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spotted a pair of red taillights up ahead. He began
slowing down and when he got closer, discovered that the lights
were not moving at all—
    The Jeep had run off the road!
    He pulled up beside the Laredo, which was still
running. It was at that moment that he realized his Jeep had run
into a utility pole—just hard enough to dent in his bumper a good
half inch or so. He saw no sign of the driver and wondered if he
had bailed out. Then he thought he spotted the top of a head lying
against the driver’s side window.
    The head was motionless—
    Tom threw the CR-V into park and jumped out. He ran
over and gingerly opened the door, careful not to let the person
fall out. He was shocked to discover that the driver was a young
woman and apparently unconscious.
    He gently lifted the girl upright against the seat.
She started to moan softly.
    “Hey there, are you all right?” he said.
    The girl moaned again and then her eyes fluttered
open. When she saw Tom, she let out a scream.
    “Don’t hurt me, please!” she cried, terrified.
    “Don’t worry, I won’t,” Tom said. “Are you hurt? It
looks like you may have hit your head on the steering wheel.”
    “You promise you won’t hurt me?”
    Tom patted her lightly on the shoulder. “I won’t, I
promise. I just want to make sure that you’re okay. What
happened?”
    The girl seemed to snap out of it somewhat as she
peered into Tom’s eyes.
    “I thought you were somebody else,” she began.
“Someone has been chasing me for the last couple of hours. He’s
very dangerous. I thought I’d lost him a while back and then my car
ran out of gas on the north side. I ran on foot until I found this
Jeep parked at Riverside Hospital. So I got in and drove out here,
trying to find a way out of town.
    “Then I ran into the road construction and headed
back this way. I saw your car and panicked. I guess I started
driving too fast—the next thing I knew I lost control and slid into
the berm. I braked until I ran into that pole. Guess I hit my head
on the steering wheel and it knocked me out.”
    Tom wondered why the air bag hadn’t deployed as he
noticed a lump on the girl’s forehead in the dim light. It was
bleeding slightly.
    “You’ve got quite a bump there,” he said. He leaned
over to the dash compartment and pulled out a pack of Kleenex.
    “Hold this over it,” he said, gently placing the
tissue on her forehead.
    “Thanks. How did you know there would be Kleenex in
the glove box?”
    Tom smiled. “Oh, my wife always makes sure that we
keep Kleenex aboard.”
    The girl’s eyes widened. “This
is your Jeep?”
    “Yup, sure is. That’s why I’ve been following
you.”
    “God, I’m so sorry! I was just so scared that I
didn’t give it a second thought when I took it. Of course, I really
didn’t expect to see anyone else out tonight.”
    Tom said, “Don’t worry about my car—it sounds like
you really needed it at the time. Before you tell me who’s been
chasing you, I’d like to know what you meant by not expecting to
see anyone out tonight.”
    The girl shook her head wearily. “That’s going to
take some explaining and I am so tired I can hardly keep my eyes
open.”
    “I know what you mean. Let’s say we get off of this
highway and go somewhere warm. I’ll drive.”
    “You don’t know how good that sounds, uh—”
    “Tom. Tom Grayson,” he said.
    The girl smiled. “My name is Erin Myers.” She offered
him her hand awkwardly. “Nice to meet you.”
    Tom shook her hand. “The pleasure is mine. How does
your head feel?”
    “Not too bad, but I wouldn’t exactly refuse a couple
of Advils, either.”
    “We’ll go to my house and get you some. Maybe we can
even find some food to eat.”
    “Where do you live?”
    “Worthington.”
    “We can’t go there!” Erin exclaimed defiantly.
    “Why not?”
    “That’s where he started chasing me—I live in
Worthington, too.”
    “Whereabouts?” Tom asked.
    “Near Wilson Bridge