clear view of the road as he was very quickly boxed in by squad cars. Police officers quickly leapt out of their vehicles with their guns aimed at him. Ben held the wheel loosely in his hands, his shoulders slumped down in defeat. He couldn't hear what was being shouted at him. All he could hear was a buzzing sound as the realisation that his past had finally caught up with him and there was nothing he could do to fight it. Not anymore. Not now that he was captured. He was trapped. He was going to be killed, possibly horribly, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He glanced up despairingly at the policeman directly in front of his car and gasped, his hands tightening into a death grip on the steering wheel. He was looking at the same man who had given him the gun and framed him for the attempted bank robbery in the first place. But now he was wearing a navy blue police shirt and was now longer wearing the Dolphins hat. “You bastard.” Ben growled, reversing the car a little and lining it up. He was only going to have one go, and it was most likely going to cost him dearly. But if he was going to have a chance of getting back at the man for all this trouble, Ben wasn't going to miss it. He changed gears, steeling himself for what he was about to.

There was a loud bang. Ben's windscreen cracked. There was a round hole in the glass where the bullet had struck. He was going to have to move fast if he was going to do this. However, he didn't move fast enough. There was a quick succession of gunshots, shattering the windscreen and showering Ben with glass. Feeling weak, his vision rapidly fading to blackness, Ben glanced down and saw that his chest was now red. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw the same red dripping onto his lap from his head. He could feel a numbing cold spreading through his body starting from his chest, which he found odd because his chest was ablaze with pain. Ben was sure that he was falling. He tried looking up at the man who had just shot him, who had framed him, but didn't have the strength. “You basta-” Blackness engulfed Ben, and he slumped forwards onto the steering wheel.

Meanwhile ...

The sports bar was dingy looking and almost completely empty. The only people there were the weary bartender, a couple of drunks slumped over their drinks at one end of the bar and a sad looking woman in her late twenties or early thirties who was watching the muted, flickering TV in a hopeless manner at the other end. She had placed a bet on the game and her team was losing. With a sigh, she nodded at the bartender who brought her another whiskey. She looked down at her glass and then back up at the TV screen. There was no hope of her team winning. She had lost yet another bet. She owed her bookie a lot of money, too much money really, and he was beginning to get impatient. She didn't know how he went about collecting the money he was owed, but she knew from past experience that it would be wise for her to either pay up or leave town very soon. There was a big football game on tonight. She had already placed her bet. She was confident that she had backed the winning team. She was very aware that things would probably get ugly between her and her bookie if she had backed the wrong team.

The door opened, momentarily letting the icy wind blow in. The two drunks at the other end of the bar drowsily stirred. One of them noticed that he had finished his drink and ordered another beer with a slightly slurred voice. The woman didn't look up yo see who had just entered, knowing that it was probably just another lost soul needing to drown their sorrows for the afternoon. But then:

“You're a difficult woman to track down, Tina Green.” A voice whispered softly, menacingly in her ear.

The woman, Tina, sat up alarmed. Nobody in town knew her by that name, her real name. She had left that name behind many years ago, the first time her gambling had forced her to up and leave everything, including her family behind. She looked up warily at the well dressed man sitting at the bar next to her. He looked out of place in such a dingy looking bar in the middle of the day. He was too well groomed, and lacked the air of despair everyone else in the bar carried with them. “I don-don't know what ya mean. I'm n-not Tina. I'm Carol.”

“Don't play that game, Tina.” The man smiled. There was something cold and dangerous about his smile that left Tina in no doubt that she was being threatened. Threatened by a man who was extremely confident he was going to get away with it. He hadn't taken off his sunglasses despite the dinginess of the bar, adding to Tina's unease. “We both know you're Tina, and that you owe a lot of people a lot of money.” Still smiling that cold and dangerous smile, he pulled a device from his pocket and looked at screen. His eyebrows rose slightly in mock surprise. “That is a lot of money. I'd say it's a safe bet to say that you don't have that kind of money.” He looked around the bar with a smirk.

