The Secrets That We Keep by Isabel Lucero

drive. I speed up a bit to try to put some space between us but he keeps up with me.
    “What the hell?” I say while gesturing with my hand, hoping he can see me. He needs to back the fuck off. I decided to slow way down, I’m talking like ten below the speed limit. Hopefully that will irritate him enough and he’ll just pass me. It doesn’t work. I’m trying to look into his car through the rearview but with the sun and his tinted windows , I can’t see clearly. Looks like a guy for sure though, and I’m pretty sure he has a passenger. They are both wearing baseball caps. Maybe they’re some young punks, driving around pissing people off for fun. Oh well, I just try to ignore the vehicle and keep driving. As long as he doesn’t hit my car, I’m fine.
    I make the turn to head towards Rosewood and the car behind me slows down like he’s going to turn as well, but ends up speeding off. Good. Stupid, non-driving, asshole.
    I meet up with my clients and we find some nice spots and I start shooting. They are a beautiful couple, mid-thirties, and love to joke around. They put me at ease because some clients are more conservative and don’t really want to talk to you about m uch and don’t want to laugh or joke and I always feel uncomfortable around those types of people. I find it easier to be able to make people laugh; you get those nice candid shots that way.
    Half way through our shoot as I’m looking through the viewfinder , I think I see a couple people in the background. This bothers me for two reasons. One, I don’t want a dirty shot. I can’t have people standing around in the background of my photos. Clients don’t like that. Two, It’s two men and they are both wearing baseball caps. I instantly think of the large SUV that was tailing me. This does not sit well with me.
    I finish the shoot and try to act as normal and not worried as possible in front of them. I tell them I will be in touch soon and will get them their pictures as soon as I’m done editing them. We part ways and I walk towards my car. I’m looking around to see if I can spot either the two guys or the large SUV. I had seen them again a few times while I was finishing the shoot. They were just hanging around, not really doing too much.
    As soon as I’m inside of my car I lock the doors and start it. I remember to check my phone to see if Jade has texted me yet about where we’re going to meet up.
    Jade: Hey girl, wanna meet at The Coffee Studio?
    Me: Sounds good, it will take me about half an hour or so to get there though.
    Jade: That’s fine. I’ll busy myself with some window shopping or something.
    I start my journey into the city hoping to not see the large SUV again. The traffic is a bit heavier as I enter Chicago but I don’t see the SUV anywhere. Maybe I am just being paranoid.
    I drive around looking for a place to park near the coffee shop so I won’t have to walk too far. I find something that’s about a block away. I shut my car off and throw my phone into my purse, as I have my hand on the door handle, ready to open it, my eye catches something across the street , about half a block behind me. I see it in my side view mirror first, and then turn my head to look again. Sure enough, a large SUV is sitting there, the same color as the other one I had seen. Dark blue. I get out of the car and lock it, I walk towards the coffee shop and then I get an idea. I stop and pull out my iPhone, I click on the camera app and hit the button that reverses the camera so I’m looking at myself. What I’m really trying to look at is the SUV behind me. I snap a couple of pictures just in case, they may be blurry, but I don’t care. When I’m still looking at my phone, which to anyone else may look like I’m texting somebody or looking up directions or something, I notice one of them move their arms out of the window, something dark is in his hands, it’s a camera. A nice, large camera, similar to the one I use when I’m out on one