Time Stands Still

Tyler got into his car. He paused, leaning back against his driver’s seat. He smiled and laughed to himself. He had just kissed his lead Seguinista and best female friend on the lips. That was going to go well, the next time they saw one another.

Beside him, in the passenger’s seat, his phone vibrated. Tyler held his joking humor, as he reached over and picked the phone up. He tapped to screen to see the message.

“Classic. Another threat!” He brushed it off like it was nothing. Taylor’s words had really spoke to him and sunk in. He didn’t feel scared or frightened anymore. It was all an empty threat.

He continued to chuckle to himself, as he started his jeep back up. He began to make fun of the threat, mimicking it in a different tone of voice. “Tick, tock Tyler. So nice of you to tell me where you are. You don’t realize it, but it is time we met up. You can run, but you cannot hide. Live each moment like it’s your last, because soon enough, it will be. Time to pay for your sins. If you continue to carry on with this, things will get bad for YOU. No, they already are.”

He slammed his hand on the wheel. He launched off, out of the neighborhood of his friend. He laughed to himself, as he approached a light. He phone buzzed again, as he jerked to a halt at the stoplight’s color red. He picked up his device. An email and a text, with the same message.

That’s when he stopped laughing and frowned. The person was serious and mocking him. And that’s also when the fear crept back into him.

Meanwhile, back at Tyler’s house, Val and Reilly pulled up for a fourth time. They were there out of reluctance. But they both saw Tyler’s vehicle was missing.

“He’s not here!” Val gasped.

“He’s a massive dumbass! I tell you. Hurry up and go get your phone, before he comes back and tries to take both our heads off again with the damn frying pan!” Reilly was beyond annoyed and irritated with the Dallas Stars’ star centerman. He was done being nice and if Antti Niemi wanted them to continue in their charade, he was ready to say no. He hated this case. Tyler was a jerk and the classic case of a rich boy, misusing his privileges.

Val scurried up to the house and the door. He was extra cautious, as he turned the knob, which surprise, surprise wasn’t locked.

He really needs to change that, Val thought, as he slipped inside. He made his way to the kitchen counter, where his cellular device sat, untouched. He grabbed it up and whipped around.

As soon as he did, his phone flashed with an incoming message. It was Antti Niemi. He gasped, as he read his boss’ text and darted back out, slamming the door shut behind him. He literally threw the car door open and dove into his seat.

“What the hell, man? What happened to you? Did you see a ghost?”

“No, no,” Val gasped, as he fought to regain control over his emotions. “This!” He held his phone out to show Reilly the message from Antti Niemi.

“Tyler Seguin is missing!” the Bruin read. “His last tweet was about visiting a woman named Taylor Lonestar, based on her twitter name. He hasn’t replied to anyone in over an hour now and his car was last spotted in Tyler, Texas. He has simply vanished from sight.”

“But how does he know? If he has been one step ahead of us, why does he want us on the case fooling around?” Val asked, buckling his seatbelt, once more.

“I don’t know.”

Reilly wore a worried expression on his face now. He thought Tyler was stubborn, yes, but he was a hockey player going through a rough time and he was in serious danger. Tyler was serious a mess, if he had just vanished. He was also in terrible, terrible danger too.

And Antti was not a happy man about it. He wanted the two to return to him and office in Downtown Dallas immediately.