As Eloy drove away from Chloe’s mansion, he was pissed at himself. A few days ago, when he’d come to her house, he was so focused on getting her sketch of the Flair department store, he hadn’t paid much attention to where she lived.
Clearly, her parents had money. Lots of it. For the briefest moment he considered that maybe he should kidnap Chloe and try to get a ransom. But his survival instincts took over, and he knew he’d be lucky to escape from the trouble he was in without committing further crimes.
Looking at the clock on his dashboard, he had a few hours. He could use the time to return his props to the delivery guy and set up for phase two of his plan.
He sure hoped Chloe followed the directions in the pizza box.
The Oaks Motel was on Topanga Canyon Boulevard, very close to the street. It was almost midnight when she finally arrived.
He responded to her light knock by standing behind the door while opening it. He wanted to avoid any cameras that might record his face.
She hesitated but entered. Once inside, she frowned. “What are you doing? Answering that way is creepy.”
“I’m sorry, but we can’t afford to be seen together. I didn’t want some passer-by to see me.”
“Why in the world did you pick this dump? There were some sketchy people out front who looked like they could be whores and crackheads.”
“Listen, darlin’. They look like that because they are whores and crackheads. And I picked this spot because if the cops come asking around about us, the folks you saw will mind their business. They won’t be flapping their lips about a model-pretty young woman, and her dashing companion.” He gave her a car salesman’s smile.
“I don’t know how you can be so happy. The freaking FBI is involved!”
He went over to her and tried to rub her shoulders, but she shrugged away from his hands.
“You said the FBI was enhancing the video. They’ll identify me as driving, and they’ll come and arrest me.”
“Chloe, you need to relax.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You weren’t behind the wheel. But you were the one who steered my car into that cop. I’m not going to take the blame for that.”
“Keep your voice down. The walls are thin.” He was tired of her rant.
“If they improve that video, you realize you might be identified the same as me?” She paced the room, rubbing her temples from an apparent headache.
Suddenly, she stopped and dropped her hands to her sides. “We need to go to the police and confess. There’s no other way. One officer said to me that things would go easier if we told the truth, but if we’re caught in a lie, they’ll do everything they can to make us pay.”
Without even thinking, he marched over to her and grabbed her arms—hard. “What the fuck did you tell them? Why would they think you were lying? What did you say to them!”
“Let go! You’re hurting me.”
He pushed his face right into hers. “I’m not dickin’ around. What did you say to the cops?”
“I…I, um, was telling a young female cop that I felt guilty since it was my car that killed the officer. She must have taken it the wrong way because she started talking to me about her background investigation, and how someone gave her advice to not lie. She said if you tell the police the truth up front, it works out better for you. If they catch you lying, they’ll come after you big time.”
“You didn’t say anything about me?”
“Of course not.”
“So, you just talked about feeling guilty that your car was used?”
She nodded rapidly. “Yes. Yes. That’s all.”
He released her arms. “Okay. I guess we’re all right.” He brushed an errant strand of hair from her eyes. “Listen. I know what I said to you about the FBI and stuff, but the police are allowed to lie to us. They can make stuff up, and what they told me may not even be true.”
“But what if it is? What if they know who we are and what we’ve done?”
He tried to muster reassurance to his features. “Don’t you think that they’d realize that by now, and be knocking on the door at your parents’ house?” He grinned. “Hell, they would have my place surrounded or me in handcuffs.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Let’s get a few hours of sleep and then we’ll figure out our options.”