“Yes, on your next trip Sandra and I must have you over for dinner. Keep in touch.”
“Sure, I’ll call when I get back to Albuquerque.”
Carl gave her a warm smile and turned. She watched him cross the deck and go inside the bar.
Dean took her hand. His palm was warm and comfortable. “Well, alone at last.”
Where had he gotten that line?
Caitlin started to pull her hand back, but part of her found the contact stimulating. A little male attention was nice.
“Tell me something,” he said.
“As long as it isn’t my weight or age.” Caitlin grinned.
He returned her smile. “Nothing as personal as that. I was wondering about you and your partner. I thought you were married, but I couldn’t help noticing that you don’t wear a ring.”
“We’re separated. Divorcing really, it’s final next week.”
“Ah, that’s too bad.”
Caitlin noticed his eyes seemed to brighten even as he gave her his regrets.
“I’m sorry to hear it. Will your divorce have any impact on your company?”
“No, not really. It’s an amicable divorce. We’re still friends. We formed Cutting Edge Technologies seven years ago, and neither of us wants to break up the business. In truth, business is so good that we’d be fools to break up the partnership.”
“That’s good.”
An irritating buzz came from her jacket.
She took out her phone, flipped it open, and held it to her ear. “Caitlin Maxwell.”
“Hi Caitlin, how’d the meeting go?”
“Scott? We’re just wrapping up. Everything looks fine. We’ll have the statement of work signed tomorrow, and I’ll bring the contract back with me. Where are you?”
“I’m just outside Los Alamos, on my way home. Any problems at that end?”
Caitlin smiled at Dean. “It’s my partner, Scott.”
Dean nodded. “Tell him everything’s in the bag. We’re very happy with the proposal.”
Caitlin raised the telephone to her mouth. “Dean says everything’s fine. They’re happy with the deal.”
“Good. Look, Caitlin, there’s something I should tell you. Can you get away from him and go secure?”
“I guess so.” To Dean she said, “Please excuse me for a moment.”
“Oh sure, no problem. I’ll get us another drink.”
She considered stopping him. She’d had enough to drink, but it did give her a moment of privacy.
“All right, Scott, I’m going secure.” Caitlin depressed the secure transmission switch. With the telephone back to her ear, Scott’s voice came through sharp and clear.
***
“Caitlin, you there?”
“Yes, Scott. What’s so important that I had to send a client off?”
“Don’t worry about him. His contract is small potatoes.”
They were finally coming out of the last curve. Scott noticed the truck had slowly picked up speed. The driver must have been emboldened by the sight of the straightaway. No matter, he’d probably slow again when they reached the next set of curves.
“What are you talking about? This contract is good for a quarter mil’ over the next three years.”
“Caitlin, I’ve been working a deal that’ll make us rich.”
“What kind of deal, Scott? You haven’t gone back to investing in startup companies?”
“That’s just like you to bring that up again.” How was he to know they hadn’t owned the patent to their main product?
Scott eased the accelerator down and pulled out. The road ahead was clear. He juiced the engine slowly. A nagging fear of ice on the roadway still bothered him. Abreast of the truck’s cab, he could see its dirty orange panels were unadorned, and the windows were tinted too dark to make out the driver.
The next curve was coming up fast. Scott took a quick look at his dash and was surprised to see he was doing nearly sixty.
“Tell me,” Caitlin said.
“All right, if you’ll give me a chance. There’s a risk involved, but I’ve taken care of–”
If he were going to get back in, he’d have to move fast. Scott pressed down on the throttle. The entire car shuddered as if struck.
“What the hell?” For an instant, he thought he’d had a blowout. Then the car rocked violently, and he gripped the wheel to keep it on the road. The truck had veered over the centerline and slammed into the side of his car.
“You son-of-a-bitch!”
“Scott? What’s the matter, Scott?”
Scott lifted his foot from the accelerator and braked, but the truck still pushed, pushed him toward the edge of the road, toward the precipice beyond. He cursed again and cut his own wheel back toward the right, but the truck’s greater mass moved him inexorably toward the edge.
This straight away was one of the few spots on the entire road without a guardrail. Scott could see the next curve and the start of the next guardrail. If he could just make it a little farther, he’d be safe.
“Scott? Scott!”
Who drove the truck? Why was he doing this? Scott looked to his left across the wide valley far below. If he didn’t get around the truck soon...
“Just a moment Caitlin. Some sonofabitch in a truck is trying to–”
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and stomped the throttle to the floor. The Taurus started to pull ahead of the truck. Sparks flew, and metal screamed piercingly. His bumper edged even with the truck’s.
Then his front door.
His back door.
Too late.
His bumper struck the buried end of the guardrail and rode up on the steel. Like a VSTOL jet launching from a carrier, the car launched into the sky. His racing engine slowed and then only the howl of the wind accompanied Scott on his long fall...
