TEARS OF RAGE

Chapter 35

Enshrouded beneath a blanket of darkness, the illumination of lights in the lot was dulled by the rain.

Swaylo strolled into the general store, to secure a few items that Henry Bibbs had failed to bring.

With everything having been planned and set in motion, it worried Swaylo that a man like Henry Bibbs could have overlooked so many things that could get him implicated in the crime.

They expected him to pull off a murder, and steal a car, all without the proper equipment to be successful, he mused.

He knew from previous experience how important proper planning can be. It can mean the difference between making it out alive or dying like a dog in the streets.

Random circumstances can be akin to walking through a landmine... Every step has the threat of death.

It took about fifteen minutes to locate, burglarize, and steal the vehicle that he wanted.

When he drove out of the parking slot, Bibbs could be seen walking through the rain. Swaylo pulled alongside him.

"Where are you going?" He called out to him, from the passenger's side window.

Henry Bibbs turned to the voice, identified Swaylo, and gave an audible sigh of relief.

"I'm not about to run off on you..." he added with a grin.

Without a word, Henry Bibbs hurried back to his car and signaled for Swaylo to follow.

They drove from the shopping plaza and hit Reynolds street, heading north for nearly ten minutes.

The Porsche turned into a convenience store and pulled to a stop before a gas pump.

Swaylo pulled to the side of the building, before a lineup of payphones.

As torrents of rain cascade from the sky, Swaylo stepped out of the stolen vehicle and walked to the Porsche.

"What are you doing?" Bibbs exclaimed. "We can't be seen together at this point."

"I can't just sit inside of a stolen car," Swaylo huffed.

Bibbs went inside of the store to pay for some gas, as Swaylo pumped it for him.

When he returned, he noticed a few things that he had not noticed before...

Swaylo was wearing a pair of black gloves.

He wore a pair of black jeans, a black hoodie, and a pair of black AirMax.

He had a black bandanna tied loosely about his neck... There was no sign of the money or the pistol.

"Pay close attention to the route that we take from this service station because this is where we'll meet up; once the job is done, okay?"

Swaylo replaced the gas pump, mindful to keep his head down, and angled behind the veil of the hoodie.

Standing beneath the overhead canopy above the gas pumps, allowed Swaylo to get a feel for the city.

The area around him brought to mind the times in which he had gone out to the suburbs of College Park.

It possessed the feel of affluence. Middle-class America had a way of making a person feel safe, he thought.

"How far are we talking?" An expression of distrust crinkled the flesh above his brow.

"Not far. Four blocks tops. A subdivision called Whispering Willow. But, when we separate, it's not like I'm about to keep the engine running for you..."

"I know that, but I don't plan to stay in that stolen car. And I don't plan to get lost down here, either."

The tension could be heard in both of their voices.

Henry Bibbs gave a nod towards an intersection over his right shoulder. "Remember that street," he stated, prepared to lead the way to their destination. "That's Reynolds street. We're going to turn north on Dawson Avenue, and drive three blocks until we reach Five Notch road."

Henry Bibbs paused to be sure that he had Swaylo's undivided attention. The wind ruffled their clothes.

Car horns and the sound of tire treads, moving over wet pavement, resonated like an echo of voices in a wind tunnel. He was listening as if his life depended on it...

"Once we get to that intersection, we're going to come to a Sports Bar called Game Time. It sits on Georgia Avenue. We're going to make a left at that light. Drive two streets past that intersection, then make a right, and drive about a mile along that street. The subdivision will be to our right." Henry Bibbs sighed and opened his car door.

"When you reach the entrance of the estates, the house will be the fourth one on your left. The garage has a side door, that will be left open for you... Park at the curb, and you've got a direct shot along the driveway, to enter the house." he added. "Come on, I'll show you."

With a nod of compliance, Swaylo recapped the gas tank and jogged back to the Cadillac.

The tingle of anxiety, adrenaline, and uncertainty had his heart rate tapping against his chest, like a banjo.

Raindrops tattooed his body, but he was too focused to notice. The feel of the pistol weighing heavy at his waist.

One more mission and he could put that type of violence behind him, he kept telling himself...

Murder was never easy, but a person finds reason to believe it necessary.

As the slush of tire treads, moving over wet pavement echoed within the interior of the car, Swaylo followed the lawyer through the streets of Augusta, prepared to commit another murder.

The landscape was dotted with sidewalks, various trees and hedges that separated the street from the line of homes, and luxury vehicles in driveways.

The wooded areas that marked the property line, between where political candidates posted their signs for election votes, was where each home's back yard met.

Swaylo surveyed the landscape like a blind man reading braille.

He committed every identifiable landmark that they drove pass to memory, like a computer may catalog a series of accounts. A heightened awareness pulsing in his chest.

When Henry Bibbs pulled the side of the road, before a large brick statue that marked the entrance to the Whispering Willow subdivision, Swaylo glanced to his right and followed the line of houses. He could identify the layout of the fourth home to his left if he were to drive along the street.

It was a cul-de-sac, with a couple of leisure boats at the curb of a few houses. An assortment of trees and hedge bushes complimented a few of the properties.

The downpour of rain swept across the area in windy swirls. Its patter drumming across the rooftop of the car.

After Henry Bibbs had confirmed his destination, Swaylo watched him drive away; back to the rendezvous.

The raindrops beat a tattoo across his hoodie, its chill did not affect his heart.

There was no turning back at that point...