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CHAPTER 070

Alex took her son to an In-N-Out drive-in, and they had burgers and fries and strawberry shakes. It was now dark outside. She thought of calling Lynn again, but Lynn had sounded harried. She decided not to.

She paid for the burgers in cash. Then they drove to a Walston’s drugstore, one of those block-long places that had everything. She bought Jamie some underwear and a change of clothes; she did the same for herself. She bought a couple of toothbrushes and toothpaste.

She was heading toward the checkout when she saw the guns for sale, over by the cameras and watches. She went to look. Over the years, she had gone to shooting ranges with her father. She could handle a gun. She told Jamie to go look at the toy aisle, and she went to the gun rack.

“Help you?” It was a wimpy guy with a mustache.

“I’d like to see that Mossberg double-action.” She nodded to the wall.

“That’s our model 590, twelve-gauge, perfect for home defense. Got a special price this week only.”

She hefted it. “Okay, I’ll take it.”

“I’ll need an ID, and a deposit to hold it.”

“No,” she said, “I mean, I’ll buy it now.”

“Sorry, ma’am, ten-day waiting period in California.”

She handed the gun back. “I’ll think it over,” she said.

She returned to Jamie, bought the Spider-Man toy he was playing with, and walked out to the parking lot.

A man was standing at the back of her car, bending over the license plate. Writing the number down. He was an older guy, in some kind of uniform. He looked like a security guard from the store.

She thought:Run. Leave now.

But that didn’t make sense; she needed a car. It was time to think fast. She told Jamie to get in the car, and she walked to the back. “You know he’s a damn liar,” she said.

“Who’s that?” the guard said.

“My ex-husband. He pretends like this car is his, but it isn’t. He’s just harassing me. I got a court order to stop him, and I got a big judgment against the security guard at Wal-Mart.”

“How’s that?” he said.

“Don’t act dumb,” she said. “I know you got a call from him. He pretends to be an attorney, he pretends to be a bail bondsman, or a court agent, and he wants you to check if my car is in the lot. He says it’s some pending legal matter.”

“Well, yes-”

“He’s lying, and you’re now liable. Did he tell you I was an attorney?”

“No, he just-”

“Well, I am. And you’re an accessory to his breaking the court order. That makes you liable to damages. Invasion of privacy and harassment.” She took a pad from her purse. “Now your name is…” She squinted at the name tag, began to write.

“I don’t want any trouble, ma’am-”

“Then give me that sheet of paper you wrote my license on, and back off,” she said. “And when my husband calls again, you damn well tell him you never set eyes on me, or I’ll see you in court, and I promise you, you’ll be lucky if all you lose is your job.”

He nodded, gave her the paper. His hands were shaking. She got in the car and drove off.

As she pulled out of the parking lot, she thought, Maybe it will work. Then again, maybe not. Mostly she was stunned by how fast this bounty hunter had located her.

He no doubt had followed her own car north for a couple of hours, and then realized that she had switched cars with her assistant. He and his cohorts knew her assistant’s name, and they got her car registration. So now they knew the car Alex was driving.

Then Alex had used her credit card, and within minutes, the bounty hunter had known about it and fixed her position at a motel in San Juan Capistrano. Realizing that she’d need supplies, the hunter had probably called every convenience store within a five-mile radius of the motel, and gave a story to the security people. Be on the lookout for a white Toyota, license so-and-so.

And this guy found her.

Right away.

Unless she missed her bet, the bounty hunter was on his way to Capistrano right now. If he was driving, he would be there in three hours. But if he had access to a helicopter, he might be here already.

Already.

“Mom, can I watch TV when we go back to the motel?”

“Sure, honey.”

But, of course, they weren’t going back to the motel.

She parked around the corner from the motel. From her position, she could see the lobby, and the kid inside. He was talking on the phone, looking around as he did so.

She turned on her regular cell phone, and dialed the motel.

The kid put the other line on hold, and picked up.

“Best Western.”

“Yes, this is Mrs. Colson. I checked in earlier.”

“Yes, Mrs. Colson.”

It seemed to excite him. He looked around in all directions now, frantic.

“You put me in room 204.”

“Yes…”

“I think there’s someone in my room.”

“Mrs. Colson, I can’t imagine-”

“I want you to come here and open the door for me.”

“If it’s anybody, it’s probably the maid-”

“I think it’s a man.”

“Oh no, it couldn’t be-”

“Come here and open the door. Or do I have to call the police?”

“No, I’m sure…I’ll be right there.”

“Thank you.”

He switched to the other line, spoke quickly, and then left the lobby, running down toward the rooms at the back.

Alex got out of her car and sprinted across the street to the lobby. She moved in quickly, stepped behind the counter, picked up the shotgun, and walked out again. It was a sawed-off twelve-gauge Remington. Not her first choice, but it would do for now. She’d get shells later.

She got back in the car. “What’s the gun for?” Jamie said.

“Just in case,” she said. She drove off, turning onto Camino Real. Through her rearview mirror, she saw the kid coming back into the lobby, looking puzzled.

“I want to watch TV,” Jamie said.

“Not tonight,” she said. “Tonight we are going to have an adventure.”

“What kind of adventure?”

“You’ll see.”

She drove east, away from the lights, and into the darkness of the mountains.