“Oh, crap,” Annie said. “I meant to pay. I keep forgetting I have money again.”
“I doubt the bus driver could have broken a hundred. Also, keep it down about having money.”
“What? Why?” Annie said, glancing behind them. “Oh.”
A group of young men sat some ten seats back. Each took up an entire double seat, legs wide and shoulders slouching in a kind of aggressive casualness. The one closest to them had been staring at them since they climbed in. A couple of blocks passed, and Gwen thought they might be able to get through this ride without being bothered, but then she heard it: kissing sounds.
“Hey, ladies!” one of them called. “Why don’t you come back here and sit with us?”
“Yeah,” another said. “I got an empty lap.”
Gwen felt Annie tense next to her and gripped her hand. “Don’t say anything,” she whispered.
“Hey, blondie!” one of them shouted, a little louder now. “What are you doing with that weird-looking bitch?”
“You’d have more fun with us!” another called.
“Maybe we should get off here,” Annie said as the bus slowed down to let someone on.
Gwen shook her head. “No. Not far enough. If we ignore them, we should be okay. The bus driver will stop them from doing anything.”
“He will?”
Gwen nodded, not really believing this. The driver might caution them, but he wouldn’t be able to do much unless or until they tried something—neither was a good scenario. She changed the subject.
“Can you tell where the bus is going?”
Annie squinted out the window and nodded. “Yes. If we stay on this road, we’re heading north.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Tom’s job is this way, so we’re going the right way—the right direction, anyway. The truck depot is somewhere on the north end of town, at any rate. I’ll have to find the actual address somehow.”
Almost as if saying it had jinxed them, at the next intersection, the bus made a right turn. Annie was peering outside to get her bearings, and she sagged a moment later. “Damn it. We’re going the wrong way—east, I think. We need to go west and north.”
Gwen pulled the little cord above the windows, and the bus started to slow. In the reflection in the glass, she saw the young men stand up with them but didn’t turn around. She maneuvered herself between Annie and them and followed her to the exit door. Annie seemed oblivious to the drama taking place behind her. She got out of the bus and stared up and down the street, not paying attention.
Gwen, however, planted herself on the bottom step and stared up at the man in front of the others. He met her eyes, and she heard him mutter an ethnic slur about her under his breath. His smug grin disappeared when she pulled the gun out of her pocket a little. He backed up so fast he bumped into the guy behind him, and she left the bus right when they started swearing and swinging at each other. They would probably be kicked off a block or two down, so she and Annie needed to get off the street as soon as possible.
Annie was still peering around, then shook her head at Gwen. “I have no idea where we are. I didn’t see the street sign when we turned, and I don’t think I ever went down this way.”
Spotting a little diner across the street, Gwen pointed. “Let’s go in there and call a cab. Maybe they have a phone book we can use.”
This time of the evening, after the dinner rush but before the post-bar crawl, the diner was almost empty. Someone in the back called for them to choose their own seats, and Gwen led Annie to a little two-person booth farthest from the windows, making her sit with her back to the street. The table hadn’t been cleaned since the last patrons, a cigarette butt still smoldering in the ashtray and a couple of used coffee mugs sitting in wet, brown rings. Gwen pushed both to the edge of the table, disgusted.
“God, I’m starving,” Annie said.
“Me, too. Do you think we have enough time to eat?”
“Tom’s job shouldn’t be more than ten or fifteen minutes from here. What time is it now?”
“Almost nine.”
“Something quick, then.”
The waiter—a pallid, scrawny, college-aged kid—appeared, his uniform and hair depressingly greasy. Still, Gwen knew she needed some food, hygiene be damned.
“Egg sandwich with cheese,” she told him. “And coffee, please.”
“The same, but with fries and a Coke. And a side of ranch, please,” Annie said.
“Is there a phone here?” Gwen asked him.
The kid pointed with his pencil to a little hallway nearby.
“I’ll go get the address and call a cab,” Annie said, standing up. She hesitated. “Can I borrow thirty-five cents? I still don’t have any change.”
Gwen dug around in her pocket and fished one out.
“Thanks.”
