RUNNING SCARED CHAPTER 7

Joel was nearly in tears as he looked at me as though I had hit him. I wanted to tell him that it would be okay. I didn’t want the person on the other end of the phone to know that he was with me. I needed them to think that I had put Joel somewhere. I needed them to think that I was going to kill him if I didn’t get what I wanted.

The lady who had answered the phone, seemed to be in shock. She didn’t respond for a few moments, and then she finally said, “Jason Porter. As in … the guy from Perth?”

The way she asked the question made me think that she didn’t believe me. I kind of understood her situation; I mean, it's not every day that someone like me calls up a police station.

I wanted to hurry the lady along, but I knew I had to be patient. “Yes, I’m the guy from Perth. I need to talk to a police officer and I need to talk to them now.” There was another silence as the officer thought about what I was saying. The longer she took, the more nervous I got that we were going to be caught.

I was still driving, as I held the phone to my ear. I thought that the lady was going to ask me more questions, but I was pleasantly surprised when she finally said, “Look, what I’ll do is, I’ll put you through to the detective's desk; if you are in fact Jason, then they are who you need to talk to; okay?”

She still didn’t sound as though she believed me, but I knew this was progress. I thanked her and she put me on hold. As I was waiting I looked across at Joel and smiled at him reassuringly. He was still looking at me as though I had completely lost the plot. I patted his leg and said, “Trust me, buddy, this is the best thing to do.” He again looked at me doubtful. I knew that it was going to take a lot to convince him that I was right. But I knew that I would have plenty of time for that after I had finished the call.

Or at least I hoped I would. It took about a minute and a half, before finally I was taken off of hold, and a young male voice spoke.

“This is Detective Nathan Myles. What can I do for you?” The guy sounded barely older then me, and I wondered whether he was in fact a cop. But then I realised how stupid a thought that was.

I took a deep breath as I tried to think about just what the hell I was going to say. Finally I thought I knew.

“Detective, my name is Jason Porter. Do you know who I am?” I thought I would start easy. I didn’t want to go too far in without knowing what the other person knew. I thought at least to start with defense would be the best strategy.

I could hear the detective doing something in the background; it sounded like typing on a computer. I assumed that he was looking up my records.

After a few more moments, the detective seemed to exhale a long breath. “Jason Porter. It looks like you’re in a spot of bother.”

I almost had to laugh at the understatement. I wondered whether this guy was unsure who I was as well. I wasn’t sure whether he thought I was full of shit or not, but I decided to continue anyway.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Nathan seemed unsure of what he should say. I wondered whether this case was way over his head; I mean he sounded so young.

I was still driving and keeping a close eye on the rear view mirror; there was still no sign of the police that I was certain was behind us somewhere. The more I looked, the more concerned I became. I knew that if my plan didn’t work it was only a matter of hours before the police got us.

I looked at Joel who still looked concerned, but at least he was concentrating on the road instead of me.

“So Jason, what are you calling for?”

I could feel the tension, but I knew that I couldn’t say anything … at least not yet.

I could hear concern and worry in the other man's voice. I now knew for a fact, that I was out of this rookie’s league. But I also knew that I could use that to my advantage. I knew that I could probably use his inexperience in my favour. For that to be a factor I needed to get him on my side.

“Well, I suppose for a start, you could get the coppers off our tail.”

Nathan let out a slight laugh, but he didn’t realise that I was in fact serious. I think when I didn’t laugh, he realised that I was. There was a silence for a long time, I waited for Nathan to respond, but it seemed as though he wasn’t going to.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Nathan was again typing away at a computer.

“Give me one good reason.”

I smiled to myself; this as going exactly as I had planned it, or even a little better. I knew that this guy probably wouldn’t be able to call off the cops without the permission of one of his superiors. But that was all I needed. I also knew that if I could convince Nathan to go through with my plan, his superiors would be more than happy to comply.

“Because, Nathan, I am willing to bring myself in … once I reach Adelaide.”

There was a stunned silence, not only on the phone, but also in the car as Joel went back to looking at me with his mouth open. He didn’t say anything as I placed a finger to my lips. Joel didn’t look happy about me telling him to be quiet, but he complied, and went back to looking out through his side window.

Nathan finally responded after a few moments. “Okay, you want to bring yourself in? Why don’t you just stop the car, and let the officers arrest you?”

The question was what I had been expecting. I knew that Nathan was trying for the easy way out, and now came the important part.

“Because I don’t trust them. I have reason to believe that some cops may be working against me.”

Nathan was again silent as he tried to figure out what I was talking about. I knew what I was saying sounded quite far-fetched but it was the truth,

After all, Joel had proven to me that there were at least two cops looking for us, for reasons other than what had happened a few days ago. I couldn’t be certain that there weren’t more. Realistically, I could be taking a big risk even just having this conversation. But I had to take the chance to get anywhere.