Tina shifted nervously in her seat. She had caught the glimpse of the man's screen. He knew exactly who she was, which meant that he was working for T-Bone. She owed T-Bone a lot of money, and knew that he was a dangerous man to cross and not repay debts to. It was extremely bad news that one of his goons had tracked her down. Although this man did seem much better dressed than most of the thugs that worked for T-Bone. That still didn't change the situation though. She was in a lot of trouble now, and if she didn't cooperate her family would soon most likely be in even more trouble. “What d'ya want?” She asked in a small, defeated voice, wringing her hands nervously around her whiskey glass.

The man looked disdainfully around the bar again. “This isn't the place to conduct business. Come to my office at four thirty.” He placed a business card on the bar before getting to his feet. “Oh, and please don't think about skipping town. It'll be so much the worse for you and Hunter if you do.” He smiled that cold, dangerous smile of his once again and got to his feet while Tina tried to come to terms with what she had just heard.

Tina watched him exit the bar with a heavy, sick feeling in her stomach. Hunter was her eldest son. She hadn't seen him since she had first fled T-Bone and her debts. No one was supposed to know about him or her other children, especially not T-Bone and his goons. She was in serious trouble now. Or more accurately, her family was in serious trouble now because of her. She wanted nothing more than to collect her meagre belongings and leave town. But the threat to Hunter forced her to stay and to meet the man later that afternoon. Tina swallowed her whiskey in a single gulp. She stared at the liquor bottles behind the bar for second, before she leapt to her feet and rushed to the toilet as the combination of copious amounts of alcohol and her current situation caught up with her.

Tina slumped down on the dirty toilet floor shaking. This was partly due to her having just violently thrown up after not eating anything all day. But it was mostly because of the man's parting words. He knew about her family, and she had no doubt that they would be the ones who would be hurt if she refused to pay and simply fled. T-Bone had already tracked her down once. He'd be able to do so again, and with news of what had befallen her family because of her actions. She wiped her mouth and realised that she was also crying. Tina had always believed that she would be able to go on the run and keep her family safe. This belief had been the only thing that had made it possible for her to leave everything behind in the first place. Now she knew that it had all been pointless. She flushed the toilet and went to the basin and looked at her reflection in the dull, grimy mirror. She almost didn't recognise the woman staring back at her: the woman in the mirror was pale with her greasy hair pulled untidily back. Her mascara was running down her face. But what really shocked Tina was that the woman in the mirror looked haunted and completely without hope.

“Get a grip, girl.” Tina growled at the mirror, gritting her teeth and forcing back her fear. “I'll be able to negotiate something. This time I'll be able to do something good for my family.”

The woman in the mirror looked slightly less fearful and hopeless. Her eyes were no longer watering, but they were still looked like the eyes of a person completely defeated and without any more options. Tina knew it was because deep down she didn't truly believe her words. But there was no choice. She had to believe those hollow words. Had to hope for the best. Otherwise she would not be able to carry on. She splashed her face with cold water from the tap in a futile attempt to calm her nerves and make herself a little more presentable and look as though she was in control of her life before heading back to the bar. The business card was still where the man left it. Tina picked it with a shaky hand and look around for a clock. “What's the time?” She asked the room in general.

One of the drunks slurred something that sounded like it was meant to be insulting. The bartender looked at his wrist. “Ten to four.” He said and then continued to absent mindedly wipe the top of the bar.

Tina looked at the business card in her shaking hand, and noticed for the first time that the man worked at the local lawyer's office. It wouldn't take her long to walk there. “Another whiskey, please.” She sighed, sitting down at one of the stools. “And can ya please let me know when it's quarter past?”

The bartender wordlessly placed a glass of whiskey and his scratched and dented watch in front of Tina. She nursed the whiskey, she did not really have the money for another. Nor was she certain that she'd be able to keep it down if she did have another. Her eyes never left the watch face as waited to find out what T-Bone had in store for her. She was having trouble imagining anything, but she knew that she probably was not going to like whatever it was. It was just a little before quarter past when she put down, or more accurately, slammed down the whiskey glass on the bar, and unsteadily got to her feet. “Thanks.” She muttered, pushing the watch back to the bartender. She staggered slightly as she crossed the bar towards the door. She paused for a moment at the door to regain her balance and composure.

