you’re looking for?”
“ That’s her.”
“ She got in a car that was parked in front of Radio Shack.” Lila pointed. “Over there. Took off like a bat out of you know where. Maybe a minute, no less than a minute ago, just now.”
“ Kind of car?”
“ An SUV, smaller than the one you got, dark blue, I think, or maybe green.” She knew enough not to be too exact, witnesses who were telling the truth, never were.
“ What kind of SUV?”
“ Say again.”
“ Ford Explorer, Chevy Tahoe, American, Japanese, you know.”
“ No, I don’t. And I’m not trying to be smart. I don’t know cars. My brother’s an expert, me I know photography and art.”
“ You see which way she went?”
Lila pointed South.
The man picked up a mic. “She’s in an SUV, blue maybe green, going south, probably turned onto the freeway.” He turned toward Lila. “Thanks,” he said as the driver hit the gas.
“ Don’t mention it,” Lila said, but the man didn’t hear as they were already halfway across the parking lot, headed toward the street and a mythical woman they were never going to catch.
Izzy poked her head out the door. Saw two men in suits running down the hall, running toward reception. One of them collided into an aging black man, who had just rounded the corner into the hallway. The running suit pushed the black man aside, without even an apology.
The man fell, hit his head against the wall on his way down. Stunned, Izzy watched as the suits disappeared and the falling man thudded onto the carpeted floor.
Every fiber in her being said to get the gun, stuff it in her purse, call the dog, make for the back door and get the heck out of Dodge. But she was a doctor and there was a man down. She turned toward Hunter behind her.
“ Stay.” She closed the door, sprinted down the hall, dropped to her knees at the fallen man. She reached for a carotid to check his pulse, but rattlesnake quick he grabbed her wrist as he moaned, eyes only partially open. “You okay?” She wondered how he could be so fast and appear so out of it.
“ Dr. Eisenhower I presume,” he said, eyes wide open now.
“ Shit.” She tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong.
“ Easy, I’m here to help.” His voice was low, his speech slow, as if he were talking to a skittish animal.
“ I don’t-”
“ We don’t have time for excuses and lies.” He was still holding her in his granite grip. “This place is crawling with FBI agents. Lila Booth has drawn them off, but they’ll be back pretty quick.”
“ I-”
“ I’m going to let you go,” he said, cutting her off again. “You’ve got to get your keys and we’ve got to drive Lila’s car on outta here. We’ve got to do it now. Do you understand? Are we on the same page?”
“ I’ve got a dog.” She didn’t know why she’d said that.
“ Swell.” He let out a heavy sigh. “Next you’re going to tell me it’s a malamute.”
“ No. He’s a husky.”
“ Almost the same.” He released her wrist. “My name’s Black, Let’s get your dog and get gone.”
She got up from the floor without pain, something she wouldn’t have been able to do a few days ago. She saw him wince, thought about running, but she needed to get Hunter and her purse.
She decided to trust this old man and held out a hand. He grabbed it in a Viking grip and she pulled him to his feet.
“ Thanks.”
“ This way.” She headed back to her room, with the old man right behind. At the door, she remembered the way Hunter had attacked Shaffer. “Sometimes the dog isn’t very friendly.”
“ It’ll be okay, dogs like me.” And Hunter did like him, rubbing up against the big man like they were long lost friends. Scratching between the dog’s ears, Black said, “We’ll go out the back way.”
Izzy didn’t know why she trusted this man, but she did and it felt good, letting somebody else take charge. She sighed, “Right behind you.” She grabbed her things, “Come on, Hunter.”
Lila was at the garden entrance to the Fred Meyer’s store, she went in through the outside gate, passed a cashier, made her way into the store, found her way to the deli, then stopped herself.
“ What the F.” she said aloud. Without a weapon for only a few minutes and she felt naked, exposed and she didn’t like the feeling.
“ Can I help you?” a pleasant looking, freckle faced youth, who was working the deli said. His hair was almost tan, somewhere between brown and blond, like the color of the paper bags on the counter behind him.
“ Can I have one of those?” Lila pointed to the bags.
“ Sure.” The kid cashier handed one over.
“ Thanks, Ted,” Lila said, reading his name off his nametag.
“ No problem.”
“ Be back in a bit.” She took the bag, headed out the way she’d come. She started across the parking lot, to the garden store and the trashcan in front of the hardware store beyond. As she took the casual walk through the lot, stopping for a classic Ford Mustang, she looked around, saw no black FBI SUVs. A little part of her knew she was being stupid, going back, but a bigger part screamed at herself, “Get the gun!”
When the Mustang passed, she continued on, crossed the lot, passed the garden store, was at the trash can, pulled off the lid.
“ Hey, lady, what’cha doin’?” It was a girl, maybe eight, maybe nine.
“ Minding my own business, honey,” Lila said.
“ Leave the woman alone, Jane,” a young woman said, her mother probably.
Lila reached into the can, pulled out the coat and her holstered Glock.
“ Is that a gun?” Mom said.
“ Not a real one.” What a stupid thing to say. Of course she knew it was real.
“ What are you going to do with it?” The woman grabbed her child by the arm, pulled the girl close.
“ Ma’am, you should forget about this. It’s police business.” Lila stuffed the gun and duster into the paper bag, realizing she’d just contradicted herself, by saying something equally as stupid.
“ Whatever you say.” The woman, holding her child by the hand now, turned and left. Damn, if she had a cell, and who didn’t, she was going to be calling the cops, sure as shit. She needed to get back to the Fred Meyer store, needed to meet up with Black and hopefully Isadora Eisenhower and then they needed to get out of this town.
“ Keys.” Black held out his hand as they approached Lila Booth’s Ford. She handed them over and he unlocked the passenger door. She opened it and Hunter bounded into the car, jumped the seat and settled in the back. She got in as Black was opening the driver’s door.
“ Ready?” He started the car.
“ Yeah, where are we going?”
“ Not far, don’t know for sure after that.” He backed up like a man who was confident behind the wheel, shifted into drive and in about a minute pulled into the Fred Meyer parking lot, pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine.
“ We’re going shopping?” Izzy said.
“ No, I gotta go in and pick up Lila. I shoulda told her to wait near the front, but I didn’t. She’s at the deli.” He started to get out of the car.
“ I’m going with you.”
“ Not a good idea.”
“ I’m not waiting here.”
“ What about the dog?”
