Tilly heard her phone ring as she drove. She took a quick glance at her purse but decided not to reach for it. She wasn't going to risk even a traffic violation considering her current legal predicament. The phone chimed shortly after it finished ringing. Likely a voicemail or a text message. It could wait until she got home.
It always felt ridiculous stopping at a red light this late. No cars on the road except yourself, and yet you stop and wait. All you could do was be annoyed, tapping your fingers on the steering wheel to pass the time. In her rearview, she saw another car coming, then looked at the light again. Still red. She saw the yellow light appear for the perpendicular lane and started counting down from five. It almost always worked.
"Five, four, three, two, one," Tilly said, letting her foot off the break to start her roll. It changed right on time, and she put her foot down on the accelerator. The car coming from behind whipped around on the oncoming lane, and abruptly cut her off, Tilly having to slam on the brake to avoid a collision. "The hell?"
The man driving opened his car door and ran around to her. Tilly immediately recognized him and tried to put the car in reverse to get away. DK had come back for her. Before she could put it in reverse, she saw he had a bat and broke her window with one swing. She screamed and pressed the accelerator with the car still in drive, t-boning his car. Her airbag didn't deploy, but his did.
DK reached through the window and grabbed her by her hair, trying to pull her out of the car.
"Seatbelt, unclip it," DK ordered.
"Let me go!" Tilly screamed, clawing at his wrists. He grabbed her throat, and pushed her neck against the seat.
"Get the out of the car," DK said. Tilly couldn't talk, but unbuckled her seat belt before he did something worse. DK opened the car from the inside, and pulled her to the ground.
"You think I don't know who snitched? I'm the least you have to worry about," he said, then kicked her in the ribs. Tilly coiled her body into a ball to protect herself. It wasn't the first time she had to. "Where's my boy?" Tilly whimpered on the ground, and he kicked her again for not answering. "You took my fucking son from me."
Another car was coming down the street, but he paid it no attention.
"You thought you'd just go back to mommy and daddy? They didn't want to help you before, why would this be any different?" he asked. "They can't protect you."
The car arrived fast, skidding to the hard stop. Jason leapt out of his car, and DK raised the bat on full display.
"Get the fuck out of here you chink," DK said, trying to create a threatening posture with a pump fake. Jason stepped back to his car, and DK looked back to Tilly on the ground. "Where's my son bitch."
Suddenly, he heard the slider of a pistol. DK slowly turned to Jason, now armed with a gun, trained right on him.
"You a kung-fu Asian or a math Asian? You won't shoot me motherfucker," DK says.
"I'm a rooftop Korean, try me," Jason said. "Hit her again, and I will drop you."
"You even know how to use that thing?" DK asked.
"I'm a card-carrying member of the NRA, and I could shoot a button off your shirt at this range," Jason says. DK stated him down and took notice at how calm Jason was. He wasn't shaking, or nervous. Just focused. He'd shoot him, and he knew it. "Get on the ground."
"I'll remember you. I'll bring some boys with me next time," DK said, then started to walk back to his car.
"Get on the ground!" Jason shouted.
"Watch your back bitch," DK shouted back, and entered his car. As much as Jason wanted to squeeze the trigger, he didn't. If he put one more hand on Tilly, he could have with minimal legal repercussion. The second DK started walking his legal protection from discharging his weapon went with him.
Jason kept his gun on DK as he drove off just in case he suddenly pulled his own firearm out. DK merely shouted racial slurs and speed away. Jason lowered the gun and kneeled next to Tilly while getting his phone ready to call emergency services.
"No police," Tilly begged, and Jason hesitated.
"Why not?" Jason asked.
"Just please, don't," Tilly said. "It'll make it worse."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that," Jason said, and called the police.
* * * * *
The first squad car arrived within ten minutes, and the ambulance followed shortly after. A second squad car arrived, followed by a third. They were given a basic description of DK and his car, and an APB was put out over the net, with a request to spread it out across the county.
The EMT examined Tilly's injuries. Severe bruising, but it didn't appear he broke her ribs. Bruising was already forming along her neck, and she was hoarse when she spoke.
The first officer got her statement, while his partner spoke to Jason away from her. Illinois conceal carry has a duty to inform requirement, so Jason told the officer about his gun when asked. He presented his conceal carry and his FOID card. The officer said he'd check him out and stepped away to his car to look up his information.
Deputy Chief Jackson pulled up the stop thirty minutes after the first response. She drove over with Riley, still in civilian clothing and asked her officers to get her spun up on the situation. She commended the first responding officers on the APB push and said she'd make some calls to lubricate that.
"Mr. Rhee?" Diana asked as she approached. "Deputy Chief. My officers said you saved her."
"All I did was point a gun at someone," he said.
"That's all it takes sometimes. You're her coworker?"
"Her boss, but yeah."
"You said the car was loitering?"
"Outside of the restaurant. Didn't pay any notice until it was still there at closing. Pile of cigarettes, like he'd been there all day and never left," he explained. Diana ordered an officer to go the restaurant and check that out. It helped build the case against him for when they found him.
"How did you know something wasn't right?" she asks.
