"I didn't much like that either," Frank said as he looked over at Dave. Bob stood beside him, his eyes locked on the car.
Once the Lincoln reached the roadway it pulled slowly up to the stop sign at Route 250 and once again sat idling, its lights still off. Frank tried squinting his eyes tighter, to see into the darkened side windows, but they almost seemed pitch black, like a limousine, he thought.
"What should we do," Gina asked? Frank looked at her, and it was obvious she was frightened. In fact, he noticed, everyone, himself included, seemed frightened. Except Bob, who still seemed as he had for the last couple of days. Out to lunch, Frank thought. Mike was the only one who had brought a rifle into the station with him and Frank noticed it.
"Mike, give me that," he said motioning at the rifle.
"Be careful, Frank," Gary said, "no telling what they're up to. I don't know if it's wise to go out there."
"Don't!" Annie said, turning to face Frank. She seemed on the verge of panic.
"Don't worry," he said. "I only want to show them we're armed... maybe they'll take off. Think they're armed, Gary?" Frank asked.
"I doubt it. Who knows how friggin' long they were sitting out there watching us. If they'd wanted to shoot us they could have easily. The lights in here probably lit us up like a damn Christmas tree," Gary stated. "I ain't so sure you should be going alone if you're going out there though. I'm going too." Mike and Dave followed them out the door.
The four men advanced slowly toward the car in the pouring rain. The car stayed put, its engine softly idling, and curls of white exhaust floating up through the sheets of rain. They stopped about ten feet from the still idling car, and Frank stepped to the front of the small group with the rifle clutched in both hands. He didn't want to seem too threatening, but if whoever was in the Lincoln was up to no good he wanted them to see the rifle.
"Hey, you in the car!" he shouted above the deafening roar of the rain. The taillights flashed briefly as if in answer, and a cold chill crept up Frank’s spine. He shuddered involuntarily. "What the hell is with this guy," he muttered, to no one in particular.
"He's some kind of asshole all right," Gary whispered. Frank looked over and saw that they were all shaken. He tried again.
"Hey, what's the problem, fella?"
He had meant for the question to come out strong and loud, but it had not. Instead the words had seemed to choke up inside him, and had sounded strangled when they had come out. The eerie feeling had gotten stronger, and Frank noticed that he felt an almost panicky urge to run back towards the station.
He looked at the others, and noticed they seemed to be panicked as well. What the hell, he wondered, as he fought to control the panic. He found himself suddenly raising the rifle and aiming at the car.
"Shoot the bastard," Gary whispered. "The friggin' car, Frank, shoot the son-of-a-bitch, it's evil, can't you feel it?"
Mike and Dave were looking at him, and Dave suddenly spoke. "It is, Frank, can't you feel it?" Mike turned facing the car, swallowing convulsively.
The feeling suddenly swept Frank up. A knowing, a surety, that the car or whoever was in it was evil. Just as he began to raise the rifle, the cars headlights suddenly flicked on, and the rear tires spun on the slick pavement, smoking and screaming as they clawed for purchase. The engine whined higher in pitch and the big Lincoln seemed to jump out into the intersection. Almost pounce... Like a cat, Frank thought as he watched. It skewed around sideways on the wet asphalt and roared off towards Webster.
The rifle in Frank's hands bucked and the rear window of the Lincoln burst inward in a spray of glittering black diamonds as it sped away. It briefly illuminated the interior, and, Frank saw, it was empty. He turned and faced Gary as if to confirm what his eyes had seen.
"It...It." he said, as his dry mouth tried to work.
"I saw, Frank, there wasn't nobody in it," Gary confirmed.
Frank could still hear the Lincoln accelerating in the distance over the sound of the rain as it sped away, and feel the heavy pounding blat of its engine in the pavement under his feet. The four men turned away and walked slowly back towards the station in silence.
Frank stopped at one of the Jeeps before they entered, and waited for the other three to catch up.
"Listen," he said in a low tone, almost a whisper. "I don't think it's wise to scare the shit out of the others, and tell them that car was empty. Agreed?"
Mike was still swallowing convulsively, but nodded his head up and down like a puppet. Gary and Dave both mumbled agreement.
"Mike," Frank hissed, "snap out of it. It won't do any good if we walk in there with you looking like that." Mike nodded and tried to calm down. "Maybe you can get Bob aside and talk to him, Dave."
Just as Frank had finished speaking, the door to the station swung open, and the people inside came out into the rain. Annie, looking badly shaken, walked towards them with her hands folded across her chest.
"There wasn't anyone in that car, Frank," she said. "I looked, we all looked, Frank.... When you shot out the back window."
Her voice had risen as she spoke, and at the end she was nearly screaming. Frank pulled her to him and held her in the rain. To hell with it, he thought, keeping secrets was never one of my strong suits anyway. It's probably better
