The sun filtered through the clouds like an incandescent bulb through a dirty lampshade, giving the shadows a weird, muted appearance, like the minutes leading up to an eclipse. It was cooler than normal, and Shanna decided to take advantage while it lasted.
Her boss had been all over her lately and had started to characterize Shanna as a bumbling, accident-prone employee after she'd broken her forearm.
"You and trouble just seem to find each other," her boss had remarked.
She was afraid her boss might be right. With money woes and a failing love life, her rides were the only thing that gave her peace.
She was five miles into a bike ride on the city's bike trail, out on the edge of town, when she saw it. As she crested a rise on the trail, headlights shone into her eyes. Near a flood control gate across the wash, a car sat running with its lights on.
Shanna's pedaling slowed. It was 9:30 a.m.—long past the time anybody should be driving around with their headlights on. A man emerged from the treeline and went to the back of the car. A moment later, Shanna heard the thump of the trunk closing.
She stopped on the side of the trail and snapped a quick photo. The man beside the car hesitated.
"Did he see me?" she wondered, panic rising.
Her mind ran wild with imagined scenarios. What was someone doing out there, with their car parked on a secluded, little-used road? Her heart began to thump and her grip on the handlebars tightened. She looked around. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of the silence of the morning. The chattering of squirrels and chirping of birds was noticeably absent.
DING! Shanna's phone buzzed violently in her hand, making her jump. The sound was startling in the silence. She lifted her phone and saw a notification from an unknown number. It was an image.
When she opened it, Shanna wanted to scream.
It was a photo of her, face pale, hands white-knuckled on the handlebars.
Troy Larson is a writer, digital content creator, and broadcast veteran with hundreds of podcast and broadcast credits to his name. Reach out on Facebook and on Instagram.