Gwen watched the street, waiting for the dickheads on the bus to appear, but they didn’t show up outside or across the street. She relaxed a little, starting to feel more than a little foolish. It had been stupid to flash her gun at them like that—too memorable, too obvious. If they saw her picture on the news, they’d remember her. Like leaving the fingerprints in the car, she’d been careless, impulsive. She needed to stop being stupid, or they’d be caught—it was that simple. Part of her anger-management therapy had focused on her impulsive behavior. She was slipping.
She turned around and watched Annie flipping through the phone book. Annie opened her purse and took out a little notebook and pen, writing something down. Then she flipped around some more and picked up the phone. Despite her proximity, the ambient noise of the diner was loud enough to drown out her conversation, and Gwen felt uneasy. Annie could be calling anyone, talking to anyone, and she wouldn’t know.
“Stop it,” she said aloud, making herself turn back toward the street. She didn’t have any reason to distrust Annie now, not after their near escape. They’d been through a lot together in the last few hours, and she felt like they’d turned a corner. And yet…Gwen couldn’t stop thinking about that woman on the phone in the motel—the one that told Annie to kill her. If Annie was mixed up with people like that, who was to say she wouldn’t turn on her when it suited her?
What did Gwen know about her, anyway? She was smart and pretty, yes, and her accent was sexy as hell—Gwen would never deny her attraction to her. She was halfway convinced that Annie was attracted to her, too. That lovey-dovey charade back at the bar had been a little too easy, a little too normal for her. And, of course, she’d taken her to a gay bar, for God’s sake, so the likelihood was pretty high she was gay or bi, too. Still, Gwen didn’t want to let any of those possibilities blind her to reality. This woman was a convicted felon and friends with killers. Annie hadn’t denied her involvement in the crime, which, while nonviolent, apparently involved violent people.
Annie sat down, and her eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“Sorry—little jumpy.”
“S’okay. I think I found the address. I was there one time, so I should recognize it. So many of those trucking companies have similar names, but they’re all next to each other. We should be able to find the right one, even if I got the name wrong. The cab will be here in half an hour. That should give us enough time to eat and get over there before Tom shows up for his shift.”
“Good idea.”
The food was delivered, and Gwen dove into her sandwich at once, the yolk dripping out and running down her fingers. She was done before it felt like she’d even started. She watched Annie sock away her much-larger meal, amused, once again, by how quickly and messily she ate. The waiter reappeared as Annie stuffed in the last fry.
“Anything else?” he asked, his tone as washed out as his uniform.
“Slice of cherry pie, if you have it. And the check.”
He slouched away, head down, shoulders dropped, to put in the order.
“You really like your fries and pie,” Gwen said.
“And ranch dressing,” Annie said, grinning. “I could go swimming in the stuff. We didn’t get it on the inside, not once. Not even with the sad pieces of lettuce they called salad.” Her face sobered, her eyes distant. “Funny, the things you miss when you can’t have them. Even bad pie is better than no pie. My sister—” Her mouth almost snapped closed.
“What about your sister?”
She focused on Gwen, her eyes welling with tears, and shook her head. “Sorry. I don’t want to talk about her.”
So, Gwen thought, the distrust was on both sides. Still, she didn’t really blame her. She wouldn’t have trusted herself, either, if they’d met under any circumstances, let alone like this. She didn’t look like a trustworthy person, dressed like this or any other way. Hell, maybe she wasn’t. Attraction or not, she’d betray Annie the moment she had to, so she couldn’t expect anything different.
Annie ate the pie in three bites, but it took a manager to break the hundred-dollar bill she insisted on using to pay. Gwen was aware once again that they were being too noticeable, too recognizable and memorable to blend in. She would have to convince Annie to stop using her money or get it exchanged somehow. Otherwise, they’d leave a trail behind them even the laziest policeman could follow.
They stood outside in the now-chilly evening air, waiting for the cab. Annie’s arms were crossed over her chest as she shivered, and Gwen was tempted to offer her jacket. Gallant as the gesture might be, that would put her at a disadvantage. She had nowhere else to store her gun, nowhere handy, anyway. She could put it back in her bag, but she wouldn’t be able to get to it quickly if Annie should decide to pull one on her.
“Christ, it’s cold,” Annie said.
“Shouldn’t be long, now.”
“I hope so. I don’t know what we’ll do if we miss Tom before he goes in.”
