#14: An Unsettling Ride Home

A Suspense Novel by BiboZ (Available on Amazon.com E-books)

Chapter One: The Hitcher

It was night. Midnight had passed. It was the middle of the week. In the middle of summer.
Omar, a bearded man in his forties, was in his car, driving. He came to a roundabout, slowed down, let a car pass and came out to his right. He started again, went straight ahead, and continued up his road, which was sloping. There weren’t many people on the roads, nor on the sidewalks. He looked to her left. He saw a gym next to a school. He remembered that one night he had attended six concerts in a row in this hall. All local bands, more or less rock. It was a relatively unique event. This room was not regularly used for music, but for sports or possibly conferences during meetings with the parents of pupils or at the start of the school year after the summer holidays.

He went back to his memories for a few seconds. And thought of the people with whom he himself had played music, especially musicians he had met at that famous evening. He had also become a fan of the latest band he didn’t know. They were a little more electronic. Probably influenced by the “Synth Pop of the 80s”. Originally, he had gone for the second-to-last but had found all six of them quite interesting. The entrance fee was quite low, so it was definitely worth it to see everything, to witness everything.

He saw a red light in the distance. Before he had to brake, the light turned green. He kept rolling. On his left, he saw a park and a playground. Other memories assailed him. He began to think again. This time the time he’d been there. In fact, … No! He had been here three times. He began to think of his daughter. His heart sank. So did his belly. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes.

He was going to walk past what would soon become his new garage, as his mechanic would soon be moving. But Omar didn’t know that yet. He turned and looked at the child seat in the back seat. An empty seat on which he recalled his daughter slept quietly. He thought of his daughter sitting in the passenger seat on a regular basis. In broad daylight, he felt like he was seeing her take in the scenery, marvel at what she saw, or even sing along to the music he was playing.

Suddenly, he saw a young woman on the road a little further away. Just after the next roundabout which was after the garage. She was hitchhiking near a bus stop. Omar felt his throat tighten. He wiped away a tear that was still hanging from his right eye. He slowed down his car and stopped in front of the bus stop. The young woman approached the car. He rolled down the passenger side window and said politely: “Good evening!”

“Good evening…” she replied a little hesitantly. She looked a little worried. She looked at Omar’s face, then she looked at the back seat. She looked like she was inspecting the car. But not as arrogantly as a cop who just wants to annoy him. “Where are you going?” she asked.