Joe Ramsey

The Unkindest Cut Joe Ramsey

It was just after 7:00 AM when Lorna began jogging back toward the hotel. She had seen no one for the past half hour. But soon after she started back she thought she heard someone behind her on the path. She . . . glanced back but saw no one. . . . A few minutes later, she thought she heard footsteps behind her . . . . Although she saw no one on the path behind her, she sensed movement in the thick brush next to the path and maybe forty yards back. She stopped to concentrate, straining to detect any sign that someone else was there. Nothing. Don't get paranoid, Lorna, she told herself. No one besides Jamie and Ben even knows you're here. She began running again, subconsciously a little faster, because she really was not sure whether someone else might be there behind her, not just out enjoying the spring morning. And then she heard something for a third time, and this time it was unmistakably someone following her. She broke stride just enough to turn and look backwards quickly. This time she . . . saw a figure, someone clad in black, jumping off the path into the brush, maybe fifty yards behind her. . . . She turned her full attention to the path and sprinted as fast as she could negotiate its slope and turns and curves. Within minutes, she was near the edge of the campus and began to see people again. . . . Soon she was back at the hotel. She closed the door and locked it. . . . Get ahold of yourself, Lorna. It's a beautiful morning. Lots of people jog.