#2 - ON THE RUN

       Bob confiscated the dead man's guns, surveyed the coffee shop, made sure no danger lurked in the backrooms. Once he saw everything secure, he pulled out his cellphone and made contact with his partner.

       "Bob, are you safe?" Came the voice of his partner, Kathleen.

       "I'm safe."

       "And the attempt on Ariel's life?"

       "Ariel's safe with me." Bob reported.

       "Good. Bob, listen, we can't rely on the CIA . . . and no one with the ATF."

       Bob glanced over to see Ariel sitting in a chair, pale with fear. "Not surprised about the CIA. As far as the ATF, what about Jack Tate? He's always helped us when we need it."

       "Not sure that we can even rely on him. And, with what's going on, we're on our own until we get a clearer picture of things."

       Bob saw a dark gray Ford Escape pull in front of the coffee shop. "We're on our way."

       He disconnected the call and reached a hand out. "Ariel, our ride is here. Time to go."

       She looked at his face absently, then his hand. Without a thought, she reached out and Bob took her hand and the two left the shop.

       As Kathleen pulled onto the street, heading toward them on the opposite side, police cars headed for the shop, lights on and sirens blaring. She asked Bob, "Is everything clean?"

       "No sign that I was ever there. I have all security tapes as well."

       This caught Ariel's attention. "What? You took the security tapes? The police won't be able to know who tried to kill me."

       Bob turned casually. "They won't be able to help even if they did see the tape."

       Ariel challenged Bob, "Why?"

       Kathleen and Bob glanced at one another with the same thought. Good, she's starting to come around. Bob answered, "The man who tried to kill you is an agent of a secret society. I was sent to protect you."

       "So who are you that you know so much?"

       "We're government agents from a secret branch of the CIA."

       "A secret branch of the CIA?" Ariel almost laughed. "I thought everything about the CIA was secret."

       "Some are more secret than others. Either way, we're here to take you to Nevada, about an hour outside of Las Vegas?"

       "Nevada?" What's there that I should want to go there?"

       "A new life, safe from those who want you exterminated."

       Ariel's thoughts darkened in an instant. "Why would anyone want me . . . exterminated?"

       "That's their term. You see, this secret society longs for the extermination of all women with a first name that starts with the letter A."

       She didn't believe what she just heard. "Wait. They want to kill me because my first name begins with A?"

       "That's right. They have a specific order they are looking to accomplish the removal of women with a first name beginning with an A and they've decided that they need to begin with a-r names. They've already eliminated women with a-a, a-b, a-c, a-d. Once we found out their mission, they were half way through the a-d's. The government tried to keep it quiet but word is beginning to leak. The society, once they knew we knew, have decided to skip to a-r names. They won't proceed until you're dead."

       She thought a moment, and then asked, "But wouldn't they go through a-r-a and a-r-b, and the rest before they got to a-r-i?"

       "We thought so, too."

       Kathleen interrupted, "The government appears to be involved with the so-called cleansing. Once they knew we had begun to investigate and figured out the next target, they moved to you."

       Bob added, "So Kathleen sent me to you while she drove here as quickly as possible. Now that you've been targeted and it's failed, they won't stop until you're killed."

       Ariel sat back in her seat stunned, dizzy from the information that had just been given her. Why would anyone want to kill people just because their first name began with the letter A?

For answers to these questions and what happens next, check back for the next installment of BOB AND THE MOMENT OF TRUTH.