Throughout my 20’s, I worked remote for an insurance firm. I wasn’t a salesman or anything, it was all computer work. I was unattached and spent all my time driving around the country and staying in cool places, tourist spots, and even remote locations. I knew that if I didn’t travel while I could, I would regret it later in life. I drove an old van with all the back seats taken out. I put in a couch and some covered bins to keep my stuff organized. I would often sleep in hotels or rent a room for a couple of weeks so it wasn’t like I was always sleeping in the van.
I was on my way to Michigan to hang out by the great lakes for a couple of weeks. I had actually taken a vacation day so I could have an extended weekend to settle in. It was about two in the morning and I needed to stop for some gas and a cup of coffee. I was pretty tired and was debating with myself on whether I should find somewhere to pull over and have some sleep.
The gas station was pretty shady looking and the area I was in wasn’t well lit or populated, but I had gotten used to that kind of thing on the road. There were only two working pumps and a car was already at one of them, so I pulled up to the other one and went inside. There was nobody else in the store except the clerk, a middle aged man with an unkempt beard. I grabbed the largest sized cup and filled it to the top with stale coffee.
As I approached the counter, I heard a muffled sound from the dark backroom, almost a quiet squeal. The clerk went to the back for a minute and came out muttering under his breath. I didn’t want to think too much into it until I remembered the car at the pump outside. Who did it belong to?
I paid for my coffee and gas and went back out to the pump. As it’s pumping, I walk back towards the front of the store to smoke a cigarette. I notice a light tapping coming from somewhere, quiet enough to almost not notice. I walk around the side of the building, where the employee section would be but on the outside. There was a window that had that cloudy glass that you couldn’t see anything through unless it was right up next to it. That’s where the tapping was coming from.
Suddenly a hand pressed up against the glass, barely visible through the cloudy pane. I hear muffled cry, I could’ve sworn it said, “help”. I ran back to my car as fast as I could, putting the gas nozzle back and starting my car. As I sped off down the road I thought about what might be happening and realized that I might be someone’s only hope. I called 911 and turned my car around.
When I got back to the gas station, the attendant was moving the car into one of the parking spaces. From what the 911 operator told me I knew a state trooper would be arriving soon. I wanted to buy time so the attendant couldn’t hide whatever he was doing. I was pretty sure he had the driver of that car in the back room and god only knows what he was planning to do.
The attendant was glaring at me with annoyance and suspicion. I told him I forgot to get something to eat, and he said he was closing down for the night. I said I would be really fast and ran inside as he tried to stop me. The man got really angry and told me I had to leave. I said “C’mon man, you’re the only stop for miles, I just need some chips”. “Fine!” he yelled, “just take it and go”. I started slowly perusing the snack section while he glared at me from the front of the aisle. After a minute he walked over and grabbed my arm, “times up pal”.
Just then, I heard someone yell “help!” from the back. I shoved the man away and he ran to the counter and grabbed a gun. I had run close behind him, suspecting what he was doing, and tackled him to the floor. We wrestled for a minute and he got the best of me, slamming my head against the hard floor. As he scrambled to grab the gun a couple feet away, an officer busted through the door with his gun raised, just in time to save my life.
Turns out, there were two young girls trapped in the backroom, they couldn’t have been any older than 17. Apparently, the attendant had attacked them when they came inside, gagged them, and tied them to a supply fixture in the back just before I had come in the first time. If I hadn’t gone back when I did, they might not have ever been seen again. And if that officer hadn’t arrived when he did, I would have a bullet in my head.
I still traveled around after that, but I stayed away from seedy, middle of the night, stops.