Thinking about the immediate danger Alex was in, and the promise he’d made her, Sam was happy to prove Alan right. As the officer struggled to wrap the cuff around Sam’s cast, Sam flung his head back, the top of his skull colliding with the bridge of the officer’s nose, shattering it. The officer howled in pain and clutched onto Sam’s shoulder. The other officer, with his gun pointed squarely at Sam yelled something and pulled the trigger. Sam pressed one foot on the wall and pushed back, falling backwards onto the bloodied officer and dodging the bullet by a matter of milliseconds. Both men collapsed onto the bed and Sam rolled through, driving an elbow into the officer’s temple and knocking him out cold. The dingy room worked to his benefit, as the other officer rushed forward with his gun at the ready, and Sam slammed himself into the door, crushing the officer’s arm in the frame and loosening his grip on the gun. The officer grunted in pain, and Sam pulled the door open and hauled the officer in by his shirt before slamming it shut. He could hear Alan barking orders, and the incoming footsteps of the shotgun wielding officer. With his arm limp, the other officer tried to swing at Sam, but Sam lifted his left arm, catching the blow on his cast and gritting his teeth with pain. Sam rocked the officer with a brutal right hook, shutting his lights out before he even hit the rough carpet that lined the floor. Slumped against the door, the officer acted as a useful barricade, as the furious back-up tried desperately to shove the door open.

Sam scurried to the window in the bathroom, and shoved it upward, and began to push himself through the small gap to the unkept shrubbery below. He made his way through, just as he heard the other officer smash the window at the front of the room, to a risible cry of dismay from the owner. Sam took off, running as fast as he could along the back of the motel, before submerging himself in the woodland that ran along the main road back into town.

As he ran, he glanced at his watch.

It was still early in the evening, meaning Alex would still be at The Pit. Somehow, he would need to stay off the grid for the next few hours, which, given his name was now known, would be harder than he thought. Taking deep breaths to keep the oxygen pumping, Sam continued his sprint through the woods, wondering how the hell he would lie low in a town so small. With every step, he heard his father’s words, and he was adamant that this promise was one he wouldn’t break.

* * *

Joe Alan was right.