The divorce was a messy one. Carrie’s lawyer had said the only thing
NOT messy about it was that there were no children involved—that’s if you
considered Leon, her soon-to-be ex, an adult. Before she was through with him,
she’d have her share of his recent windfall. It was only fair. She had put up
with him for five years. And now that he could afford one of those high-power
lawyers, he thought he could just cut her loose and run. She’d show him!
Along with her newfound social freedom, Carrie was freeing herself of
those few extra pounds she had acquired during her years of wedded woe. Well,
okay…more than a few pounds. Anyway, that’s why she started running. And it
was working like a charm.
Six o’clock every morning found Carrie running down the road and
through the fields for thirty minutes until she wound up back home ready for a
shower. At first, she ran at such an early hour so no one would see her and to
avoid what little traffic there was on the rural roads. Now, she ran early in
the day to beat the summer heat. Besides, it was a great way to start the day.
This particular morning was no different, until…
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, he just appeared running along beside
her. Carrie nearly jumped out of her skin and thought she was having a heart
attack. Thank God for sports bras, she thought. It was bad enough her ponytail
was bouncing all over the place.
“Do you run every day?” he asked, flashing straight white teeth in a
disarming smile. His six-foot, six-inch tan muscular frame towered over her as
he easily kept pace.
“Y…yes.” She not only stammered, but she stumbled and nearly fell,
then recovered, as she looked around to see where he had come from.
“I just moved into the neighborhood,” he explained. He wasn’t even
breathing hard.
That’s why she’d never seen him before today, she realized. Still,
his sudden unexpected appearance made Carrie feel uneasy. Or maybe it was
self-consciousness. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a men’s
magazine. Maybe she was dreaming.
“I didn’t expect to run into such a beautiful running mate on my
first day out,” he continued.
Anyone else, Carrie would’ve rolled her eyes at such a pitiful line.
But she was impressed as she checked out his physique from the corner of her
eye. “What did you expect?” she
asked pretending disinterest.
He flashed a self-satisfied smile. “I’m Todd.”
“I’m Carrie.” She tossed her head feeling the timing for a new jock
in the neighborhood was perfect.
“Nice to meet you, Carrie.”
They ran a few minutes in silence.
“You don’t mind if I
join you, do you?” he asked.
“It’s a free
country,” Carrie returned. She hoped her voice sounded calm, although she felt
her breath escaping in gasps as her heartbeat quickened. He wasn’t even
breaking a sweat keeping up with her.
They reached the seasonal
road that stretched through the middle of the cornfield. It was mid-July and the
cornstalks were almost as tall as Carrie, concealing her from the farmhouses as
she ran down the one-lane dirt road. Todd stayed even with her, running in the
rut on the other side of the road. A monarch butterfly floated up into the hot
sticky air as they ran past the wildflowers that grew thick at the edges. It was
like fast-forwarding past a romantic scene in a movie.
“Do you know any of
these neighbors?” Todd asked. Beads of perspiration now glistened on his
smooth upper lip.
Carrie wished she did, so
she could offer to introduce him. But the truth was that after five years, she
hardly knew anyone in the rural neighborhood. She doubted they even knew she was
going through a rough divorce. They probably weren’t aware that she ran every
morning, or any other aspect of her daily routine, for that matter.
“I know a few of the
families,” she lied.
Carrie kept her eyes on
the paved road ahead, eager to reach the more open space where she’d feel
safer in full view of her neighbors.
“Watch out,” Todd
called. Too late, of course.
Carrie felt the softness
and heard the squishy sound—as opposed to the gritty sound of dirt
underfoot—as she ran through the road apples. She stopped, although she
didn’t want to, and wiped her shoe in the tall green weeds.
Todd bent over with his
hands on his knees, and laughed. “Thank you for acclimating me to country
living. Now I know what to watch for.”
Carrie laughed also, in
spite of not thinking her predicament was funny. “I’m glad you like my
teaching technique. Next time it’ll be a hands-on experience.”
“I’d rather observe
you,” he replied.
They stood for what could
only be described as a “pregnant moment.” Then Todd added gallantly,
“After you.”
Carrie started running
and Todd joined her. She looked both ways before venturing onto the paved road
that led back to her house. Todd turned also and stayed with her. In the
distance she could see a car approaching from the opposite direction.
“Will you be running
tomorrow?” Todd asked.
“Same time, same
place,” Carrie answered.
“Good. I’ll need your
help picking my way through the obstacles in the road,” he teased. His smile
appeared genuine, and Carrie began to fantasize about what else they might have
in common.
As the oncoming car
picked up speed, Carrie’s steps faltered and she slowed as Todd ran on ahead.
Then in a split-second, the engine roared, the car veered to the side of the
road and smashed into Todd. The collision propelled his body into the air, and
he landed with a sickening thud on the pavement next to Carrie. The tires
squealed as the car swerved back onto the road, barely missing her, and sped
away.
Carrie let the water run
until it was good and hot before stepping into the long awaited shower. At least
she had had the presence of mind to remove the paper sticking out of Todd’s
pants pocket before anyone else arrived on the scene. It was a picture of
herself taken during the photo shoot for the city orchestra’s new summer
season. Carrie played tenor saxophone. Todd was obviously an admiring fan, who
had wanted to get to know her. At any rate, she had decided the police didn’t
need to know about the photo. It would only complicate the fact that she had
never met him before this morning. The gun he was carrying in a holster inside
his waistband did, however, give her cause for pause. Why would someone carry a
concealed weapon while running?
And there were other
inconsistencies in his story, now that she had time to think about it. As she
rinsed the shampoo out of her hair, she remembered something one of the police
officers had said—something about Todd’s name. It wasn’t really Todd. His
name was actually Harold, AKA “Harry the Hit Man.”
Suddenly the truth washed
over Carrie like the water from the shower nozzle. “That no-good little
scum-of-the-earth!”
“Cindy, I’ve changed
my mind. That ‘arrangement’ we discussed the other day—forget it! I want
The other end of the line
remained silent for a moment. Then Cindy responded, “It’s too late. You told
me you wanted your old man deep-sixed. The hit is a done deal. I only deal with
professionals who guarantee their work. They don’t quit in the middle of a
job.”
“You don’t
understand. I’ve changed my—”
“Listen, honey. It’s
too late. Once the deal is arranged, there’s no turning back. A professional
organization doesn’t stop until the job is finished. The work is guaranteed.
Carrie hung up slowly and
stared at the telephone for several minutes thinking. Last week she had been
desperate to make
Carrie smiled.
The phone rang and she
reached out to pick up the receiver. Then it clicked in her brain. The job
wasn’t finished. She wasn’t dead. They’d keep trying until they
succeeded…in killing her. The phone rang a second time.
She’d seen something
like this on a movie once. Carrie grabbed her clothes and shoes and ran as fast
as she could out the back door. She had to get as far away as possible before
the answering machine picked up. Moments later, she looked over her shoulder and
saw her house explode into a giant ball of fire.
So far,
She continued running
through the cornfields and didn’t dare stop until long after nightfall.
Something else the police officer had said about Harry the Hit Man kept popping
into her head: “You reap what you sow.”
