The Odd Family's Book of Bedtime Stories

The Briefcase

Penny pulled into the nearest gas station. Once she got the pump going, she flopped back into the seat with a sigh. It had been a long day and it seemed like everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. It was just 'one of those days' and she was grateful it was over. Penny didn't think she could take one more minute. She took a long sip from the straw in her drink and gazed around the parking lot while she waited. Gas stations were always good places to people watch.

"Excuse me." A man spoke softly from behind her, having come up between Penny's car and the pump. He was well dressed and clean, carrying a briefcase not unlike Penny's own. She hadn't heard him walk up and jumped, a little startled. "Sorry." the man said sheepishly.

"Can I help you?" Penny asked, sitting up and putting her cup in the cup holder beside her. She was a little cautious at first because the gas station was also a good place to run into weirdos.

"Maybe." The man ran a hand through his dark hair and looked around. "I'm new to the area, in town on business you see... and my rental car just broke down." His shoulders sank a little.

"Oh, that's terrible." Penny replied.

"Yes, it is." He said. "I don't know the area very well at all, honestly. Is there any way you could give me directions to the Yogi complex?" Penny felt sorry for the man. He studied the parking lot while loosening his tie. The heat was overwhelming. It seemed like it was 'one of those days' for everyone.

Penny didn't normally pick up hitchhikers, but she understood what he was going through. She also believed in helping others. Besides that, the man was well dressed all the way to his highly polished shoes. He didn't seem dangerous at all and she liked to believe she was a good judge of character.

"I could give you a ride." She offered, "it's not that far from here."

"Could you?" The man asked. His eyes widened hopefully. Penny nodded and gestured to the gas pump, still going strong.

"Absolutely!" she said, "I just have to finish pumping my gas and then I can take you." She looked back at the gas station. "Do you need anything?"

"Yeah." He replied, "I'll be right back." He lifted his briefcase and made a gesture to her back seat, silently asking to leave it there. Penny nodded, and he set it inside, beside hers. She watched him go inside, mentally mapping out the route she would need to take. It wasn't far from where her daughter played soccer, near an underdeveloped part of the city.

Penny gasped. She had forgotten to pick up her daughter from practice at school. School was in the opposite direction, and Penny had little time left. She couldn't be late again. Jumping up, Penny grabbed the man's briefcase from the back. He was coming back out of the gas station and paused, a confused look on his face.

"I'm so sorry!" Penny called. "I forgot I have something to do!" He protested, but Penny didn't have time to argue. She set the briefcase next to the pump and jumped back in, taking off. She hoped the man would find a ride safely to where he was going.

Penny made it just in time. Her daughter was already waiting for her at the sidewalk and smiled, making the bad day just a little better. She listened intently to her daughter's day as they made their way home, the man at the gas station forgotten. That was until they got home and Penny made a startling discovery.

The man's briefcase had looked enough like Penny's own that she had given him the wrong one! Immediately, Penny got back in the car and tried to find him. He wasn't at the gas station or the Yogi complex, and neither was her briefcase. Penny drove for a long time, searching. When she couldn't find him, she returned home.

Desperate to find the man, and her own briefcase, Penny opened his. She was hoping to find some type of contact information so that they could exchange property and she could apologize. It wasn't difficult, as he didn't have it locked. What Penny found made her blood run cold. Hands shaking, she turned back to yell at her daughter to go inside and call the police. She frantically tried to recount what she had left in her own briefcase and hoped there was nothing there to lead the man to her own home.

There wasn't anything in his to lead her or the police to him either. In fact, there wasn't much of anything in the man's briefcase- just a sharp knife, a pair of gloves, and a roll of duct tape.