It was cold and windy outside. The wind whipped Tina's hair across her face as she looked up and down the busy main road of the small town. The clouds were dark grey and were threatening rain, possibly even snow. Once again, Tina considered simply just running away. She had done it so many times that it was now just second nature to her. But she knew she couldn't do that. Couldn't place her family in danger because of her actions. They had already suffered enough because of her. With a small, defeated sigh Tina crossed her arms across her chest against the cold and turned her feet towards the lawyer's office. She kept her head down, looking at her feet as she trudged down the main road.

The lawyer's office was an old white washed eighteenth century stone building. A bell tinkled merrily as Tina opened the door and stepped into the warm, welcoming reception, feeling ice cold. She glowered at the middle aged receptionist, letting the door slam shut behind her, causing the bell to tinkle merrily once more. There was country music softly sounding from a radio behind the receptionist's desk.

The receptionist smiled warmly at her. “Well, hi there! What can I do for ya, sugar?”

“I have a four thirty appointment with … um,” Tina looked at the business card in her hand. “Mark Evans.”

“Hang on a jiffy and I'll see if he's ready to see ya.” The receptionist said brightly. She picked up a phone. “Mr Evans, ya four thirty is here.” She said brightly, her smiling never once fading. She returned the phone to its holder and turned her smiled onto Tina once again. “He'll be out soon., sugar.” Tina found the receptionist's bright, happy demeanour to be grating on her nerves. She wanted nothing more than to hit the woman and make her as miserable as she was. At this point in time she was finding it difficult to believe that anyone could be so cheerful. Tina suspected that hitting the receptionist would only make things worse for herself though, and simply just clenched her fists instead.

“This way please, Miss Green.” The man's voice said to her left. Tina looked up from her feet and saw him still wearing his sunglasses, smiling at her from his office door. He stepped to one side and motioned that she should step through, which she reluctantly did, wondering what fresh hell she was walking into. Now that she was facing this man again, Tina found that she didn't want to leave the presence of the receptionist, as annoying as she had found her to be. “I must admit I had some doubt about whether you would show up.” He said, closing the door behind him and crossing the room so that he was seated behind his desk, facing Tina.

“Ya threatened my family.” Tina snapped, sinking into one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Of course I was going to show. How could I not?”

The man, Mark, raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That hasn't seemed to have been a problem for you in the past.” He remarked, casually pulling a pile of paper towards him. “And I only threatened your first born, Hunter.”

Tina gaped at Mark. She opened her mouth to say something, realised that she didn't know what to say and closed it again her mind racing.

“Now what to do about your debt with us. You've earned a lot of interest, you know.”

“Can't we just organise a payment plan? T-Bone should be ok with that as long as he's getting his money.”

“T-Bone? He's only one of our employees. Past employee, actually.” Mark chuckled. “The matter was long ago escalated beyond him. As to a payment plan, I'm afraid that's entirely out of the question. You've proven to be too unreliable for that.”

“But!” Tina could feel the world slipping out from beneath her. She was beginning to wish that she had not had anything to drink. She was sure that that was not helping with her spinning head. “But I don't have that kind of money!” Tina protested, feeling a wave of panic sweep over her. She had always assumed that T-Bone was his own boss. He had never struck her as someone who would take orders from others. The fact that he had been was even more terrifying. T-Bone had been brutal and more than willing to go after anyone who he felt was not showing him enough respect or he simply just disliked at the time. What kind of people were his superiors? What kind of people could make such a man answer to them? And she had just walked willingly into one of their offices without letting anyone know where she was going. Not that she had anybody to tell where she had been going. “I'm good for the money if ya'll just let me pay ya back in instalments.” Tina pleaded.

“Like you were the last time? No, you'll be working off your debt, as per your contract you signed.”

“Work? What contract?” Tina hugged her arms across her chest, feeling very vulnerable and sick.

“Don't worry. It's not that kind of work. We don't do that kind of thing.” Mark said, correctly guessing Tina's fears. “More like odd jobs and the like.”

“What kind of 'odd jobs'?” Tina asked slowly, feeling no less ill at ease. She knew that most of T-Bone's business had been more than less than legal. She had no reason to believe that his superiors were any less shady. “I'm not doing anything illegal.”

