Dead Down East by Carl Schmidt

a moment’s hesitation, William said,
‘Sure thing.’ He circled around and pulled up behind the other car.
He left the motor running and the lights on. Before popping the
trunk to get his jack, William decided to have a look at the
situation. He told me quietly to stay down, but I thought I
probably couldn’t be seen anyway, since our lights were in the
guy’s face. I peeked over the front seat to have a look. The guy
waited by his right front fender as William got out of the car and
walked over to him.”
    Cynthia took a deep breath and sipped the last of her
tea, which now was as cold as the evening air.
    “That’s when it happened,” she said, choking back
tears. “I heard a single shot ring out, and William fell
immediately. Apparently the guy bent over to see if he was alive or
not, because right after the shot, he disappeared from view. I
froze in terror. I didn’t know whether to attempt an escape from
the car or stay put. If I opened the door to run, I’d obviously be
seen, and the assailant would track me down. If I stayed in the
car, he might very well come over and find me. My best chance
seemed to be to stay put and hope the guy would flee the scene
unaware of my presence. I was certain he hadn’t seen me at that
point and wouldn’t be able to unless he actually walked over and
opened the door. If he made any movement toward me, I’d make a dash
into the night.
    “After a few moments he stood up. That’s when I saw
the gun, still in his right hand, and the towel in his left. He
stared for a moment, looking into the windshield of our car. It was
the first time I actually saw his face. Then he looked all around,
I guess to make sure there was no one else in the vicinity. There
were no other cars on the road. Moments after the shot was fired, a
light came on from somewhere behind me and across the road to my
left, probably from a house nestled behind a stand of trees. The
light filtered through, but barely reached us. Compared to our
headlights, it was not bright at all.
    “He took a few steps toward our car, and my heart
raced out of control. I was just about to make a run for it when I
heard a man calling from the direction of the porch light.
Apparently he had heard the shot and came out of his house to see
what was happening. He yelled, ‘Is everything OK? I thought I heard
a shot.’
    “The assailant shouted back, ‘No problem, my car just
backfired. I think it’ll be fine.’
    “I glanced back to see the neighbor behind me. He
just stood there as if waiting for assurance. It must have spooked
the assailant. He quickly wrapped the towel around the gun, walked
around the front of his car and got in. As soon as his engine fired
up, the neighbor walked back down the road toward his house. He
seemed so relaxed that it was obvious he hadn’t seen the gun. The
driver turned on his lights and drove around the bend.
    “As he was pulling away, I spotted Williams’ body. It
looked as if he had been dragged several feet down the embankment.
I kept my eyes riveted on the taillights of the car as he drove
around the corner. Before I made a move, I wanted to be certain he
was gone and wasn’t coming back.
    “He was almost out of sight when he stopped his car
and got out. I was terrified. Adrenaline shot through my veins. He
might be coming back for me! This time I got out of the car,
prepared to run if necessary. Thankfully, the overhead light didn’t
come on. William always kept that in the off position for
privacy.
    “I couldn’t actually see the killer or much of his
car, but I could see the taillights shining through the trees. He
must have walked around to the back of his car because his left
taillight became obscured for a moment and then reappeared. He
stayed there for a few seconds, and then I heard two separate
thuds. It sounded as if he had thrown a couple of things into the
woods across the road. After that, he got back into his car and
drove away.”
    “Wow,” I said. We both just