A taxi driver’s life takes a chilling turn when an odd couple, an older man and his beautiful young wife, hail his cab. On the way, the woman discreetly slips him a note: “He’s a monster. Please save me.” The cabbie decides to help her and steps into a nightmare he could’ve never imagined.
Pablo was a young taxi driver. One rainy night, he was working late when a couple got into his taxi. The man told him to drive to “402 Riverview Lane,” while the woman, looking worried, stayed quiet.
Pablo tried to make things lighter by starting a chat. He looked at them in the mirror and asked, “Have you been together long?”
The man smirked and said, “Quite a while,” as he looked kindly at the woman he called Sapphire.
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Pablo shared a bit about his life, like his move to America, his hard work, and his hopes for the future. Sapphire listened closely, unlike the man, who didn’t seem to care.
Suddenly, Sapphire yelled, “Stop, please!” She needed to use the bathroom at a gas station close by. When she came back, she sneakily gave Pablo a note and some money.
Pablo read the note quietly.
It was a cry for help: “He’s dangerous. I need your help. My husband, Michael, is out of control. Help me escape, and you can have the cash and whatever’s in his safe. $100,000.”
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Pablo’s mind raced as he held the note. The idea of $100,000 was tempting, a way to clear his debts and finally catch a break. But could it be a setup? A prank by the rich? The fear in Sapphire’s eyes seemed real, though.
As the rain drummed on the car roof, Pablo wrestled with his decision. When they arrived at a sprawling house, the couple stepped out. As they reached their house gate, Sapphire hurried back to the cab under the pretense of forgetting her purse.
“I’m trapped. He won’t let me go. Gloria, the maid, has a spare key,” she said urgently, pretending she was getting her purse from the backseat. “I’ll disable the home alarms. Tomorrow. I can’t wait.”
“Why not call the cops?” Pablo asked, confused.
She looked back, worried. “He knows people. I’d be in trouble,” she begged.
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Feeling terrible for her, Pablo decided to help. “Okay, I’ll do my best,” he promised as she hurried to her scary husband.
The next day, Pablo parked near their house. He saw Gloria, the maid, in the yard. As she reached for a watering can, she accidentally spilled water on her jacket.
He watched her as she took her jacket off and draped it over a nearby tree branch. When she went inside after watering the plants, Pablo got the opportunity he was waiting for. He got his hands on her jacket and luckily, he found the key!
Without wasting a second, Pablo plucked the key off the chain and obtained its impression on a soap before quietly slipping it back into Gloria’s jacket.
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That night, Pablo returned with the makeshift key, fueled by a mix of greed and a desire to help Sapphire. His plan was clear: “Get the money, then find Sapphire and leave.”
Inside, he tiptoed to the master bedroom, where he assumed the safe would be. His heart sank as he swung the safe door open to find it empty, the sudden blare of an alarm sending him into a panic.
This isn’t how it was supposed to go, he thought frantically, remembering Sapphire’s assurance that the alarm would be disabled.
The noise echoed in his ears as Pablo ran through the mansion, looking for an exit. “Sapphire, where are you?” he called out, feeling betrayed.
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Breathing heavily, he stumbled upon a back door and burst into the night, the wail of police sirens hauntingly close. “I shouldn’t have trusted her,” he thought as he escaped.
Seeking refuge, Pablo drove to a low-key motel on the outskirts, aiming to lay low. “Just need a room for the night,” he told the night clerk at the desk.
Alone in his room, Pablo’s mind raced. Why, Sapphire? Why would you do this to me? Why disappear and leave me in trouble?
Pablo knew the cops were looking for him. He couldn’t afford to stay in the motel for long. Unable to sleep, he decided to leave town at dawn to get away from the trouble.
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In the motel’s dim kitchen the next morning, he was having breakfast when he saw his face on the morning news. The news reporter called him a burglary suspect. “No way,” he whispered, realizing he was in deep trouble.
An old man nearby laughed, pointing at the TV. “You’ve got yourself a look-alike, huh?” he said, looking at Pablo.
