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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Mystery
- Subject: Mystery
- Published: 01/11/2021
A Matter of Trust
Have you ever been in the position of having to trust someone with your very life? The actions of another would actually determine whether you lived or died. In that case, who would you say would be your best bet? Would it be a loved one, an authority figure or maybe even a complete stranger? After my experiences on Bender Road, I have found that I cannot even trust myself.
News of the murders on the deserted stretch of road had been in the papers for months. Bender’s Road itself was winding, tree covered and the visibility was often poor because of fog, but it was a shortcut to connecting towns. The highway was the more sensible choice, but the traffic added at least an hour to the trip. The problem was that in the last 6 months, 5 people had been found murdered on the 15 mile stretch of road, with almost no clues. The victims were all male. The murderer used a butcher’s knife as the method of killing with most victims either slashed to bits, or pinned to trees. As gruesome as it sounds, the shortcut still attracted drivers to the route.
Newspapers reported that law enforcement was baffled, and due to public outcry, police officers were stationed every 3 miles or so to keep a presence on the road. It did nothing to solve the murders, but it did satisfy the public that the police were at least trying to protect them. One of the most confounding pieces of evidence was that no one seemed to be forced to stop. Cars were not vandalized or damaged, they were just found parked along the side of the road. The police came to know after a while, that a parked car on Bender’s Road meant there was a body nearby.
I knew all about the murders, so when my former boyfriend suggested that we take Bender’s Road to our destination, I was against it from the start. Part of the reason we were no longer together was that we agreed on almost nothing, and this was turning into another familiar argument of who would win. Why was I traveling with him? The answer was simple. We were sharing the expenses of the trip, but once we got to where we were going, we would run, not walk, away from each other. I’m actually surprised that we lasted as long as we did in our relationship. You see, by personality, I am a very “in control”, organized and steady individual. Some may say I’m a control freak, obsessed with perfection. I prefer to look at it as a person who hates surprises. I was in the process of trying to relocate for a fresh start, and having someone share the travel costs worked for me. He had no car, and avoiding public transportation worked for him. The atmosphere in the car was tense, not only because of our issues, but because my dog Princess was traveling with us. She was as fond of control as I was.
“Are you out of your mind? Bender’s Road is where all those murders are happening. Why would you want to go that way, Nathan?”
“Because I want to get there sometime this month, Evie. That’s all newspaper hype anyway. Taking the highway will dump us right into all that traffic.”
“Doesn’t it creep you out just a little? I mean, all those murders. And still, no one has been arrested.”
“It creeps me out more to have to sit in all that lame traffic for hours. And by the way, it also creeps me out to travel with your annoying dog. Remember, I’m paying for more than half the expenses. And keep that damn dog quiet. The turn for the shortcut is right up ahead.”
It was almost funny that Princess, or my darling Priny, as I nicknamed her, only growled and snarled when Nathan was around. He obviously thought I was unbelievably dense. And he absolutely hated Princess. Well, the feeling was mutual as Princess hated him right back. I was reminded again why I wasn’t with Nathan anymore. If you could get by his arrogance, all that was left was an argumentative know-it-all. I was too tired to argue, so I veered toward Bender’s Road. Funny though, I was getting a familiar headache behind my eyes all of a sudden. This usually happened whenever Nathan was around. I’d been fighting this familiar battle for years.
The atmosphere changed once you entered the turn for Bender’s Road. For some reason, probably the altitude, the road was always covered by fog. Not just mist, but fog that was sometimes difficult to see through. The fog was the swirling type that never stayed still, but danced along the path. The road itself was bordered on both sides by heavy trees with heavy, hanging limbs. If you used your imagination, the limbs looked like arms reaching for the cars foolish enough to drive on the winding road. Because of the bends in the road, it was often difficult to see too far ahead of you on the road. The light from the sun never seemed to penetrate the thickness of the trees, so it was always twilight on Bender’s Road. Basically, it was the perfect spot for a murder.
As I turned onto Bender’s Road, I instinctively slowed down. All my senses were on alert as I expected the murderer to jump out at the car at any minute.
“Are you actually looking for a maniac behind those trees?” Nathan scoffed and looked at me with an expression of disgust. “It’s just an ordinary road where some fools got themselves into trouble because they were not smart.”
“How can you talk that way? People were slaughtered on this road and no one has a clue as to who did this or how.”
“Of course they know! ‘Pinned to trees’ or ‘chopped up to bits’ was how the newspapers put it. Ridiculous. Probably just some junkies in the woods that the cops are too slow to catch. That’s not going to stop me from getting to where I’m going.”
