a little after midnight.
the bus was half empty, had been all the way from the city, and johnny, sitting just behind the driver, had two seats to himself and had been watching the empty highway for a couple of hours.
the bus stopped at a crossroads .
“this is it, pal,” the driver annpunced. “thomasville.” the driver was a friendly fellow who looked like he ate a lot of apple pie.
thomasville. where the great imperial coast to coast circus was due to arrive in two days.
johnny did not see anything. but he grabbed his bag from the seat beside him and stood up.
“so where is the town?” he asked. “or any place i can get a cab?”
the driver pointed west. “there’s a filling station about half a mile up that road. you can get a cab there, but you might have to wait a while. you can get some good coffee and pie there. tell them bob sent you.”
“thanks, i’ll do that.”
the driver opened the door and johnny stepped down on to the road.
the bus pulled away and johnny was left on the highway. he could not see any lights, but the moon was more than half full and he could see all right.
he headed in the direction the driver had pointed out.
sure enough, there was a little filling station just like the driver said, with a little diner beside it, with a light on.
johnny pushed open the door of the diner. he did not see anybody, either behind the counter or on the stools or the one little booth.
“anybody home?” he called. nobody answered.
he had a bad feeling. he went back outside.
he walked around the side of the building, to the back.
and there, slumped against the wall, was a man.
johnny knew right away, but checked the guy anyway. he was dead.
a dead man.
he was alone again with a dead man.
there is no escape, johnny thought. no escape.
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