a strange feeling

Class assignment - combine an unfinished story with a line from a book. I chose a James Patterson murder mystery)


When I got out of the hospital my camper was waiting for me. I drove out of Sinalejo heading north. I decided to finish my Baja camping some other time. After a few miles a car moved in behind me. At first I wasn't bothered but as the miles went by and the car just stayed there I became edgy. I decided to turn around and see what happened.

The guy behind me, all sideburns and tattoos, elbowed his girl friend. "Damn", he said. "What the hell is he doing now?"

I am not sure why I turned around but, as I was to find out later, it was a damned good thing that I did. Maybe it was a 6th sense I never knew I had or maybe I was just afraid of my own shadow.  What ever it was I'm glad I did turn around and head back to Sinalejo. I wondered why I was going back but I couldn't shake that edgy feeling so I kept going. The car that was following me kept going. I did not see it turn around. There, I thought, you are just being stupid.

When I drove back into Sinalejo I stopped in front of the cantina and sat there a few minutes wondering if I was crazy. I still wasn't over being accused of raping and killing that nun. Thank God for an intelligent Sheriff that used his head and not his heart. If it wasn't for him I would be hanging from a tree out in the desert. Instead of losing his head he looked at the evidence and now two sleezy Arizona bikers were in jail for the crime. Even though the mob had beat me up he stopped them from lynching me.

The weird feeling was still there and the chill in my spine returned.  I decided I needed a cold beer.  As I was getting out of my camper, the "car" that had been following me out in the desert went by and stopped in front of the small grocery store about a block away.

Two people, a man and woman, got out. They did not look my way but went straight inside the store. I had a strange feeling and another cold shudder ran down my back.  I shrugged my shoulders and went into the cantina.

Maggie, the bar maid said, "Senor, Why do you return?" "We thought you were going back to California." "Did you miss me already?" "Oh Maggie," I replied. "I missed you before I was out of town. "How about getting me a cold cerveza?" "Si senor Johnny," she replied.

I was drinking the cold beer at the bar thinking that I must be crazy when the couple walked in and took a table near the door. The man had long greasy hair and long greasy sideburns. He had tattoos on every part of his body that I could see. He even had the ugly "LOVE" & "HATE" tattoos on his fingers. He was in his mid forties and had a pot belly. He was approximately 6 feet tall. I couldn't see his eyes in the dim cantina. The girl was a brunette about 5 foot 5 inches tall and a little on the dumpy side. She may have been pretty at one time but now it was obvious that a hard life had caught up with her. They were both chain smokers.

They both ordered bottled beer. They were trying not to be obvious but they were eyeing me. That wasn't too hard to figure out.

I became painfully aware that I was the reason they were there. I made no bones about staring at them. They were hunting and I was their quarry. The problem was I didn't know why or how serious it was. I ordered another cerveza and had it about half gone when the sheriff came in. He sat on the stool beside me and said "Maggie sent for me". "She seems to think you may be in trouble." "I don't know," I replied. "That couple seems to be very interested in me and I don't know why." "They were following me out on the desert so I got a little edgy and decided to come back. They followed me into town."  He replied, "That's interesting because they left town right after you did." "I noticed that they came back right after you so I had their plates ran. My deputy's over at the office waiting for an answer. When Maggie called I thought it would be better for me to wait here."

"Thanks," I said. "I was beginning to get a little nervous." The couple paid for their beers and left. The sheriff and I waited for the deputy but I didn't order another beer. I still wanted to head for home but this time when I left I was going to drive straight through and only stop for gas. The deputy came in with the results of the inquiry on the couple. The information was only about him. He was tied in with the same gang as the two creeps that had raped and killed the nun. The gang believed I was responsible for getting those creeps arrested.

"You know my friend," the sheriff said. "I think they want to harm you for getting their friends arrested. "Great," I replied. "Now what do I do?" "Well I cannot arrest them until they kill you or at least try to kill you," he smiled." "Thanks a hell of a lot," I groaned. "However, he replied, I can arrange to hold them for 48 hours while you quietly leave town."

He motioned and his deputy left. I waited a few minutes and went out to my camper. The sheriff followed me out and we shook hands. As I was walking to my camper I saw three deputies hand cuffing the weird couple.

I left Sinalejo for the second time and I hoped the last. As I was driving home I made plans to go all the way to Canada and stay there for a few years. I hope they won't be able to find me up there.