The Tangled Skirt
by Steve Braunstein

Breathless from running and staggered by a startling incident, Bailey Bryce dashes into a deserted bus depot in the dead of night desperately clutching a travel bag.

He's glad to be alone; to think fast, to collect himself, to figure things out before it's too late.

But he won't be alone for long.

Enter Rhonda Claire, a stunning stranger tightly gripping her own travel bag and frantically looking over her shoulder.

She's clearly unnerved by Bailey, harmless though he may appear.

How can she trust anyone in this God-forsaken place?

And sure enough, as both anxiously await the last bus out of town, for their very own different reasons, small talk turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse as both seek advantage, trapped in their own secrets and lies, to be the last one standing when that clunker of a bus finally pulls in.

As sirens wail in the distance, Bailey becomes convinced that this woman to die for has committed a terrible crime.

And Rhonda, cool as the steel of a pistol, suspects Bailey, so comically naive at times, has done worse.

As the bus barrels toward the station, Bailey and Rhonda, torn by passion and greed, must confront each other, and themselves, as fate closes in.