Playing Criminal

28- Epic Escape Time

Escape plans were running through my mind so quickly, I hardly knew what to do with all the ideas. Yet, as I heard the voices out in the hall, my body remained frozen. It was only when Jack moved out from under me silently, and began crouching on the floor that I shook myself out of my gaze and followed him hands-and-knees out of the kitchen.

“Hey…do mailmen always wear black?”

“New regulation.” There a gruff clearing of a throat.

Luckily for Jack and me the kitchen opened up in multiple places, allowing us to avoid the hallway where I’m sure we wouldn’t see the average postman standing on our porch.

Of course Todd would lose his newfound sense of paranoia now. Of fucking course.

The lights in the living room were off leaving Jack and I in relative darkness as we crawled across the carpet.

This morning the carpet was spotless. Now I feared that we were leaving a trail of frosting that would lead the ‘postman’ straight to us.

As if my adrenaline wasn’t running high enough, my heart clenched in fear at the thought.

I chuckled at how ironic this was. Here I was, a lover of adrenaline, but at the moment the feeling pumping through my veins didn’t feel so good.

That’s because this time it isn’t excitement, I told myself. This time it’s pure, unadulterated fear.

Jack stopped abruptly in front of me, placing a hand on the sliding glass door. Biting my lip, I shook my head no, and directed my head the other way, toward the laundry room which was deeper in the house.

He nodded and we crawled together side by side.
A few second later, we heard a scream, some banging; a struggle.

Todd….

Should we go back for him now? Or would we just be walking into our own funerals?

Biting my lip again, I decided to keep inching forward.

There was a crash in the kitchen.

“Come out come out wherever you are.”

“Holy shit,” I murmured under my breath. Now wasn’t the time to crawl; now was the time to run.

Standing up, I took hold of Jack’s hand and walked as quietly as possible down the tiled side hallway leading out towards the laundry room.
Because of the tiles, bangs, and booms echoed around us, confusing our idea of where the intruder could be.

After what felt like an eternity, we finally met the small, white wooden door leading out from the laundry room. Opening it as silently as possible, we slipped outside.

I half-expected the ‘policeman’ to magically appear behind us like in the movies or for the house to be surrounded by red and blue lights, but the side yard was empty.

Even so we trudged carefully among the flower beds, which were blooming yellows, lavenders, and blues. Green was everywhere.

Moving towards the fence, we stepped over the soft soil, our feet sinking with each step. I crossed my fingers praying the trees spotted all around the yard would be enough to keep us hidden from the house.

“Hey Jack, do you think it’s the police?”

His face tightened, “I don’t know – this doesn’t seem like the police’s style.” His eyes shifted in a way, that made me think he knew something I didn’t.

“What do you mean?” I accused, “Do you know something?”

“No, nothing more than you do,” He shrugged, but even so I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t being honest.