ALMOST HEAVEN

Chapter 25

Laurel made it out of the park and began to head for home. As she got closer to Duck Tape she debated about stopping at the bar to see Clyde. Suddenly, right where the road began to get busy with Friday evening traffic, her car started to pull to the left and there was a thumping sound. Suddenly Laurel found it hard to steer. The car began to slide into oncoming traffic. There was the sound of horns blaring.

Duck Tape was ahead on the right and Laurel fought the steering wheel to make it to the parking lot turnoff. She turned the car off as soon as she was in the lot. She sat there for a minute, her hands trembling. For a minute, she had thought she would lose control of the car and she'd be pulled into oncoming traffic.

She finally opened the door and got out of the car to look. Sure enough, her left front tire was down to the rim. "Damn that Billy," she said softly as she headed into the bar.

As soon as she walked in, Clyde saw her. He gave her that sweet smile of his but then realized that Laurel was upset. He threw the towel in his hand onto the bar and came towards her. "What's the matter, angel?"

"I just had a flat tire, it scared the hell out of me. It almost pulled me into the lane of oncoming traffic."

Clyde put his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Laurel. But don't worry, we'll get it taken care of."

Sitting with the rest of the rangers from the park, Jim saw Laurel walk into the bar looking upset. He watched Clyde put his arms around Laurel. He got up to check on her.

"Everything all right, Laurel?" Jim asked with a nod towards Clyde. "You look upset."

"I got a flat tire, Jim. Like we had in the work truck the other day. I'm going to kill Billy for being careless with those nails."

"How about we go take a look? Maybe it wasn't a nail but something else you might have run over," Clyde said.

"I think I'll come out with you, Clyde. I'm very curious, to be honest," Jim said quietly.

Clyde looked surprised but nodded. "Sure." The three of them walked out into the parking lot.

Clyde surveyed Laurel's car. "We're going to have to get that moved. I'm afraid someone might hit your car turning into the bar, Laurel. Jim, can you give me a hand pushing it out of the way?" Jim nodded.

First Clyde knelt down by the tire and examined it. He felt first along the tread of the tire and then with a puzzled look began to feel on the sidewall of the tire. "Yep, it's a nail. See up here?" He pointed towards the top of the tire. "There it is." He leaned closer to inspect the nail. "What the hell is this?" He ran his finger around where the nail head was. There was an circular indentation around the nail. Clyde stared at it. He was quiet for a moment. "What the fuck?"

"What are you looking at, Clyde?" Jim asked. Clyde pointed to in circle and then looked at Jim. "Someone used something like a hammer to drive the nail into the tire. Hit it pretty damn hard. I'm surprised Laurel's car made it this far."

Jim nodded. "Exact same mark on the tire that went flat on us the other day. Who the fuck would do this?"

Clyde glanced up at Laurel and meet her eyes. "I got a pretty good idea."

Laurel shook her head. "No way, Clyde. He wouldn't do this. It's dangerous. He couldn't possibly do something like this."

"Are we talking about Jason?" Jim looked from Laurel to Clyde. "What is it? Because I'm telling you, I don't think he's right in his head. To be honest, I haven't from the very beginning."

Clyde nodded at Laurel. "It's your story to tell, Laurel. But first, let's get this car moved."

The two men pushed the car further into the parking lot. Clyde pulled his phone out. "I'm going to call Earl. He's sure to have a tire for your car, that way we can avoid putting that spare of yours on there. Let's get into the bar, it's getting crowded."