Born to Run

“I don’t have time to waste.”

“Let me handle this,” said Theo. “Five minutes ago she was willing to go on television and ask Demetri to let the hostages go free. I’m not exactly sure why she doesn’t want to go to the cops, but she doesn’t. If you send a bunch of squad cars into the area, you can kiss her help good-bye.”

“You don’t understand,” she said. “There are mob connections here. She wasn’t running from the police. She’s running for her life.”

“I understand plenty,” said Theo. “I’ll call you in two minutes. Tops.”

He closed his flip phone and started after Sofia, gaining ground quickly. Sofia was tiring. As Theo cut across the street, she checked over her shoulder, and their eyes met from a distance. He expected her to run, but she’d already blown through her second wind. She sat on the curb outside the entrance to the convenience store, and Theo caught up with her there.

“My friend Jack needs you,” he said. “Why did you take off?”

She was still trying to catch her breath, and her response came out in bursts. “I-saw them.”

“You mean the cop car?”

She shook her head, pausing to take another breath. “The black car.”

“What black car?”

Her eyes widened with fear, as if she’d just seen death itself. “That one,” she said as she jumped to her feet. “They want to kill me!”

Theo looked toward the street. A black sedan rolled past the entrance to the parking lot and then hit the brakes. The driver threw it into reverse, and the car backed up so fast that the tires squealed. Obviously, Sofia wasn’t blowing smoke.

“It’s them!”

Theo picked her up in his arms-he was at least double her weight-and ran inside the store. They ran past the cookies and knocked over a tray of snack cakes. The sight of Theo moving that fast was enough to push the skinny white kid mopping the aisle to the brink of cardiac arrest.

“Don’t hurt me!” he said as he dove behind the malt-liquor floor display.

Theo stopped, glanced back through the storefront window, and saw two men jumping out of the black car. Hiding was futile. He turned, Sofia still in his arms, and ran past the beer coolers into the stockroom.

“Hey, you can’t go in there!” the cashier shouted.

Theo headed straight for the store’s emergency exit in the back. The alarm sounded when he pushed the door open, and Sofia shrieked at the shrill noise. Theo carried her into the alley, not sure which way to go. It was a narrow block of barred doors and windows, the back entrances to restaurants, bars, and Laundromats that had closed hours earlier. The glow of high-voltage crime lights gave the night a yellowish tint. The alley was actually bright enough for Theo to read the graffiti on the walls-not a good thing, when you were trying to disappear. He sprinted to the left, past a mound of green garbage bags, past a pickup truck that had probably been there since the Clinton presidency. Thin as Sofia was, she was feeling heavy in his arms, and outrunning these goons was not a winning strategy.

Hide. Gotta hide.

He nearly blew past a narrow walkway between buildings, but he spotted it out of the corner of his eye and made a quick right turn into total darkness. The lone streetlamp in the side alley was burned out, and the passageway was so narrow that Theo had to be careful not to bump Sofia’s head and feet against the walls of painted cinder block on either side. He went deeper and deeper into the darkness until he could walk no farther. A blind alley. He turned around, but backtracking was not an option. He could hear the echoes of footsteps-the men in pursuit-in the main alley.

“What now?” Sofia whispered.

Theo was breathing heavy and weighing his options. The business establishment at the very end of the alley was a mom-and-pop grocery story, and a nine-foot tower of crushed corrugated boxes was stacked up behind it. A fine hiding place-for pussies. The ten-foot mound of green garbage bags, filled with stinky rotten produce, was a much better choice.

“There,” Theo whispered.

He made a beeline for the bags, Sofia in his arms, and they buried themselves beneath Mount Trashmore.

“What are-” Sofia started to say, but Theo shushed her.

Theo peered out from beneath the bags of trash and saw two silhouettes standing at the end of the narrow alley, their black bodies backlit by the yellowish streetlights of the main alley. Sofia reached over and held Theo’s hand-Theo could feel hers shaking-and they waited.

Then slowly, the silhouettes came walking toward them, the click of leather heels echoing in the darkness.

Theo watched as they approached. It had taken all this time for his eyes to adjust to the total darkness, and the men’s tentative steps told him that he would have the advantage of night vision for a few minutes more. He looked around quickly and found a box of rejected apples. The first two he handled were so rotten that they turned to mush in his hands. He found one that was still firm, and he grasped it like a baseball.

The sight of Theo armed with nothing but fruit triggered a look of utter terror from Sofia.

“They have guns,” she whispered.

He shushed her again, then slowly maneuvered himself into throwing position, down on one knee, still hidden behind the mound of garbage bags. He reared back and let the apple fly with all his strength. It soared into the night sky, invisible in the darkness. It seemed to take forever to return to earth. Then, finally- splat-it landed somewhere in the lighted alley behind the men.

The two men turned quickly, weapons drawn.

For a moment, Theo thought they’d been fooled. He was only half right. The larger man signaled his partner to check it out. The good soldier turned and retreated, but the leader stayed on mission. He was headed straight toward the mound of garbage bags behind the grocery store.

Theo glanced at Sofia, and the look of terror in her eyes had just popped off the charts. Theo gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and then he squatted even lower, ready to pounce like a cat.

The gunman was just fifteen feet away and closing.

Keep coming, thought Theo. I can use a new pistol.

At five feet away, Theo grabbed a big green bag of garbage with both hands.

One more step.

The man stopped and aimed his pistol. Before he could shoot, Theo leapt from hiding, hitting him first with the bag of garbage, and then laying into him with his entire body. The gun flew across the alley as Theo took the man down, hard, to the pavement.

“Get the gun!” Theo shouted, but Sofia was frozen.

The man was a tough fighter, but Theo had top position, and his fists battered him like a jackhammer.

“Sofia, get the gun!”

Out of nowhere a knife appeared and slashed Theo across the forearm. His cry of pain jolted Sofia into action. The men rolled toward the center of the alley, and when they stopped their tumble, Theo was on the bottom. His arm and fingers were cut from fending off the blade, and the blood from his wounds had splattered into his left eye, turning half his world into a dark blur. He saw his attacker’s arm jerk back, and he saw the tip of the blade coming toward him.

Then he heard the gunshot, and the man fell, his body draped over Theo like a lead blanket.

Theo pushed him off and ran to Sofia. She was trembling, tears running down her face, the gun still in her hand.

Theo grabbed the gun and pushed her behind the mound of garbage. Another gunshot rang out in the alley just as Theo dove into the mound behind her. He whirled and fired at the shooter, who fired right back. Theo squeezed off another half dozen rounds, unleashing enough firepower to send the message that he meant business. Then there was silence.

Once again, he heard the click of heels on pavement, but they were unsteady and fading this time-the sound of a wounded man in retreat.