“Nathan, honestly, you have to get to a point where you recognize that there are other people in the universe besides yourself.”
“Maybe so, but no one is as important as me, so I definitely come first.”
This was such a ‘Nathan’ reaction, that all I could do is thank the universe that I was without him in my life. I was so sick of his arrogance. I sometimes think that it was starting to change the way I looked at life. Even so, it did make me feel better that someone else was in the car with me. It was so totally silent outside. I cracked the window open because the car had suddenly gotten stuffy. The cool April breeze felt great, but it was also the only sound I could hear. You almost got the feeling of being in the woods, but it was unnerving not to hear even a bird call. All that was there was fog and silence.
After about a mile of twists and turns on the road, we both spotted a police car parked along the side of the road with the officer in the middle of the path, flagging us down.
“Keep going,” Nathan said. “We’re not stopping for some cop. There’s no reason for him to stop us. Just keep moving.”
“Nathan, I’m not just going to run him down. I’ll keep the window almost closed. He must want to tell us something.”
I slowed the car as I pulled up to the policeman and opened the window about one third of the way down. As I came to a complete stop, my heart skipped a beat. He was taller than the average male and well built, but his mirrored sunglasses hid the expression in his eyes and I felt like I was looking into the glass eyes of a robot. His smile to me seemed fake and I guessed that if he took those glasses off, the smile would not reach his eyes. His badge said “Officer Keene”. His uniform was pressed to perfection and I couldn’t help but feel that something was a little off. I knew enough, however, to be polite.
“We’re warning everyone not to stop on this road. There’s been trouble here,” the officer said with a straight face and no smile.
“Yes,” I said hesitantly, “we’ve heard, Officer. We’re just trying to avoid the highway traffic.”
“Right, thanks for your concern,” Nathan drawled rudely. “We’d like to be off if there’s nothing else we can help you with.”
“Just make sure you keep moving. There are patrols every few miles, but we can’t watch every point on this stretch. Trust me, you don’t want to stop along this road.”
“Yeah, well, we wouldn’t have stopped now, except for you,” Nathan once again said rudely. “Mind if we get moving?”
“Certainly,” the officer smiled. “Feel free to move along.”
I was as anxious to leave as Nathan was, but for a different reason. There was something about Officer Keene that didn’t ring true. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was definitely strange about that one. Looking in the rear view mirror, I noticed that he didn’t move from the middle of the road, but turned to watch us drive out of sight.
“Weirdo,” Nathan mumbled sullenly.
“He was just doing his job, Nathan. Lighten up.”
“If he’s doing his job, why isn’t he out catching the killer instead of wasting our time telling us not to stop anywhere? Why would anyone want to stop on this God forsaken road, anyway?”
We rode in silence for the next mile or so, and through the fog I notice faint lights up ahead.
“What is that?” I said more to myself than to Nathan. Then I recognized the headlights.
“Whatever the hell it is, keep moving. You heard “RoboCop”.
“Oh my God,” I said emphatically. “Someone is broken down along the side of the road!”
“Evie, keep moving.” Did I detect a hint of fear in Nathan’s voice?
I wasn’t really paying attention to him anymore. I was fixated by the distraught looking young woman wringing her hands outside her broken down jeep.
“We can’t just leave her here. It’s not safe!”
“Evie, trust me,” Nathan said. “Since when is picking up a hitchhiker safe?”
“Nathan, she not a maniac. She’s obviously in trouble and we have to help.”
Ignoring him, I pulled along the girl and she rushed to my window, as Nathan refused to open his.
“Thank God you came along,” she said frantically. My Jeep has been giving me trouble and it just died as I was driving. I was just able to pull over. Please help me! I know nothing about cars and I’m petrified to be alone on this road.”
All this was said as she stood there shaking and wringing her hands. She looked to be in her 20’s with long, wavy, dark brown hair and a hippy look to her clothes. She also looked scared out of her wits.
“I’m Annabelle. Everyone calls me Anna. I was trying to avoid the traffic and ended up stuck. Can I hitch a ride to town with both of you?” She said this with a hopeful and desperate look.
“Of course you can. We wouldn’t leave you here alone.” I said this without looking in Nathan’s direction. Anna was in the back seat before I even finished my sentence.
“I’m Evie and this is Nathan. We’re on this road for the same reason as you. Did you see the police officer about a mile back?”
“No, actually I didn’t,” Anna looked confused. “I guess I must have missed him. I would have walked back if I knew there was help close by. But, I still would have been scared to death to walk alone.”
