Jimmy was making the drive from NYC to the casino in Connecticut late one night when things got weird. Although the sky seemed clear of clouds, he realized he couldn't see any stars.
Suddenly the road lit up with a tremendously bright blue light. Jimmy had no idea where it had come from, but it was right above his car, traveling in tandem with him at 75 miles per hour. He tried slowing down and speeding up, but nothing he could do would escape the hovering light above him. It was obvious that whatever it was, it was tracking his car. "Is it a helicopter?" he thought outloud. He pressed the window-down button, hoping to hear the familiar sound of rotating blades. Instead he heard a whilrwind sound of churning air so loud that it began to whistle as it rushed into his face. He grew dizzy.
The blinking triangle on his dashboard indicated his hazard lights were on, and the sun was just barely on the horizon when Jimmy realized that his car was on the side of the highway in the breakdown the lane. The trooper's first question, speaking to him through the completely rolled-down driver-side window, "Have you been drinking, sir?"
He rubbed away the crust in his eyes. "No, I uh. No, I hadn't been drinking? What time is it?" The car was in the off position and the digital display was blank.
"Almost 6. Where were you going?"
"I'm going to the casino."
"Were."
"Excuse me?"
"You were going to the casino. What time were you headed there?"
"Uh, I guess it was like 3:30 and I was driving along this highway."
"And you fell asleep at the wheel?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess. Wait, no! I was driving and there was this bright light, and then I got really dizzy, and so I tried to..."
"So you had a medical emergency, and you pulled over? Why didn't you call 911? Do you have a cell phone with you?"
"Um, yes, of course. It's in the console right there."
"May I see it?"
"Um, wait, why? Can you do that?"
"That's up to you, sir. Right now I'm trying to decide how you're leaving here--in a squad car or an ambulance. That's your call. I want to see if you were drunk dialing, or texting. Were you going to the casino to get some pussy?"
"Take the phone," Jimmy stated.
"Thanks. And your license and registration."
"Oh, I haven't... I mean you didn't..."
"I know. Hand it over. Thanks. Now sit tight. Don't do anything stupid."
The state trooper walked away to an all black SUV with tinted windows that Jimmy now realized was parked behind him. A steady stream of cars began to pass by with more and more frequency as he waited. At first they would be almost 8 seconds apart, but then they became more frequent as he waited several minutes in his car. 6 seconds apart. Then 4, and 3, 2, and then it was pretty much constant. The commuters were on their way. The whole reason he left so late in the first place was to avoid them, but now it looked like he was getting arrested. "Is it illegal to pull over?" He asked himself. "What the fuck was that light? And how could I have fallen asleep for hours? Where'd that time go?"
Just then two more Black, tinted SUVs pulled over, one behind and another ahead of the two parked cars. The trooper got out of his car and waved at them before returning to Jimmy. "Shit," Jimmy said.
"OK, Mr. Pagliano, it seems your phone is locked."
"No, I unlocked it for you."
"I know, but it isn't responding. You can lock and unlock the screen, but otherwise it doesn't do anything . Look, the time reads 3:33. Weird. Here you go. And your license and registration. Listen, you seem alright. I don't think you were drinking. Who knows if you're on drugs, but you did the right thing, and you pulled over. I don't want to inconvenience you, and have you taken to the hospital, so these emergency responders are going to give you a field evaluation, and I'm just going to issue you a verbal warning to not drive when excessively tired. Good luck to you, sir."
As the trooper headed back the vehicle, two men in black suits emerged, one from each SUV, and both from the backseat respectively. They waved to the trooper who wasted no time leaving the scene. The first SUV drove off with its sirens honking and lights flashing, and the trailing SUV pulled forward. The one in front started inching backward until both vehicles lightly, and eerily finessed him into a pinch. The electric locks on his door popped open on all 4 doors, and one of the suited men opened the front passenger door. His gun was drawn on Jimmy Pagliano, who sat their in a frozen panic.
"Don't move, sir," the other suited man said, his gun drawn on Jimmy through the driver-side window. "Give him the phone." The goon took it. "We're not going to be able to completely evaluate you here. You're going to have to come with us."
"The fuck I will! Who the fuck are you? The trooper let me off with a warning."
Just then a tow truck arrived on the scene.
"We're not the cops. Now unbuckle your seat belt, and slowly open the door." The silent goon pressed gun against Jimmy Pagliano's shoulder, and that's when he shit himself. "What the fuck! You always do that! What do I always tell you--Never actually make them shit themselves. He's riding in your SUV now. Tell your boss it's your fault. Take him."
The goon grabbed hold of Mr. Pagliano and pulled him cruelly from the vehicle, dragging slender man's legs against the gearshift and dropping him out onto the ground. Jimmy Pagliano didn't give any fight. He let the man pick him up off the ground. He offered no resistance, other than trying to be limp when the goon threw him into the back of the SUV. It wasn't until that goon slammed shut close the door, which his foot hadn't cleared. His toes were crushed inside his loafer, and that scream was the last statement anyone ever heard from Jimmy Pagliano, chess club captain 1997. The goon gave him a mean charllie horse in his thigh, too, but heroically, Jimmy Pagliano, Director of Technology and father of 3 children he never really got to see anyway, didn't outwardly react to the cheap shot. The door shut on Dr. Jimmy Pagliano, and no one at the Conference on Technological Medical Innovations would ever hear about his radical, yet potentially revolutionary breakthrough in cancer research.
