A Drive Through the Snow

A Drive Through the Snow

The masked woman said, “This is a perfect storm for a getaway. Do what we say and no one gets hurt. Drive east on Highway 28.” A masked man held a gun to her head. The woman clutched a laundry bag of stolen money.

Five minutes before, Ingrid Bonkowsky was at a cross country skiing trail head, attaching her skis to her red Volkswagen Beetle after an afternoon outing. She didn’t see the armed duo emerge from the stolen white sedan until it was too late.  They forced her into her car, with the man in the front passenger seat and his female companion in the back. As she turned east, a light snow coated the highway. A Minnesota blizzard was expected to hit Stevens County very soon.

Ingrid, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota at Morris, considered her predicament. Winter break would be over in three days. Nobody will miss her until then.

The man said, “We don’t need these anymore.” Ingrid immediately recognized the voice as Mikhail, fellow Russian emigre and abusive ex-boyfriend. He pulled off his ski mask to reveal a crop of short brown hair and a scarred cheek. The woman removed her mask to reveal long red hair and angry green eyes.

He said, “Ingrid, meet Tanya, my partner in crime. Tanya, this is Ingrid, the woman who sent me to jail for half a year.”

Tanya said, “Hey, if she knows you, we have to kill her.”

“Yeah, I know, but not yet. We need her to drive.”

“You kill me and you’ll be convicted of first degree murder.”

He said, “Only if caught. Sniff the barrel of the gun.” Ingrid was horrified by the smell of discharged gunpowder.

Ingrid stared ahead, struggling against the vicious side winds and increasing snowfall. A gust pushed the car to the right shoulder. She swerved to the left, crossed into the oncoming lane and skidded back into the right lane.

He said, “Ingrid, slow down. Turn right at the next road.” Ingrid’s mind raced a mile a minute. They must have ditched their first get-a-way car. They are using my car to drive to their hideout or another waiting car. Then they kill me. Mikhail will have his revenge while the storm covers their tracks.

Ingrid accelerated, blowing past the intersection at forty miles per hour.

“Hey, I said slow down and turn right.” He smashed at Ingrid with a vicious backhand.  

“Shoot me now and we crash. I die, you die.”

He snarled, “Nice try, but you can’t drive forever.” He jammed the gun into her ribs. Ingrid accelerated to fifty. She didn’t tell her captors the “Fuel Low” warning light was on.

Meanwhile, the Great Blizzard increased in fury, obscuring everything in a white maelstrom. As the red Beetle hurtled through the whiteout, a dark shape loomed ahead. Ingrid swerved into the oncoming lane, barely missing a disabled truck.

“Hey,” Tanya protested, “You’re going to get us all killed.” Ingrid slowed to forty miles an hour, still insanely fast for the road conditions.

Ingrid’s knuckles were white as she gripped the steering wheel in her desperate attempt to stay on the road and keep moving. The small town of Starbuck was ten minutes away. If she could make it there, maybe she could get help.

Mikhail said, “Don’t get any big ideas. You drive through Starbuck without stopping and nobody gets hurt. Understand?” He jammed the gun into her sides again. Ingrid merely nodded as she sped past the Starbuck’s City Limits sign. A red light flashed ahead at the main intersection. Too scared to keep going and too terrified not to, she maintained her speed as she passed under the red traffic light. Nobody in the Beetle saw the Minnesota Highway Patrol Car until red and blue lights flashed and police sirens added to the howling of the blizzard.

Mikhail yelled, “I’m not going back to jail!” He rolled down the window and fired at his pursuer. The Patrolman backed off from the pursuit as Ingrid continued through the town. Two more police vehicles joined the chase. Mikhail fired three more rounds and reached into his coat pocket for another clip.

Ingrid slammed the brakes and jerked the wheel. The Beetle skidded, rolled over twice, and came to rest right side up, facing the angry police. Mikhail dropped the gun, flung open the door and dashed into the blizzard.

He was followed by a large, well trained German shepherd.