Rescue Me

This is the first part of a medium length story.

It had been a long day for Jesse and his stop at the pub hadn’t made it any shorter, but he’d needed to relax and unwind before trying to sleep. Some days a run worked to clear his head but on other days no distraction had an impact and this was one of those days. Shrugging his shoulders as if shifting a weight he was carrying, he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and glared out at the night.

The street was deserted and Jesse was two blocks from home when he passed by his local shopping strip.  At this hour most of the shops were locked up for the night. However he could see by the pool of light spilling out the open door onto the pavement, that the pharmacy was, as usual, still open. He had seen the woman who worked there, numerous times on his way home. Frowning he wondered yet again, how she could work so late on her own.  

Passing the bank situated next to the pharmacy Jesse was surprised to hear raised voices. The woman in the pharmacy was speaking to someone in the shop. Her voice was laced with fear, “okay, please just tell me what you want?”

“Open the safe.”

“Crap” Jesse breathed as he came to an abrupt stop. He moved closer to the glass shop front. Flattening himself against the wall of the bank he had a quick look through the adjoining window. The brief glimpse he got, told him everything he needed to know. He could see the woman, standing behind the counter and on the other side, a skinny guy holding a knife. The guy looked dirty and dishevelled and from his agitated movements, Jesse knew his choice of a pharmacy to hold up, probably wasn’t a random pick.