“You'll do what we tell you do.” Mark snapped, flicking through the pile of paper in front of him. “Here we go. Your contract you signed.” He passed it to Tina, who accepted it and numbly began reading through it. “Basically, it says that you'll work for us until your debt is paid off should you fail to repay us that amount. You failed to repay us, now you must work for us. Before you make any more objections, I suggest reading the terms and conditions, which I suspect you didn't do when you signed. The fifth term would be of most interest to you.”

Tina glared suspiciously at Mark before flicking through to the back to read the terms. She doubted there was anything there that would prevent her from further protests about the situation. A moment later she gasped in horror at what she was reading.

“You really should've read the terms and conditions before signing. This whole situation could've been avoided.” Mark drawled, sounding thoroughly bored.

Tina began to shake uncontrollably. She could hear a rushing sound in her ears and felt like she was plummeting. She felt like she was about to faint. The office around her faded to black as she stared in horror at the contract in her hand, which clearly stated that if she failed to repay her debt then her first born child would be forfeit. She had signed away her first born, signed away Hunter so that she could keep gambling. She knew that the contract couldn't be legal. It was dealing with people as though they were nothing more than possessions. But she was dealing with people who obviously had a large reach and quite a bit of power. They had managed to track her down, after all. Who knows what they could do to Hunter if she went to the police to voice her concerns. There was no doubt that they would view such actions as another attempt on her behalf to get out of paying the money she owed them.

“We've been keeping track of Hunter all these years.” Mark said, after giving Tina a moment to recompose herself as best as she could under the circumstances. “We have people ready to pick him up at a moment's notice.” He pushed a couple of large photos of a young boy playing at school. Still shaking, Tina picked up the photos, years streaming down her cheeks as she stared at the picture of Hunter. She felt a dull ache, and realised just how much she missed her children. It had been so long since she had seen them. For the first few months after fleeing she had often returned just to see her children. She had never dared to show herself to them because of her fear of T-Bone and his thugs. Watching her children from a distance had been too painful for her though and she had stopped doing so, simply hoping that they were getting along well without her. All this pain came flooding back as she stared hungrily at the photo, wishing that she could talk to her son who was now a stranger to her. There could be no doubt about what Mark said; at any moment, people could easily take Hunter and whisk him away. These were people Tina wanted to keep away from him.

“And when my debt is repaid?” She asked in a trembling voice.

“You'll be free to go where you please. You can even return home to your family.”

There was a long pause. “I'll do it.” Tina said finally, although she and Mark both knew that she didn't have any choice in the matter. She continued to gaze longingly at the photo in her trembling hand.

“You'll be needing this.” He pulled out a phone from his drawer and passed it across the desk to Tina before turning his attention to the computer for the first time. He rapidly clicked the mouse a few times. “And your first job is tomorrow, just after midday.”

This was sooner than Tina had expected, although she didn't know when she had expected to start. She had been expecting a little time to get used to the idea first though. “What? Doing what?”

“There's going to be a police pursuit that we need you to stop.”

“Stop a police pursuit? How? I don't even have a car.” Tina paused for a moment, thinking about what had just been said. “How d'ya even know there'll be a pursuit then?” She asked, and immediately wondered if she would have been better off not asking questions.

“We'll take care of the car for you. We'll also let you know where you need to be and when. Just keep any eye on that phone. We'll be in touch by tomorrow morning.” Mark scooped up the paperwork and put it in the filing cabinet that was just to his right behind his chair. Sensing that the meeting was over, Tina picked up the phone Mark had given her and went to place the photo of Hunter on the desk. “Keep that. I get the feeling you're going to need the reminder.” Tina glanced up at Mark for a moment, and then hugged the photo to her chest. She scrambled to her feet and hurried out of the office, ignoring the receptionist who wished her a good evening as she fled outside to the cold and windy street. It was getting dark now, and after being in the warm office, Tina could really feel the cold. She went to go back to the bar, which would now be quickly filling up with eager football fans all wanting to watch the big game. But then she remembered that her bookie would most likely be there as well. After dealing with a former bookie and Mark already, Tina didn't feel like she could handle trying to keep another at bay. She had lost so much to gambling already, and knew that she would lose so much more if she had to face her bookie tonight. She turned on her heel and stumbled to the trailer park on the edge of town where she lived.

