The Infinity Tattoo by Eliza McCullen Page B

wouldn’t go away.
    * * *
    Meg slept badly that night. Every sound coming from outside her bedroom window made her wake up. She heard a coyote howl, then the neighbor’s dog, then the distinctive snuffling of a family of javalinas. She’d finally settled into a deeper sleep when something startled her awake. She lay unmoving in bed and listened.
    There was a soft scratching on the front door. She waiting, straining to hear more, but all she heard was silence. Still, something wasn’t right.
    Silently, she sat up and donned jeans and a shirt. She grabbed a pair of slip-on sandals and tiptoed into the living room. The half-moon showed through the large picture window, casting a faint light into the room. She could see the outline of the couch, the armchairs, the desk in the corner.
    Suddenly a gloved hand covered her mouth and she was dragged back against a hard body. Another arm snaked around her chest in a vise-like grip. Meg grabbed at the arm holding her and thrashed around in an effort to get free.
    Just as quickly as she had been grabbed, she was released. She turned in time to see her assailant stumble back. Then a black shadow dashed in front of her. A second later, it plowed into a second shadowy form. Her assailant’s partner?
    Meg backed away, reaching for the wall where she knew there was a light switch. But before she found it, she heard scuffling, then a shout: “Let’s get out of here.”
    The front door opened and she saw the dark shapes of two men slipping outside and running away. Jack lay on the floor several feet away, dazed.
    Meg ran over to him. “Jack, are you all right?”
    “I will be,” he said, shaking his head. “Just give me a second.”
    By now her eyes had adjusted to the dim light and she could see his face as he struggled to a sitting position. Without thinking, she touched it tenderly.
    Then she said, “I think those guys were the same ones who stopped by this afternoon. We need to get you out of here. Go grab your stuff. I’ll get the car keys.” She jumped up and ran to her bedroom where she started gathering items and throwing them into her backpack.
    Jack stood and made a rapid assessment of his condition. A few bruises, nothing more. He returned to his room and quickly gathered up his meager possessions, stuffing them into his backpack. By the time he was finished, Meg was ready.
    “Come on,” she said and led the way out the back door into the shed. She slid into the driver’s side and threw a small pack in the back. “Get in.”
    Jack opened the passenger door and stooped to look in at her. “Where are we going?”
    “I don’t know. We’ll figure that out when we get there.”
    “I don’t want to get you into my mess, Meg.”
    “It’s a little too late for that,” she said. “Now would you just get in the car?”
    Jack repeated his question as they went down the winding road from her house. “Where are we going?”
    “I don’t know. Do you think anyone’s following us?”
    “Well, it wouldn’t be hard,” he said. The clock on the dashboard showed two a.m. There wasn’t another car on the road. They were heading towards West Sedona, but this far from the main area of town, it was dark and quiet.
    Before long, a large vehicle approached them from behind, its headlights on high. “Jack, can you tell what kind of car it is?”
    “Not with its headlights glaring at us.”
    Soon they reached the junction for the highway leading into the heart of Sedona. “Okay, listen, Jack. I’m going to take a side road in a couple of minutes. When I say ‘now’ you hold on.”
    They reached the edge of the town. They passed several shops and hotels which were all closed, and the street was all but deserted.
    Meg shouted, “Now!” and turned abruptly onto a side street. Then she made a quick left onto a smaller street, pulled over and killed the engine. They watched behind them until a large black SUV drove slowly by. It passed the small side street where they were