A Fugitive

A Fugitive Bus Stop Overland Park, Kansas 7:35 PM A furrowed brow and furtive eyes that refuse to engage another, striding quickly through the crowd and putting people between him and the police car. He is hardly the drifter or the hobo. His walk remains crisp, confident betraying that of a professional man. But his face is wary like that of a hunted quarry which he is… Slicked groomed hair tweed sports jacket He brings back sad, even horrible memories so I must accost him… “I’m sorry, I’m…” “No need to be, sir. That was clumsy of me.” Please don’t go, yet…” “But I…” “I remember seeing you before…” His face is rigid fear. “I’m sorry, I don’t know you…” I grab his arm before he bolts through the crowd. “Don’t get on that bus they’re waiting for you…” “How do you know?” “I was across the street that night He ran out as you hit the brakes. Quickly, get into this car It’s gassed up and there’s money Behind the visor and here’s the keys Get going, quickly, quickly…” His eyes are narrow lasers surveying me like a hawk “Helen wouldn’t listen to me about the alimony so I stormed out the door. Remember now? Yes, yes, you do… she was my wife before you met her Now into the car and be gone, Doctor.” Ticket Office 8:45 PM “And you still say you didn’t see this man?” The obnoxious skull in the rumpled suit pointed to the same old tired poster he slowly unfolds from his pocket. Lights flashing. Frenzy. Crowd milling around us. Much hoopla about nothing. “No, I never saw anyone like that… man” He fixes his gaze on me and bores in. ‘Do I know you from somewhere?” “Why, no, Lieutenant… Gerard, isn’t it?” “Have you ever been through Indiana?” Persistent little pest. No wonder the good doctor is so jumpy. “I graduated from Purdue, but I’m originally from New Jersey…” I look to the west, pensive, with purpose. His eyes follow mine as the bus pulls out. Good, the fool took the bait… “Small world, isn’t it? Imagine meeting you a fellow Hoosier all the way out here? CUE MUSIC NARRATOR: A random meeting. A shared experience. A woman they both knew senselessly murdered years before. Yet only one of them can help the other. One has resolved to abet an escaped killer. The other has accepted his help. Help that allows him to pursue the real killer. Help from the distant past that allows Richard Kimble to remain at large as … A Fugitive… MUSIC SWELLS FADE OUT