Tina sat rocking on the couch in her tiny trailer. She had no memory of walking home or anything that had occurred when she arrived home. She had been in a daze, and had collapsed on the couch the moment she was inside. The reality of her situation was still only just sinking in even though she had done nothing except think about it all night. She was dealing with people far more powerful than just the local crime gangs. These people had the power to track her down even though she had changed her name more times than she could count. They also had the resources to keep constant tabs on her son. Although since she had, unknowingly, signed him over to them, this was only good business sense. Even if it did raise troubling questions. Like, what kind of people would have a clause in their contracts stating that if the terms of the contract weren't met then that person's first born became their property? And what happened to those children once they were taken by these people? The possibilities were too horrible for Tina to contemplate so she focused on what she could do instead. She looked at the photo of Hunter again with a dreadful sinking feeling. There wasn't anything she could do. She was completely at their mercy or Hunter would pay the price. She would have to do what these people wanted and hope that what was asked of her wasn't too terrible a price.

The phone buzzed on the rickety table in front of her. She flipped it open and saw that she was to stop the police pursuit on the road out of town at ten to two that afternoon. She still had no idea how she was supposed to do that. But she was desperate to do so as she thought that her new bosses wouldn't take failure very well, and would possibly take out their anger on Hunter as punishment. She still didn't even have a car. The tightness in her chest that had been building all night became too much. The trailer was too small and she felt like she was being suffocated. She threw open the door of her trailer and burst outside, gasping for breath. She shakily pulled a packet of cigarettes and a lighter from her pocket. It was only then that she noticed the grey sedan parked in the parking space next to her trailer. She stared at it for a moment, vaguely aware that she had heard a car being parked there during the night. But she'd been wracked by too much despair, fear and helplessness to take any notice of it or consider how strange it was that someone else was parking their car in her spot. It was then that Tina realised that these people also knew where she lived. For the first time since Mark had first approached her in the bar, Tina felt a sense of relief that she hadn't fled. It had just occurred to her that she was probably being watched and probably wouldn't have gotten very far before they stopped her. She lit the cigarette and warily approached the car, wondering what would've happened to her if she'd been caught trying to flee. Would they have simply killed her or forced her to witness Hunter's abduction and murder?

The car was unlocked and the keys were still in the ignition. Tina retrieved the keys and pocketed them, checking to make sure that none of her neighbours were watching as she did so. Most of them weren't very law abiding themselves, but Tina knew that they were always on the lookout for anything that they could possibly use as leverage to help themselves get out of trouble. There were also a number of people who owed money to the same bookie as Tina. It was likely that they would go to him with the news that she had a car and was undoubtedly planning to leave town in the hopes of lessening their own debts. It was something Tina had done several times in the past.

There was still a lot of time until Tina was supposed to stop the police pursuit. She finished the cigarette and threw the butt to the ground before going back into her trailer. She looked in the cupboard and fridge but saw nothing that appealed to her even though they were both reasonably well stocked. Instead she opted for a liquid breakfast of whiskey. She found a glass that was relatively clean in the sink then decided that there was no need for a glass after all. She picked up the whiskey bottle, noticing that it was half full. It had been nearly full yesterday when she had left. She must have drank last night when she got home in a daze. Or whoever Mark worked for had been in her trailer and had helped themselves. Tina looked fearfully around her trailer feeling sick. She had no idea who these people were or what they were capable of. Knowing that she couldn't stand being in the trailer any more, Tina fled back outside carrying the bottle of whiskey.

