Eagle

Part 5

Chapter 13

August 21st, 2012

1342 hours

            Ellie still sat hunched against the door. Her makeup smeared from her tears. She finally worked up the strength to go back to her workstation. The TV was still on, but she heard nothing. She sat at her desk, but did nothing but stare at her screen. Suddenly, she heard something that piqued her attention.

            “The man that warned the security guards of the bombing yesterday is Stanford Leigh. A known member of ‘The Defenders of Freedom’. We recommend that people with any information contact the FBI by calling…’

            “No!”

            Ellie stood wild-eyed and furious as the TV rained down a shower of sparks. She had hefted a heavy stapler through the glass screen. She frankly wished it was the news reporter themselves instead of an image of them. Before she knew it, she was running down the halls of the facility, towards the parking lot. She had to get out of there. It didn’t make sense. Why would they say he was part of that terrorist group? Was he? No. Not Stanford. Someone else, maybe. Stanford? She was sure there was no way he could have been involved.

She grabbed the door of her car and jerked it open. It slammed to the end of its range, nearly slamming it back on her. She stopped it, got in, slammed it shut and started the engine. Her body was acting on instinct. Albeit, an instinct fueled by rage and adrenaline. Her foot found the accelerator, and slammed it down to the floor. Her tires squealing, and her six cylinder engine whining in protest as it got up to speed. She sped through the gate that guarded the entrance. A flimsy piece of wood that seemed all the more insignificant as it bounced off the hood of her car. She heard alarms start ringing, but she was out of earshot before she had a chance to care.

She looked down at the speedometer. 95 miles per hour, and climbing. Without a thought to caution, her foot pressed down harder on the accelerator, causing her car to speed up again. She felt as if she were watching a movie. It was surreal. She knew the area surrounding the facility. It was seemingly desolate. Cars rarely traveled down these roads. As she passed a car going the opposite direction, she saw it swing around, and red and blue lights start flashing. Every neuron in her brain told her to stop and pull over, but her body refused to cooperate.

Her car whined past 110 miles per hour. She felt like she should be scared, but she wasn’t. She was eerily calm. The police car was close behind her, matching her speed. She heard the cop shout something over the loudspeaker, but she couldn’t hear what. She didn’t care either. She actually started laughing, for a reason her mind couldn’t fathom, but not much mattered anymore. Stanford was dead. She opened her mouth to speak. To say the words she knew were true. Stanford is dead. Stanford is dead. The words wouldn’t form in her mouth. Her body swerved off onto a dirt road. Her foot finally releasing the accelerator. The police car missed the turn. Her car started to slow. The dirt road was relatively straight. She let go of the wheel and started to cry. Stanford is dead. Her car dropped to 80. Stanford is dead. 65. Stanford is dead. 40. Stanford is dead. 30. Stanford is dead. 15. Stanford is dead. 10. Stanford is dead. 5.

“Stanford is dead.”

Her car bumped into a tree softly, and she fell against the steering column, sobbing hysterically. She didn’t know if the cop was going to find her. She didn’t care. She didn’t care at all.

Chapter 14

August 21st, 2011

1600 hours

            Tampa Bay is a nice place. Warm sun. Palm trees. The smell of the ocean. It’s a lot nicer if you’re not stuck in the Tampa Bay Correctional Facility. Any way you put it, correctional facility, jail, prison, it’s just a room with concrete on three sides, and steel bars on one. Ellie sat on the cot in her room, or cell rather. There wasn’t much to do. Her neighbor, Lisa Jackson, had gone on to central booking for assaulting her boyfriend. For the fourth time. The system was still figuring out what to do with Ellie though. She went over the charges in her head. Reckless driving, evading arrest, and a speeding ticket to boot. A metallic rumbling brought her attention to the door. A uniformed officer was waiting for her.