Previously, Zack gets grilled by the auditing team and when things get too hot he and Sydney make a run for it.
Zack’s knee bounced uncontrollably as they waited in silence at the traffic light. He gulped at the stale air of the Subaru, like he’d just come up from a long underwater swim. He pulled at the seatbelt that felt like it was choking him and looked over at Sydney. Her thumb tapped over and over on the steering wheel.
It was altogether far too calm. Zack twisted in his seat to look behind them. A white minivan with a bored-looking mom in the driver’s seat idled behind them. In the movies, when there was a getaway from a crime, there was always a hot pursuit.
The sun sat low in the sky, reflecting off of the hoods and roofs of cars in line on Victoria Avenue. Sydney took a break from her anxious tapping to flip the sun visor down. Her face was partially shaded and Zack frowned as he noticed her chin quivering. He wanted to reach out and grab her hand, to reassure her, but she had been biting his head off lately whenever he reached out.
The light turned green and Sydney immediately stepped on the gas and started tailgating the old truck in front of them.
Zack shuffled in his seat. “Let’s just drive slow. Blend in a little.”
Sydney’s jaw muscles bunched and she gripped the steering wheel until it made a noise. “Blend in? That plan didn’t fare so fucking well for us back at the bank, Zack. Where the hell are we going anyway?”
All of the cheesy crime and action movies and books that Zack had ever consumed coalesced in his brain. He imagined a song like NWA’s Hundred Miles and Runnin’ playing over a Brad Pitt-like character listing off all of the next steps.
Zack pointed to the turning lane. “We need to go to our houses.”
Sydney jerked the Subaru into the turning lane, then gave Zack a sidelong glance and slowed down. She flicked the turning signal on and drummed the steering wheel as they waited for a gap in the traffic.
Once they were off of the main drag, Zack had a thought. He leaned forward and turned on the radio.
“—CBC Radio One. We interrupt this broadcast to bring you an important news message. Police are on the lookout in the Cranbrook area for a mid-2000s navy blue Subaru Impreza. If you see this vehicle, please do not approach, but call 911—”
Sydney’s eyes widened. “Jesus Christ, Zack! What the f—”
Zack felt a calmness descend over him and he held up a hand. “We need to move quickly and efficiently. We go to our houses, pack go-bags, grab whatever money we can and get out of here. Out of province, preferably.”
Sydney looked at him. The waning light shifted across her face as she turned into her neighbourhood. “Why would we leave? Everything I have is here. I can’t! My dad…” She wiped a tear that fell and sucked back a sob. She glanced over at Zack with red-rimmed eyes. “I just want things to go back to the way they were.”
Zack sighed. “I’m sorry. When you took my hand and we ran out of that place…we…we can never go back, Syd.”
Sydney cried as she turned the Subaru into the driveway. She pushed the gear shifter into park and then sat. A wind had picked up and the trees and bushes outside of Sydney’s house bounced around jovially, like they were chuckling at some great joke.
Like they were laughing at him.
He wasn’t going to be a loser. Not anymore. Zack undid his seatbelt. “Sorry, but we gotta move. Oh! I almost forgot. Gimme your phone.”
Sydney’s eyes narrowed. “My phone? How about no.”
Zack held out his hand. “Give me the fucking phone, Syd. They are hunting us down. Haven’t you ever seen a movie? Our phones have GPS tracking that the cops can use.”
Sydney’s face blanched and she dug out the phone and handed it to Zack. “I knew that. Sorry. This is all…it’s just a lot.”
Zack nodded. “Now. Get all of your shit. Whatever is important and compact enough to bring with us. Hurry.”
Sydney left and ran up the steps into her house. The door flung open and closed while Zack removed their SIM cards from their phones and powered them down. Maybe he could sell them later or something.
He left the car and hurried into Sydney’s house. He broke the SIM cards in half and tossed the remains into a planter pot next to Sydney’s neighbour’s house as he jogged up the front steps. There were two duffel bags by the front door, sitting next to the SecurBag that Zack had stolen from the bank. One of the bags was the same gym bag from that day that had her name stitched on it. He grabbed them and left, tossing them all into the back of the car. Sydney came back to the Subaru shortly afterwards with a backpack. It took under ten minutes.
Wordlessly, Sydney started the car and pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Zack’s place. It was an eerie sort of peace, driving down the road, neither one of them talking. Zack’s mind was rife with anxiety, what-if’s building into a dry mouth and a lump in his throat that made it seem like he would be incapable of speaking, even if he wanted to.
They came to a four-way stop, and as they rolled up to the stop line, a police car appeared, turning the same direction that Sydney and Zack were headed. Sydney eyed Zack, her terrified eyes conveying the fear that she couldn’t vocalize. Zack gulped and tried to work some saliva into his mouth. “Just imagine we are driving to the store. It’s not for us. Nothing abnormal is happening. They don’t know where we are, it’s just a coincidence.”
Sydney’s hand shook violently as she triggered her turning signal. The police car pulled up to the stop sign. Zack could see the female police officer in the car, her Kevlar vest with the word ‘POLICE’ shining in the late afternoon light. The laptop attached to the police car’s dashboard reflected blue light into her face. She was wearing sunglasses.