Without a second thought, Tina jumped into the car, turned the ignition and backed away from her trailer, knocking over her neighbour's bin in her haste. She sped out of the trailer park, and drove aimlessly around town while she tried to figure out her next move. She glanced at her reflection in the rear view mirror, once again barely recognising the woman who looked back at her. The woman in the mirror looked drawn and haggard and now had a trapped look in addition to her air hopelessness. She was definitely a woman with no options left. This disturbed Tina. She had always thought of herself as someone who could always find a way to escape her troubles and avoid being pinned down. But this time she was backed into a corner with no way of escape. She wished that she knew something, anything, about these people who had cornered her. She was certain that even the tiniest bit of information would help her get out of this mess without any harm coming to Hunter or anyone else in her family. It was only as she drove by the sheriff that it dawned on her that the car she was driving might be stolen. She clenched the wheel tightly, her knuckles going white, but the sheriff didn't give her a second look as he drove by her. Tina glanced in the rear view mirror. For one wild moment she considered drawing his attention. She knew that one wild police pursuit would be enough to land her in jail and out of the reach of these shadowy people she knew nothing about. Except Hunter would still be within their reach, and being in jail would probably be considered not meeting the terms of her contact. Not to mention that they could still probably reach her in jail. She knew it was a better idea not to draw the sheriff's attention.

“I have to get out of town.” While Tina had not been in any serious trouble with the sheriff's department in this town, she had spent a couple of nights in the drunk tank and was known to them. They also knew that she didn't have a car, and would undoubtedly want to ask her questions about the one she was currently driving. Questions she could not answer even if she wanted to. She turned the car around and drove out of town and to the next town over where she was not so well known to the sheriff's department, keeping an eye out for possible ways to stop a police pursuit as she drove.

Just before midday Tina was in a run down old diner on the outskirts of the next town over trying to counteract the effects of almost half a bottle of whiskey with a large burger and fries washed down with a strong coffee. She had not seen anything that would help her stop a police pursuit on her drive there. Despairing about what she was going to do Tina had parked just outside of town, trying desperately to think of a way to stop the police pursuit while drinking the whiskey. She had been alarmed when she had noticed the time and and realised that she was not in any state to drive. The diner was not too far up the road from where she had parked, which meant that she had been able to walk, weaving slightly as she went. She kept a nervous eye on the clock while she ate. The food didn't do much to counteract the effects of the whiskey, she still felt tipsy, but the food made her feel better, less like she was going to be violently sick again. Feeling far more composed than she had when she entered, Tina left the diner and walked back to her car. She was more than likely over the legal limit, but she figured that by now there would not be any police on the roads. They would all be responding to whatever it was that was going to cause the pursuit. It was nearly time for her to stop it.

“Oh God, have mercy on me.” She sobbed, turning the ignition. She still had no idea how she was going to stop this pursuit. But Hunter's life depended on her doing so. She was certain that she was about to let him down, that she would lose him forever. It was too much to bear. She grabbed the whiskey bottle and gulped down the rest of its contents before heading back towards her town.

“They're heading towards you. You'd better be ready.” Mark's voice announced from the radio, causing Tina to jump in fright and almost crash.

As it was, she swerved wildly across the road, which was luckily empty of any other motorists. “What the -?” She gasped, regaining control of the car, somewhat alarmed at the way the trees were still spinning around outside the car.

“Around the next bend you'll intersect them. I'm sure I don't need to remind you what's at stake if you fail to stop this pursuit.”

Tina stared at the radio in terror, her knuckles white from tightly clenching the steering wheel. She didn't need to be reminded of how high the stakes were. She was painfully aware of the stakes. Her mind slowly filled with a dull buzzing sound, preventing her from thinking clearly. “No! Nonono!” She sobbed as she rounded the bend and saw the traffic banked up. She was trapped. Another car pulled up behind her as she watched a grey sedan speed towards them, closely followed by what appeared to be the entire sheriff's department. The dull buzzing in her head grew louder. It was like she was surrounded by a swarm of angry wasps. She could barely breath as everything appeared to slow down to a crawl. She was dimly aware of Mark's voice speaking to her through the radio, but did not hear what he said. She was panting as the grey sedan sped ever closer to her, all of her attention was now fixed on the sedan and the pursuing sheriff's department. “Fuck! Fuckfuckfuck!” A plan was slowly forming in her mind. She did not like it. She did not want to do it. She could not see any other way.

Tina waited until the grey sedan passed her. She then hurriedly pulled out into the oncoming lane and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. The lead pursuit car was closer than she realised. She closed her eyes, knowing that there was no way that she could miss. She hoped that this would be enough to keep Hunter safe.