herself-and he couldn’t get it up.
Something was definitely wrong with one of them, and past experience told her she wasn’t the one with the problem. However, her activity seemed to be producing some kind of a cumulative effect on Alfred. His panting grew louder and faster. Finally he had what could only be described as a climax, with deep moans and muscle spasms in his stomach, although Penny couldn’t have given a physiological explanation for what actually happened.
She lay on her back, hoping that her job was done. Alfred rolled onto his side and placed his hand on her navel. His movements were lethargic. Within three minutes, he was snoring. It had worked. She felt relieved.
Now was her chance to get away. Since his hand was resting on her stomach, she didn’t move for another five minutes, hoping that he would fall into a deep sleep. Then she cautiously started to inch away from him. He groaned and closed his fingers on the flesh of her stomach. Damn. She stopped moving, and his hand relaxed.
Another ten minutes went by. She tried again. He reacted the same way. This was going to be harder than she thought. She would wait another ten minutes. She found herself drifting off. She was exhausted. She tried to focus on escaping, but she felt strangely languid. The events of the day and evening had tired her out. The last thought she had was that she should try moving again.
CHAPTER 29
If he hadn’t parked near the entrance to one of the campgrounds he had been searching and slept for several hours in the VW, Gary was certain he would have driven off the road and wrecked the car and himself. He was weaving back and forth before he stopped and had completely lost his concentration. He argued with himself about whether he would be deserting Penny by stopping but came to the conclusion that killing himself would be a much worse form of desertion.
His search had been fruitless. Barring the possibility that he had missed finding the campsite of Penny and Alfred, a possibility that nagged him continually, they hadn’t stopped at a campground north of Bodega Bay. Perhaps Alfred had driven straight to Los Angeles on Route 101. If so, how could he stay awake? He certainly couldn’t trust Penny to drive. In fact, he would have to keep her restrained at all times, because she would not be a passive captive. Her students called her Miss Tiger with good reason.
They might have stayed at a campground along 101 instead of 1, or in a cheap motel, or…? Or simply gone beyond Bodega Bay before stopping. There were too many possibilities. How did he ever think he could find them? He had been looking for a couple of minnows in the ocean. Searching had helped to lift his spirits for awhile, but as he became more and more tired, he became more and more depressed.
The rising sun woke Gary. He drove the few miles to Bodega Bay and pulled into the parking lot of a cafe advertising breakfast, determined to call the Highway Patrol, refuel himself and the car, and rethink his plan. He hoped the police were having better luck than he was. If not, he couldn’t bear to think of the consequences.
The first thing Alfred saw when he opened his eyes was the profile of Penny’s head a few inches from him. He couldn’t think of a more beautiful sight with which to greet the day. He would like to draw her, but he couldn’t do that at the moment. There would be plenty of time to draw pictures of Penny in the years to come.
He remembered how wonderful Penny had been last night-and how understanding. This was even better than his dream of their lives together. Now he was convinced he had done the right thing. She had been so good to him that he must be winning her over.
With a light heart he got out of bed, careful not to wake her, put on his clothes, and went outside to light the stove for coffee and breakfast. This was one of the happiest mornings of his life.
The sound of the sliding door opening woke Penny. She lay still with her eyes closed, listening to the sounds of Alfred getting the stove and food out of the camper, not wanting to see her surroundings. When the noises faded, she opened her eyes out of necessity.
The first thing she saw was the raised roof of the camper over her head. The camper was her prison and the reality of that came to her. She wasn’t free to leave the camper, or at least go very far from it, while Alfred was awake. She had blown any chance she had of escaping last night. She couldn’t let that happen again.
In addition, she had a bad taste in her mouth. It was partly from not brushing her teeth last night. But it was more than that. The memories of what had happened in this bed came rushing back. She had always considered herself a moral person, a step above some other people she knew. Last night’s events had disproved that.
She had done things no good girl would do. It’s true that she and Alfred hadn’t technically had sex, but whores didn’t always have sex with their clients either. They fulfilled their clients’ needs in return for compensation. That’s exactly what she had done-fulfilled Alfred’s needs in return for him not doing something worse to her. She was no better than a whore. If the situation arose again, she knew she would do the same thing.
As much as she wanted to close her eyes and make the present go away, she couldn’t do it. She had to escape; she had to get back to Gary. He must be out of his mind with fear and frustration. She couldn’t worry about her lost virtue. She would have a lifetime to do that. She got out of bed and pulled on her slacks and sweater, wishing she had some deodorant at least, to give herself a goat bath, as they called it in college. Well, she would dab some of the cold water from the camper’s tank under her arms. A comb would be nice, too. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t do these things. Why should she try to look and smell good for Alfred?
Gary made his decision. The layout of Bodega Bay helped him. Route 1 was the main street through town. It was narrow, with sharp turns. Traffic moved slowly. If Penny and Alfred had stopped somewhere for the night north of here on Route 1, they would come through this bottleneck.
He found a good location at a right-angle turn to the left. He could watch each vehicle as it approached, and see the driver and front-seat passenger. He would look at the driver first, since Alfred might have Penny stashed in the backseat.
He parked his car a hundred feet away where the road had a shoulder, so that he could retrieve it and give chase in a minimum amount of time. He had called the Highway Patrol. They hadn’t come up with any leads. Alfred hadn’t shown up in Lomita, although it was probably too early for that to happen, even if he had driven most of the night. He hadn’t been spotted anywhere else, either.
Gary couldn’t think of anything better to do than wait for Penny and Alfred to pass. If this didn’t work, he didn’t know what he would do next. He had to find Penny. His life would be meaningless without her.
He took up his position, leaning against a guardrail designed to keep a driver who tried to navigate the curve too fast from ending up on the rocks in the bay behind him. He practiced looking through the windshield of each car that came by. It would work as long as his concentration didn’t waiver. He had to stand, which was a good thing. He would never get too comfortable.
If he spotted Penny or Alfred, he would try to get the license plate number of the vehicle. If he turned and looked at the rear of the vehicle after it passed him it should be going slowly enough so that he could read the plate. He practiced doing this when traffic was light. He had a pad and pencil available to write the information down. He had a thermos of coffee to help keep him awake, but he would drink it sparingly, because he wouldn’t move from this spot, even if he had to go to the bathroom.
CHAPTER 30
In contrast to her somber mood, Penny noticed that Alfred acted as if he were feeling very lighthearted this
