The Road Back, Part 4

He changed clothes and put a big band-aid on his cut face.  Grabbing his phone he headed for the door. Suddenly he remembered to pick up his bloody clothes. He already had enough damning evidence lying around the kitchen floor; no sense leaving his bloody clothes as well.

The sirens were getting closer as he backed out into the street. Right now he couldn’t think of a place to go; he just knew he had to get out of there. As he sped away he picked up his cell phone and dialed his wife. No answer. He dialed his son and his daughter. Still no answer. When he stopped at a red light, he tried texting all of them, but after a few minutes there was still no reply to them. This is a nightmare, he thought, but as the speeding police cars past him going the opposite way, he knew it wasn’t.

Then he remembered Ed. He was a paramedic and the closest thing he had to a friend in town. He headed toward his house and prayed that he would be home. Right now he needed to see a friendly face, and at the same time get his face properly taken care of.  If he hadn’t been in such a panic he would have noticed the gray sedan following him…