Jake James Johnson in Perl Indiana

Jake James Johnson sat on a bed in a motel room just outside Perl Indiana, looking at the local weather on his phone. He knew it had been snowing, he didn’t need his phone to know it was still overcast, he needed to know when the sun would be out. The town of Perl was small, it would be a while before the local plow would clear the road and his car wasn’t made for the snow. The sooner the snow melted the sooner he could leave. Jake looked at a gym back full of money. It wasn’t free, the people it belonged to, or the people who originally took it from who it belonged to wanted it back.The weather app said it would snow again that night. He needed a way out, he thought about stealing a car, or buying one, but no one else was staying in the motel, and the clerk told him the only person in town who had a car to sell to him was twenty minutes away driving. He was stuck there.Jake looked out the window, at the overcast sky. A dark gray. “Fucking winter!” he said to himself. After closing the curtains he heard cars driving into the small parking lot, peeking out the curtain he saw three SUVs. They found him.He grabbed the gym bag, his other bag, and ran to the other side of the bed. Jake pulled out an AR 15 from the other bags he ducked behind the bed. If they were going to kill him, he would take a few with him.He waited, it felt like an eternity passed, then he heard a key slide into the lock, the knob, the knob turn. Jake fired at the door, putting twelve holes in the door. The door slowly opened about a quarter of the way. A grenade flew in, landing past the bed, three feet to Jake’s left.Jake’s life didn’t flash before his eyes, he didn’t panic, he didn’t try to grab it and throw it back. He only uttered one word, “Fuck!” a word he did not finish as the grenade went off. A bright flash blinded Jake, a loud band deafened him. When he could see again he saw a shotgun barrel in his face, then the but of the shotgun coming at him.Jake woke up in the back seat of a gray SUV driving away from the town. His hands were cuffed behind him, they even cuffed his ankles. A tall red haired man with a large nose set next to him and a tan back haired man drove. “Fuck!” Jake repeated.“He’s awake.” The redhead said.“I heard.” The driver replied.“The boss wants you alive.” The redhead said as he pulled out his cell phone to check a text.“Why?” Jake asked.“He’s your dad.” The red head replied.“I just wanted out,” Jake mumbled, “I wanted a normal life!” He yelled.“Don’t lie!” The driver said, “Five million in cash, you just wanted to party. A normal life is a grindy job, a suburban house, a wife, and two point three kids. You don’t want that.”