The Last One Home

Part 6

Would the officer understand what he was trying to do? Would he sympathize with his situation or chalk it up to an elaborate scheme to get out of a ticket? Max had no idea what to expect as he crunched to a stop. A blinding light filled his mirror, obscuring his vision of the officer.

He considered just taking off right then and there. How far would he get? He had no idea. A mile? Five miles? If he ended up in handcuffs he was no use to his family.

Max lowered the drivers side window and cut the engine, making sure to keep his hands on the steering wheel. Heavy footfalls approached the car at a deliberate pace. Max struggled to remember if he even had an insurance card with him.

A flashlight trained on his face and the stern of the officer could be made out just behind it. A sharp glint of light reflected off of a heavy badge pinned to his chest. The officer stood statuesque in his dark blue uniform.

Max was acutely aware of the lingering fog in his head. Would the officer be able to tell he had been drinking? If he ended up with a DUI he could forget about trying to get to his family.

"How ya doing tonight?" The officer asked. "Moving kind of fast back there, wouldn't you say?"

Max only managed a nod. He didn't want to say anything incriminating, nor did he feel like having a friendly chat on the side of the highway.

"License and registration please." Max was frozen in his seat. He made no attempt to retrieve his license.

"Sir?" The officer offered again. Max slowly removed his wallet and pulled his drivers license from it. Taking his registration from the glovebox he handed both documents to the officer.

"Where are you headed?" The officer asked casually. Max could feel his impatience building. He ground his hands on the steering wheel.

"Listen, I really need to get back on the road."

"I asked where are you headed." The officer repeated. His voice lost its casual tone.

"This is going to sound crazy but i'm trying to get home to my family. I think someone broke into the house and I'm afraid they could be in serious trouble." Max was amazed that he got all of that out without a single tremor in his voice.

The officer stared into his face as if trying to decide if he was telling the truth or not.

"Why do you think your family is in trouble?"

I, I got a text message....Max trailed off. "Look, I can show you my phone if you want. I'll have to reach to get it off of the passenger seat."

The officer trained his flashlight on the cushion of the passenger seat.

"Go ahead. But reach slowly."

Max picked up his phone and immediately brought up the last message from his sister. He held it up to the window. The officers eyes narrowed as he read the words on the screen. He let out a sigh, his breath visible in the frigid air.

"Give me a second." He turned quickly on his heel and strode back to his patrol car.

Max drummed his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel. The cars defrost whined in protest against the rapidly changing weather. A thin layer of ice forming at the edges of the windshield indicated a losing battle. Max found himself watching the traffic as they sped by. They were getting to wherever their going and he's stuck here waiting on this cop to make a decision. After a painful few minutes, the thud of the officers door closing brought Max back to reality. Once again the blue uniform loomed outside of his window.

"Look, I don't know if your family is in danger or not, but dispatch confirmed that a car was sent to that address about 3 minutes ago. I'm sure that everything is fine. Could just be a misunderstanding. Maybe your sister heard something and got scared. Maybe her phone died before she could finish the text."

Max stared at him unimpressed. The officer remained steely eyed and as immovable as a statue.

"I'm going to cut you loose, but you've got to slow it down."

"Yes sir, absolutely." Max lied.

"Be safe, their calling for a storm tonight."

Once the officer returned to his cruiser, Max slowly pulled from the shoulder back onto the highway. He got up to speed quickly, but not so fast that he would look reckless. He noticed a single snowflake had joined the frost at the top of the windshield.