“So this Tom…” Gwen said, unable to stop herself. “Is he an old boyfriend?”
Annie laughed. “Tom? No. He’s not. Just an old friend.”
Some doubt must have shown on Gwen’s face, as Annie smiled and touched her arm. “Really—we’re friends. He’s the one I went to that bar with. Before, I mean. I went with him for support.”
Gwen met her eyes. “Yours or his?”
Despite the dim light leaking out from the diner, Annie’s face colored, and she looked away, not responding.
You idiot, Gwen thought. Nice and subtle. She was about to apologize, but the cab appeared, pulling into the empty parking space in front of them. They got inside, Annie gave the driver the address, and they sat in what felt to Gwen like an awkward silence for the entire trip.
Maybe this was better. The camaraderie they’d built since leaving the motel could only be temporary. They had planned, after all, to get the money, skip town, and part ways. The first part of this scheme was moot, but once they finally made it past the police barricades, they’d probably never see each other again. In the meantime, they had no reason to be friendly—it complicated things.
Already, Gwen was going to have to figure out how to clean up this mess. By now, the police had her fingerprints, and if they managed to track their movements for the last couple of hours, they’d know she was with Annie and certainly not a hostage anymore. There was probably video surveillance of them at this point, from the bus, if nowhere else. It would take a lot of work to undo today’s fuckup, if that was even possible.
Annie asked the cab to drop them off a block from the trucking company Tom worked at. She recognized the logo, so they were in the right place. As they approached on foot, Gwen was tempted to wave the cab back down and leave Annie here. After all, while the police very likely had her fingerprints, they wouldn’t have a recent photograph, so she might be able to slip out of town without any problems. She was about to do just that, when Annie smiled at her. The chance passed without regret as the cab drove away.
“He’s going to be so pissed at me,” Annie said, still smiling.
“And that’s funny?”
She nodded, almost eagerly. “Yes. You’ll see why.”
The building was enormous—several blocks, if Gwen had to guess—with thirty or forty trucks with trailers at the loading docks. Several empty truck cabs were parked in a large lot nearby. Annie led them toward a car lot, pointing at a set of industrial-sized garbage bins at the far end.
“Let’s wait behind those. I don’t know how many people start when he does, so who knows how many will be around.”
“What’s the plan? Are you going to walk up to him? What if someone’s around when he shows up?”
Annie frowned. “I’ll point him out, and you can bring him over here.”
It was tight, but they found enough space behind the garbage bins to crouch, and Gwen had to breathe through her mouth to keep from gagging. The ground here was sticky with some kind of runoff and littered with bits of debris, various wrappers, and black, rotten chunks of something that stuck to her boots.
Annie was peering around the edge of the bin, and after about five minutes of eager anticipation, she started shifting from foot to foot. Gwen could tell from her profile that she was becoming anxious. What if he didn’t show? They had no way to get back to town.
“Oh, thank God,” she finally said.
“You see him?”
“His car’s pulling in now, and I think he’s alone. No one else is in the lot. Still, it would probably be safer for you to go out there and get him in case someone shows up.”
“Do you think anyone’s following him? The police, I mean?”
Annie turned frightened eyes on her. “Shit. I didn’t think of that.”
“We’ll have to risk it,” Gwen said, struggling up from her the balls of her feet. She inched around Annie and hurried to Tom’s car. By the time she reached it, he was still inside fiddling with something on the passenger-side seat, not seeing her, so she had a second to observe him. He was younger than she’d expected—younger than Annie, it seemed, and handsome. He had a cleanly shaved face and square, Buddy Holly–type glasses. He glanced up and froze, hands on the steering wheel. Gwen lifted a hand and waved, smiling and trying to seem friendly. He climbed out of his car, his face dark and threatening. Standing up, he was incredibly tall—well over six foot and scarecrow thin.
“Uh, hi,” Gwen said. Her voice almost squeaked.
“Who the fuck are you? Get the hell away from my car.”
Gwen took an involuntary step back. “Uh, I’m here with your friend. Your…childhood friend.”
“What? Who?”
“Jesus, Tom!” Annie yelled from across the lot. “She’s here with me! Get over here!”
