right. He is a stranger. And you know how I’ve warned you not to talk to strangers.”
“But you talked to him.”
“Only because I had no other choice,” Marie said.
“I think he’s nice. And his dog is real pretty,” the child said with a smile. “Maybe if I’m good, he’ll let me play with her.”
“Don’t count on it. We aren’t going to stay here one minute longer than we absolutely have to. As soon as our car is running again, we’re leaving.”
“Aw, Mama. I like it here.”
“Why?”
“I dunno. ’Cause everybody’s friendly?”
As Marie scanned the almost deserted street, looking for evidence of another nemesis, she saw nothing but a peaceful place of safety. It was future hidden dangers that she knew she must fear. If she allowed herself to be lulled into unquestioning acceptance of the rural Ozark town and didn’t remain alert, she’d be an easy target. And so would Patty. That must never happen.
The white truck cruised slowly along the stretch of highway that passed through Serenity. Its driver peered out the windshield. He didn’t know what could have happened to the Parnell woman. He’d been so sure he’d find her car broken down along the road because of the way he’d doctored her fuel tank that he hadn’t felt it was necessary to actually keep her in sight. Now it looked as if he’d miscalculated.
Not that he wouldn’t eventually pick up her trail again, he told himself. He’d better. His partners did not take kindly to failure.
There was a lot more at stake here than just lives, too, he added. Roy had made off with enough money to make anybody drool. Even if he hadn’t passed the cash to his old girlfriend for safekeeping, they figured to use the kid as a bargaining tool. Old Roy didn’t have much that he cared about except his little girl. Once they got their hands on her, they knew he’d reveal where he’d hidden the ransom money.
The driver smiled to himself. And then they’d kill him. With pleasure.
Seth delivered his passengers to the redbrick, Hilltop Motel, followed them into the small, sparsely furnished lobby and lingered near the front desk to see if the woman produced a credit card. She didn’t.
The clerk looked concerned. “I’m sorry, ma’am. We prefer you pay by charge card.”
“All I have is cash,” Marie said. “Surely, you don’t mind taking real money.”
“Well, I don’t know. Most people…”
Seth spoke up. “It’s okay, Clarence. We have her car down at the station. She’s not going anywhere till it’s fixed. And I promise to give you time to count the towels before I let her leave town.”
“If you say so, that’s good enough for me,” the clerk replied with a smile. He programmed a key card and handed it to Marie. “Your room is around back, by the pool. Ground floor. I trust that’s satisfactory.”
She nodded and managed to return his grin. “That will be fine, thanks.”
“Can I hug the dog goodbye?” Patty asked her.
“That’s up to Mr. Whitfield.”
“How about we both walk you to your door?” Seth suggested. “I need to deliver your suitcases for you, anyway.”
He could tell by the reluctance in the woman’s movements that she wasn’t keen on letting him help, so he gave her no options. As soon as they left the office, he whistled to his dog and swung the heavy bags out of the back of the truck.
Marie was crouching to join her daughter in petting the joyful border collie when she suddenly froze in that position.
Seth followed her line of sight to the street. There was nothing about the passing traffic that he saw as threatening, but the woman sure seemed to.
He paused. “Are you okay?”
“Fine. Fine,” she answered, grabbing the child’s hand and hurrying her around the side of the motel building.
Babe bounded along beside her new playmate and Seth followed. As soon as Marie had unlocked the door, the dog ran into the room ahead of everyone, much to Patty’s delight.
“Look, Mama! She wants to stay and play with me.”
“Well, she can’t.” Marie practically yanked her bag from Seth’s grip. “Thank you for your help.”
He bowed slightly and smiled, placing Patty’s smaller suitcase at the foot of the closest bed before backing toward the open door. “My pleasure. C’mon, Babe. I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.”
When the door slammed behind him, he was certain he heard the deadbolt click into place, too. Something had sure spooked Marie, although he had no idea what.
Sauntering back to his truck, he motioned to the dog to jump in ahead of him, then scanned the street as he pulled out of the driveway. There were more pickups passing than there were cars, which was normal for a place like Serenity. A slow delivery van was partially blocking traffic halfway up the block. The driver was probably lost, which was not unusual either, since so many of the outlying streets were unmarked, dirt roads.
When Seth had eased up even with the idling van, he leaned across his truck seat, past Babe, to peer at the driver. “Can I help you?”
The man’s “No” was followed by a curse that caused Seth to recoil. Folks in the South were so well known for their amiability that this kind of response stood out like a red flag. If the stranger truly was an innocent delivery man, there was no earthly reason why he should act so inhospitably.
Pulling ahead and back into the line of traffic, Seth raced for the service station. He wasn’t sure that any of this pertained to Marie, but he wasn’t about to take the chance that it might. Something had frightened her when she’d stared at the street a few minutes ago, and as far as he could tell, there were no strangers in the area except the foul-mouthed guy in the delivery truck.
Therefore, Seth was going to do all he could to hide her car from prying eyes until he found out exactly what was going on.
And he was going to find out.
One way or another.
Marie was beside herself. She immediately drew the heavy, maroon drapes together and peeked through a thin slit where they met in the center of the motel room window.
Had the van’s driver spied her? She didn’t think so. But what about her car? Although it was parked inside the repair shop for the present, Seth would probably move it out of the way until he was able to get the necessary replacement parts. If he did so, the man in the white van would surely spot it. And then it would only be a matter of time before Roy’s enemies were able to track her down.
Hands trembling, she picked up the thin local phone book and looked up the number of the garage. She didn’t want to involve Seth in her problems but saw no alternative.
The
