An Excerpt from

Night Rules

A Sean Wynn Thriller

Prologue

Friday, 3:41 p.m.

HEAVY RAIN SLAPPED like firecrackers against the windshield, blurring the landscape beyond. Despite the wipers furious pounding, Ann could barely make out the lonely stretch of two-lane Wyoming highway. Slowing, she flipped on her headlights to pierce the darkening gloom. If she couldn’t see the approaching cars, at least maybe they’d see her.

The problem was, there hadn’t been any cars. Not for the last twenty minutes. Not since an old red Jeep raced past her coming out of the small town of Douglas.

Maybe they know something I don’t, she thought. Probably trying to outrun a damn tornado. Stupid cell phone’s useless. No service in half this god-forsaken state.

She tapped the AM radio icon on the dashboard touchscreen, scanning for a local weather report. A gnawing sense of isolation grew in the pit of her stomach. Even the white van that had been behind her since leaving the convenience store was no longer visible in the rearview mirror.

Maybe I should pull over and wait this thing out.

The decision was made for her when the faint flash of red taillights leaked through the rainy veil. Lightning ripped the sky, revealing the old red Jeep with its hazard lights flashing, parked diagonally across the road, blocking both lanes. Ann slowed further, feeling both relief and sympathy at the sight of two men out in the deluge. One knelt near the rear of the Jeep with a tire iron in his hand, the other held an umbrella in a futile attempt to block the rain.

Crappy time for a flat.

The kneeling man rose as she pulled to a stop and hustled through the downpour toward Ann’s car. The second man dropped the umbrella and followed a few steps behind.

Probably need someone to call a tow truck.

Ann cracked her window as the man approached, ready to ask how she could help, then recoiled in horror as he raised the tire iron in a backhand swing and smashed it against the glass, shattering the window.

She screamed, but it was already too late. A hand punched through the broken glass, her left shoulder exploding as if by lightning. Her muscles convulsed, paralyzed as the electricity surged through her body. Bright flashes sparked across her vision as the current continued, excruciating and unrelenting, until darkness consumed the rain.

NIGHT RULES

A 2024 Finalist in the international Adventure Writers Competition.

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