Tom started running that way at once, brushing past Gwen without another glance, and she could barely keep up. Annie had come around the side of the trash can, and they launched themselves at each other, Tom scooping Annie into his arms and twirling her around, crushed to his chest. Annie screeched, laughing and giggling when he set her back down.
“Holy shit, Annie! I saw you on the news all day and could barely believe it. What the hell are you doing here?”
Annie’s expression sobered. “I need your help, Tom. We have to get out of town.”
At the “we,” Tom looked at Gwen, frowning. “Who the hell are you?”
Again, Gwen couldn’t help but distance herself from him and took a step back, hands up.
“This is Gwen, Tom,” Annie said. “Be nice. She helped me out today.”
Tom’s face cleared, and he stepped toward her, hand extended. “Sorry. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” His hand enveloped hers like a blanket, and she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.
“Hell, Annie,” he said, moving back to her and hugging her under one arm. “I still can’t believe it. I never thought I’d see you on the outside again.”
“I never thought I’d get out.”
“When did you plan this escape? You never mentioned it to me.” He seemed almost hurt.
Annie shook her head. “I couldn’t, Tom. You couldn’t be involved. I wouldn’t even be here now, but I didn’t have any other choice. You’re my last hope.”
“Well, shit, Annie. Of course I’ll help you. What do you need? Money? A place to crash? Anything.”
“Like I said, we need to get out of town. The police are after us. I don’t know how much longer we can hide.”
“Do you need my car?” he asked, digging in his pocket. “I got the keys right here. Just let me know where you leave it.”
Annie folded her hands around his fist. “No, Tom. It won’t work. They have police barricades up all over town, and more of them outside of town. We were hoping you could…well smuggle us out. In your truck.”
He reacted as if slapped, his head jerking back. He rubbed his mouth with his giant hand. “Oh.”
Annie grabbed his arms, peering up into his face. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I didn’t have any other ideas.”
He stared down at her for a long time, his expression troubled and twisting on itself. He bit his lip and shook his head. “Gee, Annie. I don’t know if I can do it.”
Annie let go of him and took a step back, her features crumpling.
“It’s not that I don’t want to. I just don’t know how we’d do it and get away with it. Everything gets checked and triple-checked before they close the door to the trailer. Something like ten guys are involved. I don’t know how I’d get you in there. I don’t think it’s possible. Someone would spot you.”
“I see.” Annie’s voice was quiet, choked.
“I’m sorry. Here—take my car keys, at least. I can always claim you stole it. Maybe you can find a way out of town after all.”
Annie didn’t take them, so Gwen held out her hand. Tom gave her a weak smile, and she grasped them. He stepped close to her and, almost under his breath, said, “Take care of her for me.”
He turned back to Annie and gave her a tight hug. “Sorry about this, champ. You need any money?”
She shook her head, wiping her eyes. “No. But thanks. We’ll be okay.”
“Call me when you get somewhere safe.”
“I will.”
He started walking back across the lot toward the main door, but Gwen was watching Annie, who was obviously trying not to cry. She was overtired and upset but seemed more heartbroken than anything. She’d pinned her hopes on this.
Gwen thought of something. “Hey, Tom?”
He spun back.
“What about the cab? Does anyone check that?”
He slapped his forehead, groaning. “Jesus! Of course!” He ran back to them, pulling out another set of keys. “The little one on here’s for the sleeper. No one checks that. Leave the keys on the driver’s seat for me once you’re in.” He frowned. “You’ll have to be careful, though. A few people are usually checking out their trucks, getting their stuff together, that kind of thing, but you should be able to sneak in if you’re careful. It’s kind of tight, but two little girls like you should fit in okay.” He looked back and forth at them. “Close the little curtain between the seats. I’ll be in and out a couple of times before we’re on the road, so stay quiet if you hear me. I’ll say your names when it’s safe. You might try to get some sleep. There should still be some snacks and water in there, too, from last week. Nothing healthy or anything—jerky, chips, that kind of thing. Help yourself.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Tom,” Annie said, hugging him.
“Wait till we get somewhere before you thank me. You could still be caught.”
“Well, thanks for trying, anyway, no matter what happens.”
“Jesus!” Tom said, after glancing at his watch. “I gotta go. My boss is gonna have a conniption fit already.”
“How will we know what truck it is?” Gwen asked.
He laughed. “Annie knows. See you soon.”