Forget to Remember

though he’d dyed his hair red and it was long and shaggy. It might have been the “oriental cast” to his features, to quote Sean when he’d been talking about her .
    While her brain was processing this information, her body, thankfully, was already initiating action. She turned and ran back down the stairs, taking them two at a time, hoping she wouldn’t trip. She listened for the clang of Michael’s footsteps on the steps above, hoping against hope he hadn’t recognized her
    She hesitated long enough to turn the handle of the door exiting the stairway and then yanked it open and burst through the doorway into a corridor with rooms on either side. Now she heard Michael’s footsteps. He was coming after her. She ran the length of the corridor, past the elevator in which the startled guests were just now loading their suitcases, and turned the corner into the spacious lobby.
    Carol yelled, “Call nine-one-one,” at the night clerk and, not hearing Michael right behind her, stopped for a second to survey the situation. It would be suicidal for her to go outside into the dark, alone with Michael. The lobby had a number of round tables set up for guests to use when eating their continental breakfasts. She ran among the tables until several were between her and where Michael would enter the room. She picked up a chair and held it with the metal legs pointing in front of her. This was her weapon.
    Michael came skidding around the corner into the lobby and stopped. He was holding a small knife, like a Swiss Army knife—small but deadly. Thankfully, he didn’t have a gun. He spotted Carol and came at her, charging like a bull, banging into one of the tables on the way.
    Carol had been braced for his charge, but he came so fast he almost overwhelmed her. Just as he ran around the last table separating them and was about to sweep the chair she held aside she lunged forward. One of her chair legs caught him in the chest, knocking them both backward.
    Carol backpedaled, hit the table behind her, and went down on her knees. Michael grunted loudly and also fell, landing on his butt. She got to her feet before he did, still holding the chair. He appeared to be hurt. She went for him, feeling a terrible rage, intending to stab him with the chair legs, but he rolled away and she only hit him with a glancing blow on the back.
    He crawled under a table as she tried to hit him with the chair again. Then he managed to get to his feet and hobbled toward the outside door, obviously in pain. Carol followed with the chair, but before she got to the door, one of the men who had been getting on the elevator stepped in front of her.
    “He’s still got the knife. Let him go.”
    Carol dropped the chair. “I want to get his license.”
    She eluded the man, ran to the door, opened it, and looked outside. She could see Michael running out of the motel parking lot. His car apparently wasn’t in the lot. The man came to the door. “We’ll follow him in my car.”
    The man’s wife yelled at him to be careful. His car was parked close to the door. Carol jumped into the passenger seat when he activated the remote. He started the car, backed out of the parking place, and drove to the exit from the lot. As far as they could tell, Michael had run downhill toward the main street through Hillsborough.
    They drove down to the intersection and looked in all directions, but he was nowhere to be seen. Carol pointed to the right. “He’s probably going to get on I-85.”
    The man turned right, and they went to where the Interstate went over the road. No cars were in sight. They parked within sight of both onramps. Damn it, Michael was going to get away again. Carol had dropped her purse containing her cell phone during the pursuit. She turned to the man who had a shaved head and whose skin was darker than hers. “Do you have a cell phone? I’ll call nine-one-one and get the police looking for him.”
    He produced a phone from his pocket, punched in 911, and handed it to her. She told the dispatcher the attacker from the previous 911 call was getting away. Since she was on a cell phone, the dispatcher had no knowledge of the other call and asked her location. When Carol got that straightened out, she had to admit she didn’t have a description of the attacker’s car, but she tried to give a description of Michael without mentioning his name.
    She handed the phone back to the man. “By the time they get mobilized, he’ll be gone. Would