When my breathing finally slowed down, a loud rap on my passenger side window caused me to shriek and jump. An elderly gentleman in a white shirt and blue sweater rapped again on my window.
“You okay?” he said, his words muffled by the window of the Lexus.
I nodded.
“You need me to call anyone?”
I realized he was shouting. I rolled down the window and smiled.
“No. I’m good. Just a bit rattled.”
“You almost ran into my neighbor’s pickup. Sounded like you were driving way too fast.”
“I was being chased.” I answered, a bit peeved.
“Chased? Hm. By who?”
“A big black SUV. Didn’t you see it?”
“Nope. Just heard squealing tires. Looked out the window and you were inches away from a new front end and your head in the steering wheel. Didn’t see no black SUV.”
How could he not? I didn’t care if he didn’t believe me. I needed to get home.
“I’m good. Thank you for your concern.” I rolled up the window and backed up so I could turn around and get home.
The drive home was uneventful except for my trembling nerves. I experienced more than one full body shudder before I pulled into my drive.
I clicked the button to open my garage door and then pulled in. I took a deep breath before shutting off the engine. When I reached to open the door, a loud bang and broken glass peppered my face and the interior of my Lexus. My ears rang as I screamed at the top of my lungs.
A burly man dressed in black with a balaclava covering his head reached through the broken window and covered my mouth with a forceful grip.
“Don’t scream again or you’ll get a bullet to the head.”
I noticed his gun when he placed the barrel against my temple to emphasize his point. I sobbed with his gloved hand over my mouth. A familiar smell invaded my nose, leather and wood mingled with a musky scent, but I soon forgot it as I felt the hard steel of the barrel pressing into my head.
“Now, I want you to listen very carefully. Can you do that?” His voice was low and husky. Menacing.
I nodded.
“You’re going to cancel all of your appointments for the next month. Nod if you’re going to play nice.”
I sat motionless. The desire to run, the most primal of defense mechanisms, had overcome me. Since I couldn’t run, all I could do was freeze.
“Did you hear me?”
The barrel of the gun pressed into my flesh.
I nodded.
“Are you gonna cancel your appointments for the next month?”
I hesitated. My practice was my life. I’d spent the last few years building it. It had survived my divorce. My assailant might have well asked me to stop breathing.
Cold, hard steel pressed against my temple until my head tilted to the right.
Nothing I say here means anything. I have to agree to anything he demands.
“Yes,” I said, although the answer was muffled by his grip on my mouth.