Nathan digested what I was trying to tell him, and he was silent for several moments, before finally he asked, “You don’t know whether you can trust the cops that are following you? What makes you so certain you can trust me?”

I was surprised that he didn’t ask me why I couldn’t trust the cops. But I had the feeling that the question would come sometime soon. But for now I had to concentrate on what we were talking about. “I don’t know, but I’ve realised that this is the easiest way for me to get out.”

Nathan seemed to think about this for a moment. I could tell by his silence that he was considering my options. I liked my chances of getting what I wanted. But I still had a few tricks up my sleeve in case I needed them and I had a feeling that I would.

When Nathan did respond I could tell he was hesitant. “Okay, so you want to come to Adelaide and give yourself up; right?”

I again smiled to myself, but this time Joel saw me and looked at me questioningly. I just smiled wider at him. I mouthed ‘It's going to be okay. Just trust me.’

Joel looked at me and finally, for the first time in a while, Joel let a small smile play across his lips.

I rubbed my eyes. I was becoming tired; after all of the fun of last night, I hadn’t had too much sleep. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the one. If you give me safe passage to Adelaide, call off your boys, and I'll meet up with you.” I threw the spanner into the works, to see if he would notice. Again I knew that this was going to cause problems, but they surely had to understand that I wasn’t just going to hand myself over to them. And I certainly wasn’t going to just hand over Joel.

But Nathan seemed to be considering the idea. “Explain what you mean by 'meet with me'.”

I had been expecting this. I knew that he wasn’t going to be stupid enough not to ask. But even though I had been expecting it, I hadn’t yet figured out how was the best way to answer it. I thought hard about it; I knew this was crucial. If I stuffed it up, I had no hope of getting what I needed.

After nearly a whole minute of silence I decided on my words. I took a deep breath, and prayed that this would work.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. I am going to arrive in Adelaide tonight, and I am going to arrive alone. Then I want to meet with you, and YOU alone. I will show you the reason why I did what I did; then, and only then, we can discuss it from there.”

I ended up saying it in a commanding tone that I hadn’t actually intended to, but it was too late to take it back. So now I just had to wait and see what Nathan’s reaction would be. I didn’t have to wait long.

“Is that so is it? And why do you give orders?”

Bingo!!! That was exactly what I had been looking for. I knew that this was the opportunity to use the other trick up my sleeve. “Because if you don’t, my hostage won’t arrive with me.”

Joel looked at me horrified, but I quite simply ignored him.

This was too important. I could hear Nathan typing away. “Do you have the boy with you at the moment?”

I knew what Nathan was thinking, so here came the second lie. “No, he isn’t. He is in a safe place, but he’s not with me.”

Joel heard this, and a light seemed to go off in his head; he realised what I was up to and he smiled.

Nathan on the other hand seemed to be losing his composure. “So I get the cops to leave you alone, so you can arrive in Adelaide and make a fool of us? Why should I trust you?”

I hadn’t been expecting that, but it didn’t really bother me. I drove past a sign that said Adelaide was just over five hundred kilometres away. I knew that it would take about six hours, which meant we would arrive about seven in the evening. But there were things I wanted to do after arriving before I met with the detective.

“Either you do it my way, or I keep on running and you have to worry about what’s going to happen to Joel.”

I hoped that Nathan couldn’t see past my lie. But I was more then slightly relieved when he said. “Look, Jason, I can't call off the cops, but I'll talk to my boss. Can I call you back?”

I sighed with relief; this was why I had been glad to get a young cop. But I wasn’t certain that it would work. I just held my breath. “That’s fine, but only you, okay?”

Nathan agreed and then we disconnected the call. I turned to Joel. “It's working okay. He’s going to convince his boss to let him meet me tomorrow.”

Joel nodded his understanding.

I could see that he still had his doubts. I didn’t blame him, I was puting our lives in the hands of a cop, and Joel had been screwed over by cops on more then one occasion..

After about ten minutes of driving, the phone rang again. I saw the number was private. I pressed the talk button. “Hello.”

Nathan sounded almost excited when he answered. “Hey, Jason, they’re calling off the cops that are following you. I’m allowed to meet you tomorrow.”

I was so happy that I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face. I gave a thumbs up to Joel but Nathan wiped it off just as quickly. “But I need confirmation, that Joel will be there as well.”

I had no idea how to do that without them knowing that he was with me. I knew the only way I could pass this was to make a demand. Divert the attention. “Look detective, he will be there. But if you don’t come alone, and I do mean ALONE, well … let’s just say … he will come back to you a bit holey.”

I was going to hang up for affect, but I needed to know where to meet him. Luckily Nathan took my threat to heart, and said nervously, “Okay, meet me at the state library. In the front area at eleven tomorrow morning.”

I was pretty sure that I knew what he was going to try and do. But I decided to run with it. I knew that I could work it out okay. “Okay, I’ll see you at eleven.”

Then I hung up the phone and turned back to the road with a smile on my face.

To be continued...