Pablo forced a weak smile, playing along, “Yeah, seems like it.”
Feeling boxed in, Pablo decided he needed a breath of fresh air and some time to think. He left the motel and went for a walk. The cops are onto me. What do I do now? he wondered. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.
He decided to change his appearance and headed to a nearby store. There, he picked out some eyeliner, a hat, and sunglasses. “Going for a makeover?” the cashier asked.
“Yeah, something like that,” he replied as he paid.
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With his new disguise, Pablo felt somewhat invisible. He returned to the motel and quickly packed, ready to leave. But just as he got into his car, he found another note. Again, in Sapphire’s handwriting.
“Pablo, my dear friend,” the note began. “You might think you can escape, but you’re kidding yourself. I’ve got eyes on you, thanks to a little GPS I hid in your car. You’re still caught in my trap. But hey, I’ve got a deal for you…”
Pablo couldn’t help but swear under his breath. “Friend? More like a chess piece,” he muttered to himself. “What do you want now? Just back off, will you?”
“Just give up, Pablo. Turn yourself in, and I promise it won’t be for nothing. I’ve got connections and cash. I can make sure your jail time is a breeze,” the note finished.
Pablo was seething. No way he was going to play her game.
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He drove out to a lonely spot, doused his car in gasoline, and set his vehicle on fire. “For Sapphire, Pablo is now dead, at least for a while!” he muttered to himself.
After calling 911 about the fire, he got a ride back to the city with a kind truck driver. But Pablo knew he couldn’t keep running. The cops wouldn’t find a body, and Sapphire would soon learn the truth. It was time to trap her in her game.
So he went straight to the cops with Sapphire’s notes. “These will show you what Sapphire’s up to. I was just her tool,” he explained to the officer as he told him everything.
The officer took the notes and got the ball rolling on finding Sapphire. “You’re not off the hook yet. Turning yourself in with evidence doesn’t absolve you of involvement. We’ll need more to clear your name fully. Until then, you’re under our custody,” the officer told Pablo.
After two long days, Pablo got the news he’d been waiting for. In a small, sterile visiting room at the police station, he came face-to-face with Sapphire, now in handcuffs. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” Pablo said, a hint of irony in his voice.
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Sapphire shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Pablo, this… this isn’t how I wanted things to go,” she stammered.
“So, what was the plan? Use me, and then what? We both get caught?”
“I had it all planned out. I just didn’t think you’d catch on,” she confessed. “My ‘kidnapping’ was supposed to be a distraction, a way to pin everything on YOU. I was supposed to live a good life, but you ruined everything! When I watched news flashes of your car crash, I thought you… I thought you were dead. I knew I couldn’t keep up with my act for long.
“Michael was never supposed to know I loved his money and not him. That old fool thought I married him for love. I would’ve long finished him off and inherited everything had he not told me I wouldn’t get a dime after his death, and everything would go to a charity trust.
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“So I had to think of a way to rob him while he was alive and still be a saint in his eyes… I needed someone to take the blame for me. And that’s when I found you—a desperate taxi driver yearning to live his dreams.”
Pablo shook his head. “You understated me and the law. Just remember this: the truth always comes out. I escaped that mess and gave all your notes to the police.” He paused. “You had your game. Turns out, I had a better one.”
Sapphire was staying in a hotel and wanted to frame Pablo for her kidnapping. She thought Pablo would never approach the cops after his failed attempt to rob her mansion. But fate had different plans.
Seeing the look of victory on Pablo’s face only angered Sapphire further. “You may have won, but you’ll never find where I hid the money!” she grumbled.
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Pablo just smiled and answered, “Doesn’t matter. I’m free, and you? You’re finished. And the police? They found your hidden money.”
As Pablo walked away, he saw Michael storming in, fury written all over his face. He was about to give Sapphire a piece of his mind. Pablo couldn’t help but feel a sense of justice as he left the station. Sapphire was finally going to face the music for her actions, and Pablo? He was just happy to put this whole ordeal behind him.
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