“Thank goodness we came along, then,” Nathan said sullenly. “Heaven forbid you should be ‘scared to death’.”
“Oh, what an adorable dog!” Anna gushed. “Mind if I hold him?”
“How’s about if you be quiet, you can keep him,” Nathan muttered.
“Pay no attention to him. Princess is gentle and friendly, with gentle people that is,” I said, glaring at Nathan. Princess gave a low growl in Nathan’s direction.
“I just love dogs. They’re so ‘real’. You know they read people.”
Just as Nathan was getting ready to make another snide remark, the car gave a curious jolt. At the same time, we all stopped talking and stared at the dashboard. The problem was most of the lights on the dashboard were blinking, just before the car started to stall. This couldn’t be happening. Not on Bender’s Road. I started to pull to the side of the road just in time for the car to stop dead in its tracks.
For a moment, no one moved or said a word. After a minute, I jumped out of the car, popped the hood and started looking for something out of whack. This was actually ridiculous since I know nothing about cars.
“Get back in the car, Evie. You don’t know what the hell you’re doing. Give it some gas and see what happens.”
Well, it was obvious after multiple tries that we were going no where fast and then it hit me.
“Nathan, did you get gas like I asked you to before we left?” Could it be possible that we were out of gas??
“This isn’t my car. Not my responsibility.”
“We agreed that you would get the gas!! I can’t believe you would be so incredibly irresponsible.” I was so upset that I actually starting seeing colors in front of my eyes.
“Oh, relax. That cop is about a half mile back. I’ll run back and he can call for help.” Of course, not one of us had a working cell phone in the car.
“You can’t WALK back there,” Anna whispered. “People have been killed on this road.”
“So what do we do? Just wait here until someone wanders by? Has either one of you even seen anyone on the road except that cop?”
“Nathan, I agree with Anna. I don’t think it’s safe. Let’s just wait here and see if someone passes us.”
“Forget that,” Nathan sneered. “20 minutes tops. That’s how long it’ll take me.”
“If you’re not back in 20 minutes, I’m coming after you,” I warned. “In fact, maybe I should go. I’m a runner. You can stay here with Anna and Princess.”
“No offense, but I’m not staying here with your new hippie friend and that dog. I mean it. 20 minutes and I’ll be back with help. Didn’t you say that cop creeped you out anyway? Trust me, I’ll be back.”
Anna made small whimpering noises in the back and Princess tried to bite Nathan as he jumped out of the car and started sprinting back into the mist. I lost sight of him almost immediately and realized with some dread that the sun was starting to go down.
“So let’s get this straight,” Anna said. “We’re broken down with no gas, on a deserted road where a serial killer hangs out. Am I right?” she shouted in a high pitched voice.
“That’s basically it,” I said shaking my head. “We just have to stay calm. Nathan’s too obnoxious to get himself killed. He’ll be back soon.”
As the minutes passed, my anxiety and headache were getting worse. Princess was sleeping in Anna’s lap as she looked anxiously out the rear window looking for signs of Nathan. After about 30 minutes, I made a decision that would change the lives of everyone I was with on that trip. I decided to go after Nathan.
“You CAN’T leave me alone!! I’m too afraid to stay here on this road by myself….Please, don’t leave me.”
“Anna, I’m a runner and I can make it back to the spot where the policeman is in half the time Nathan can. Besides, it’s been a half hour already. Trust me. Everything will be fine.”
“Then let me come with you. I’m a sprinter and I won’t hold you back,” she begged.
“No, I’m going alone. Someone needs to stay with Princess and if I miss Nathan and he gets back, you can tell him where I am.”
After much protests from Anna, I started out at a quick run. I tried to ignore all the quiet around me and the swirling mist around my feet as I jogged as quickly as I could. I made the distance with the police car in sight in no time at all. Then it happened. I got my foot caught on a limb, and went down hard. I tried to block the impact with my arms, but I slammed my head on the ground and must have blacked out.
When I came to, it was almost dusk and I was having trouble making out the car. But, I did see two figures leaning against one of the trees. Finally! People!! I ran the rest of the way and almost fell again when I collided into Nathan. I tripped, but he didn’t move. There was a good reason for that. He was pinned to the tree with a large knife holding him in place. As I stumbled back, my foot stepped on something soft. Officer Keene was on the ground with his throat cut wide open. They were both dead. I was in the woods with a killer somewhere nearby.
