WRITING MY OWN THRILLER, POST 16

Installment 16 of our featured novel “Relentless” is here! If you’ve missed the earlier installments and would like to join our readership, be sure to check out the novel’s home page HERE.

We are publishing the novel in small installments, so it takes only minutes to keep up with the story. Many years ago, we were fans of Stephen King’s installment-based publishing of “The Green Mile” over many months, so we are following in that vein as a feature on Moteventure.

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RELENTLESS – D.S. FACTOR

post 16

Slipping back up into the truck, slamming the door, and hammering the steering wheel in a frustrated outburst, Abi cursed for a moment or two before realizing she could contact her dad via the burner phone and arrange to get some cash to buy herself time to figure out just what was going on. People can’t track a burner phone, right?

Leaves fluttered down from the red maple onto the contrasting green of the lawn. Nearby a squirrel rustled amongst the remnants of the garden, oblivious to the stalking that was subtlety taking place across the yard.

His short legs reminiscent of Snoopy army-crawling his way through the pumpkin patch in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”. Finn took one silent step at a time, ears pricked up and body tense for the pursuit.

Although the squirrel was more than 20 yards away, Finn launched himself forward with fervor, his short legs pumping his longer body across the lawn like a torpedo.

Instead of running away, the young squirrel ran towards the Corgi, apparently inexperienced in the predator/prey dynamic. Finn burst through a previously raked up pile of leaves before being almost shocked as the rodent ended up nearly colliding with the dog. At that point the race was on.

“Finn, come!”, Tucker Adler called to the 6-year-old canine, who momentarily continued the chase before turning and plodding good-naturedly back to his owner.

“Good pupper!” he said as he patted Finn on the head, the dog’s nose automatically moving to sniff at his hand for the expected treat. Slipping into the mudroom, Tuck pulled a repurposed International Coffee container from a shelf and tossed a treat to the dog, who jumped up and caught it in mid-air.

Shuffling his way out the door to the gate that led to the garage, Tuck was just heading down the steps when his iPhone vibrated silently in his pocket. Extracting it while flipping it over, the screen displayed a number he didn’t recognize. In pressing the END button, he brushed the ACCEPT button instead, connecting the call.

“Dad! Dad!” echoed distantly from the tiny speaker, prompting Tuck to raise the phone to his ear.

“Abigail?”

“Oh, Dad, I’m so glad I caught you!”. Slowly relaying the events that had transpired in the past hours, she concluded with the explanation of the ATM and reactivating her account.

Tucker listened intently as he made his way back into the house, Finn yipping a hello as if he hadn’t seen his owner only minutes ago. Sitting at a chair in the breakfast nook, retired police officer Tucker Adler was surprised to hear his daughter’s name coming across the scanner on the counter.

“Abi, where are you right now?” he asked intently.

”I’m at the Merchant’s branch in Dunbar. Why?”

“They found the body in the garage and are looking for you as a person of interest, which could mean many things that are definitely not good. Wait…oh shit Abs, they were able to obtain the burner number you’re using from the clerk at Speedway. They could be triangulating your number now. Not that you’re a fugitive or anything honey, but I would dump that phone and get out of Dunbar.”

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