Slowly, carefully, like a senior citizen hoping to pass a driving test, Sydney turned through the intersection and drove towards Zack’s house. The police car pulled in behind them. Sydney’s eyes darted back and forth between the road and her rearview mirror. Her breathing had sped up and she started driving even more slowly.
“I can’t fucking breathe, Zack.”
“Going to the store. You’ve got this.”
Without warning, the police car’s siren and lights lit up behind them. Sydney screamed and swerved. She braked hard and stopped at the side of the road.
Zack felt like he was going to piss his pants. They had been found out. It was over. He should have known he couldn’t be the hero.
The police car slowly made its way around the Subaru and the female police officer looked over at Sydney. Zack watched as the officer studied Sydney’s car and face.
Then, she reached for her radio and said something into it and sped away.
Sydney sat back in the driver’s seat and ugly cried, heaving breaths making her entire body shudder. Zack gulped and reached for her hand. Once he had regained a touch of composure, he looked over at her. “It was another call. We are okay. It’s okay. Let’s go.”
Sydney looked over at him. The streams of tears on her cheeks shone as the light shone into the car. She sniffed and tried to take deeper, calming breaths. “Okay,” she squeaked.
When they pulled up to Zack’s place, he hopped out of the car and sprinted up to his place. He stuffed anything he could think of into a small duffel bag that he had: clothes, toiletries, computer and charging cords, sentimental things, like the watch his grandfather had given him, just in case he never came back. He squished everything he could into the bag and struggled to zip it up. He grabbed his identification, all of the loose change he had lying around, and anything else he thought that could be useful.
He lugged his bag to the door, then stopped. He doubled back and grabbed his passport. He hadn’t thought that far ahead, but he might have to leave the country. They were always leaving the country in the books he read.
Once the Subaru was loaded, they drove off again. Sydney’s face was puffy from crying, but Zack could see a resolve in her eyes. They drove at what felt like a snail’s pace. Both of them wiped sweat from their foreheads, even though it was not hot out at all. Every car that passed felt like a blip of anxiety pumping into Zack’s veins.
Sydney turned onto the highway that led through town. Traffic was high, which was unusual. Cars and trucks were backed up, interfering with the lights up ahead. Zack craned to look and see what the obstruction could be. “Maybe there’s a semi-truck up there blocking a lane or something,” Zack said.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
The long line of cars followed a lazy corner in the road, and Sydney nudged the Subaru closer. Zack gritted his teeth. They needed to get the hell out of town. Now. What was the hold-up? A logging truck just in front of them obscured his vision.
Once the road turned a little farther, Zack’s breath caught. Two police cars had parked sideways on the road, their lights flashing red and blue, lighting up the businesses lining the highway. Traffic cones blocked off one of the lanes, forcing everyone into a single lane. A police officer, his bald head reflecting the flashing lights, walked up and down the highway. He held a flashlight and a piece of paper and was checking each car.
A check stop. Zack’s stomach flipped and he felt like a car had just driven over his chest.
Sydney looked over at him. Her eyes were haunted and her hair frayed and frizzed as she ran a hand through it. “Zack…”
Zack smiled, trying to calm her down. “Maybe they are trying to catch drunk drivers.”
Sydney shook her head. “No. It’s the middle of the week. They are looking for us.”
“Okay. Let’s play it cool. Maybe they will miss us.”
Sydney scoffed. “You’re an idiot,” she said. Then, her mouth quivered again and a new tear streaked down her face. She wiped it with the back of her sweater. “I don’t think I can do this Zack. I’m…I’m going to turn us in.”
Zack felt like she had just stabbed him in the heart. Anxiety rocked his entire body and he wiped sweaty palms on his jeans. Tears welled up in his eyes and he blinked until they rolled down his face. They landed on his lips and he licked them, wet and salty.
“I get it,” he managed. He pushed them out of his mouth just like a pinned wrestler crying ‘uncle.’
Behind them, a big, dirty truck revved and pulled out beside them. It had huge tires and mud spattered all along its purple fenders. Off road lights lining the top of its windshield flicked on and the truck veered off of the road onto a barely visible dirt road that was tucked in beside a vacant lot along the highway.
Zack watched as the truck sped away into the forest. “This thing is all-wheel drive, right?”
Sydney just responded with a blank look.
Zack perked up and turned to Sydney. “Do you trust me?”
Sydney chuckled. “No, Zack. No. I don’t.”
The police officer was only three vehicles up ahead, checking each car as it came up. Zack and Sydney were still hidden just behind the logging truck. The police officer walked up to the logging truck and had a short conversation with the driver. He glanced their way.
“Look. This is our only shot. Please. We can do this. I have a plan.”
Sydney gulped and wiped another tear. She studied Zack for a long moment. Zack watched the police officer notice their Subaru. He looked down at the paper in his hand. The officer stared back at them and began to walk their direction.
“Sydney. Turn down that road. Now!”
Sydney groaned and bit her lip. The Subaru hopped as she pulled out of the line-up. A traffic cone flapped and tumbled across the asphalt as the car smacked it out of the way. The Subaru’s engine roared as they hopped the curb and bounced along the dirt road, following the dirty truck into the dark forest.
Zack squinted into the side mirror and saw the police officer talking into a radio as the plume of dust covered their escape.