Marli let Trey explain who they wereand ask if there was somewhere private they could talk. Barry led them reluctantlyinto a small office.
"Yeah, he showed upyesterday," he confirmed, hands rubbing together. None of them elected tosit in the office chairs. His eyes darted between Trey and Marli. "Hescared the shit outta Teresa."
"Did he see the kids?"
"No. They were in school.Teresa told him to come back after supper, but she got the hell out of therebefore he came back."
"Where'd she go?"
Barry looked at them. "I'm nottelling you that."
Trey nodded. "Okay. Is shesafe?"
Barry nodded.
"Any idea where Barnes is now?Where he stayed last night?"
"Nope. No idea. I hope to hellhe left town."
Trey shot a glance at Marli. Damn.They knew he'd been there now, but this wasn't helping find him.
"Anything you think of, let meknow, okay?" Trey handed the other man a card. "We just want Teresato be safe."
Barry nodded, his mouth a thin,unhappy line, eyes shadowed. "Okay."
Back outside in the baking parkinglot, Trey and Marli paused.
"What now?" she asked him.
He said nothing, just stared hard,one hand on the frame of the car door. "Let's head back to the Fishers'neighborhood. If Sheldon's anywhere in El Paso, that's where he'll be."
"I could use a bathroom."
"Oh, sure. I need gas again.Keep an eye out for somewhere."
As they neared the Fisher home,Marli pointed out the Happy Pumper station, and Trey turned in, pulling up tothe self-serve gas pumps. "Go on in," he said curtly. "I'll fillup."
She went into the gas bar andconvenience store. Racks of junk food, soda and magazines crowded the smallspace. A couple of customers were paying for gas, chips and cigarettes. The gasstation attendant behind the counter looked barely old enough to be workingthere.
Marli spotted the sign for thebathroom and went down the short, narrow hall, carefully locking the doorbehind her. She turned up her nose as she looked around. Not the cleanestplace, but she had to pee, so it would have to do. She carefully lined the seatof the toilet with toilet paper before perching on it.
She scrubbed her hands clean andthen, thinking about maybe getting a coffee if it didn't look too bad, shewalked out of the restroom. A man came down the hall toward her, and sheglanced at him as she moved to her right to go around him. He looked familiar.Where did she know him from?
It was the bartender from CactusJack's. He'd been serving her Diet Cokes for the last few nights. What was hedoing here in El Paso?
Their gazes met hers and recognitionflashed in his eyes, too. Those eyes...
Oh. My. God.
Marli stared at him in shock andthen she saw it--the tattoo on his arm. A lasso.
Chapter18
The world froze around her and herlimbs felt heavy and stiff. With a fearful little squawk, she started to rushpast him, but he put out an arm and easily stopped her.
"Hey." His other arm camearound her and, to her horror, she saw he had a gun in it.
She started tremblinguncontrollably. "Trey!" she tried to cry out, but the man's arm cutacross her throat. It hurt, and all that came out was a hideous gurgle.
"Well, well, Marli,"Sheldon Barnes said, "I can't believe my luck. I'd just given up on you."
She reached up and clawed at the armsqueezing around her neck.
"No, no, don't," he said,waving the gun. "You'll get hurt."
A sweat broke out, dampening herforehead, stinging her underarms. Her stomach churned, the coffee and donutshe'd eaten earlier threatening to come back up. What on earth did he think hewas going to do to her? Frantic thoughts ran through her mind. There was no wayout except the front door. They had to go back into the store. There were otherpeople there. They'd see them. He couldn't do anything in plain sight of otherpeople.
Yes, he could, her nearly hystericalinner voice said.
Calm down, calm down, she chanted inher mind, her gaze bouncing wildly around.
Apparently, Sheldon had come to thesame conclusion she had. Either he was going to drag her into the bathroom andrape and murder her, or he was going to have to go out through the storesomehow. And Trey was out there.
Please, please, please, Trey, shesilently begged him. Save my life...one more time.
Maybe he heard her.
There he was. She could just see himwalking up to the counter, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket to pay forthe gas. The attendant said something to him.
Sheldon saw him, too, and he turnedand shoved her in front of him, back down the dingy hall. He pushed her intothe men's room, and she almost stumbled and fell on the grimy floor. She put ahand out and it flattened on the tile wall, cool and smooth.
She turned, shaking, lungs taking inshallow breaths.
Sheldon slammed the door shut andlocked it, then turned to her with the gun in his hand. It gleamed dully in theflickering fluorescent light.
Her body tight, she stared at himand blinked.
"What are you doing here,bitch?" he inquired conversationally. "Don't tell me you're lookingfor me." He grinned, and she almost vomited at the evil she saw. "Gotyou that hot for me, huh?"
He took two steps across the smallroom, and Marli moved, the porcelain of the urinal cold against her arm. Shecringed.
Sheldon grabbed a handful of herhair and tugged. "You pissed me off that night, you know?"
She shook her head, closed her eyes.She could smell him...a mixture of stale body odor and mint chewing gum. Sheswallowed, her throat constricted. What had she done to piss him off?
"Yeah. You did. You laughed atme." He yanked on her hair and her head jerked back and cracked againstthe tile wall.