It’s odd what the mind does when it realizes a horror too difficult to grasp. I backed into the woods, half running, half falling, all with the idea of getting back to Anna and getting out of there. As I half slammed into the car, out of breath, I realized something. She wasn’t in there. Just Princess sleeping in the back seat. Oh my God, where was she? Then in spite of my headache, it dawned on me. Anna said she was a runner. Anna said she was too scared to leave the car. Anna was gone. Was she the third victim or was she the serial killer who wandered through Bender’s Road? She said her car was broken down. Neither Nathan nor I checked out her story. We trusted a complete and total stranger.
“Anna, where are you?” I yelled into the darkness. I began to scan the almost silent woods with my eyes. “Anna, answer me now, or I swear I’m leaving you here completely on your own.”
“I’m here, Evie. Right here.” She had a stunned look on her face almost as if she were in shock.
“They’re dead, they’re dead,” was all I could manage. “We have to get out of here now. Let’s just leave now on foot.” Still, I hesitated looking at the blank look on her face.
Why was she backing away into the woods? It was very annoying and making my headache worse. Why wasn’t she listening? At last, she broke the silence with the whisper that sealed her fate.
“I saw what you did,” she whispered in a dead voice.
“What the devil are you talking about,” I yelled at her. “We have to leave now. Trust me.”
“I’m not leaving with you. I saw what you did. I told you I was a sprinter. I followed you and watched you. How could you? I trusted you.”
We stared at each other for a few minutes and each waited for a confession from the other. At last, the murderer came forth and spoke. The voice that broke the silence was mine. I looked at her and for the first time that night laughed a wonderful laugh. There’s something very freeing about getting caught. I could play both roles well and could switch back and forth from victim to killer easily. In fact, I’d gotten so good, that I believed my own lies.
“What exactly did you see, Anna?” I asked in a very calm voice.
“I saw you trip and fall and pretend to be knocked out. When they noticed you, you came running at them and attacked them and killed both of them. They didn’t have a chance.”
“I’ll tell you what I think. I think you should have minded your own business and listened to me and stayed in the car. We could have left together and everything would have been fine. But now, you’ve forced me to make unpleasant choices. You see, I can’t have you telling anyone about this. So, unfortunately, I’m going to have to, as they say, ‘remove you from the equation’, Anna.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she pleaded. “Please stay away from me. Leave me alone!”
“I wish I could, but you know I can’t. You’re too dangerous to me. After all, just think, if something happened to me, who would take care of Princess? She’s picky about who she likes and I can’t have that happen to her. I can’t have her taken care of by complete strangers. I would never trust a complete stranger like you did. You foolish, foolish girl, you actually trusted someone you just met. By the way, didn’t your mother ever tell you never to hitchhike?”
I think she screamed, but I can’t focus on that. To tell you the truth, I really don’t remember. They’ll never find her anyway. She’s buried in a few places. They’ll find Officer Keene and Nathan and the headlines will scream about the “Bender’s Road Killer” on the loose again, but that’ll die down too one day. Now that Nathan is gone, I think my work is done.
You see, I had to punish Nathan for being the piece of arrogance that he was, but I had to do it in a way that I wouldn’t get caught. He, like so many that I’ve come across, think they’re so smart. I had to be the “avenging angel” for all women who had to spend their lives dealing with all the “Nathans” of the world. So, I had to practice. You’d be amazed at how many men will stop on a deserted road when they see a stranded woman with a broken down car and her dog. Of course, no one ever really tried to see if the car was broken. My rules were simple. If the man who stopped was nice and tried to help, I let him live. But, if he was arrogant and disrespectful to me, I “removed him from the equation” just like I planned for Nathan. Soft-spoken, efficient, in control Evie morphed into the “Bender’s Road Killer”. I knew Nathan was too lazy and selfish to fill the car with gas. So, the idiot played right into my hands letting the car run out of gas.
Now that my work is done, Princess and I can make our way to a new beginning. Who knows. Maybe we’ll try the wide open spaces of Texas. That’s far enough away from Bender’s Road. And I hear they have foggy roads there, just in case. As Princess slept in the front seat right next to me, I wondered if I would ever need to “correct behavior” again. Sweet, intelligent, calm Evie. No one would suspect me of anything. I’ve gotten too good at it. Who knows if and when I’ll feel the need to come out of retirement? After all, rudeness exists all over the world.
So, I guess the moral of the story is this, gentlemen. If you are ever out on a deserted road, full of fog, and you see a stranded, “helpless” woman and her dog, be nice. Who knows, it could be me waiting for you, waiting to test you. If you’re not nice, I might have to take YOU out of the equation. You’ll become the new “Nathan” in my eyes. And I’ll do it, too. Trust me.
Ellen Wight
4,007 words.
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