She looked down at her bare feet. “I know, goofy, right?”
“Nothing wrong with goofy from where I’m standing. Looks pretty damn beautiful, in fact.”
Two minutes later, after she had watched Kettler drive off in his Jeep, Pine collapsed on her bed.
Pretty damn beautiful, huh?
She kept catching herself smiling as she relived the time spent with Kettler. But then the reality of what lay ahead took over, and her smile faded.
What were the odds that she would finally find someone she enjoyed being with, only to have her job pop up between them like, well, like the Grand Canyon?
And that’s what you signed up for, Atlee, when you put on the badge.
She got up the next morning at seven a.m., picked up the phone, and called Carol Blum.
“I’ll meet you at the office in an hour.”
“I’ll be there. You’re right — before you start your vacation, we might as well take some time to get all your old case files in order.”
“Roger that.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to hike and camp at Mount Nebo in Utah. Need to clear my head. I’ve got all my stuff. I’m leaving from the office to drive there. Be gone a couple weeks. Flagstaff is covering for me. I’ve fixed it all up. The office is officially closed while I’m out. So you’re getting some time off, too.”
“Well, then I’m going to see my daughter in Los Angeles. I’ve got a new grandbaby I haven’t spoiled yet.”
Pine put on her sunglasses, drove to her office, parked in the underground garage, and took the stairs to the elevator.
Blum was there ahead of her. With coffee.
At eight that night, the garage door went up and Pine’s black SUV pulled out, turned right, and headed to the highway north. Blum’s Prius was right behind her. It drove off in the opposite direction.
Two SUVs started up. One followed Pine’s truck, and the other tailed Blum’s Prius.
At midnight, the garage door opened once more.
The 1967 Mustang drove out, its top and windows up.
Pine was at the wheel. Blum rode shotgun. Pine was dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved cotton shirt, and a windbreaker. Blum had changed from her skirt, jacket, and pumps into slacks, flats, and a light blue sweater.
They’d each drawn a bunch of cash out of their bank accounts, because credit and debit cards would not be an option now.
Another car was back in the garage with the custom cover for the Mustang over it.
Pine turned left and headed to State Route 89, taking it south.
The pair had “officially” just gone rogue.
Chapter 25
“You’re sure they can’t trace the car?” asked Blum as they got on Interstate 40 heading east.
“I brought it here in the middle of the night when I moved to Shattered Rock. I put it in the office garage and I only drive it at night, and even then it’s been a handful of times since I’ve been here. That’s why I kept the trickle charger on it, otherwise the battery would be dead.”
“But they could trace the tags.”
“If they do, it won’t come back showing me as the owner, because I never had it retitled in my name.”
“Why?”
“Because the man who owned it should still own it, except he happened to die. As far as the law is concerned, he still owns it.”
“How long will it take us?”
“It’s about twenty-two hundred miles. Thirty-three hours if we don’t stop.”
“I’m no spring chicken. We have to stop or else you’ll need to reupholster.”
“My bladder’s not that big, either. But it’s Interstate 40 pretty much the whole way, and west of the Mississippi we can really fly. I figure two days. That is, if you drive, too.”
“That’s ambitious. But I’m game. Talking about flying, I suppose a plane was out of the question?”
“Credit cards, IDs. In the system. Yep, out of the question. That’s why we shouldn’t use anything other than cash. I have a debit card for emergencies, but it’s tied to a friend’s account, not mine. I’ll just pay my friend back if I have to use it. And to the extent we can, we don’t use our real names. Anything like that can trip us up. And we never unpack our stuff in case we have to leave some place in a hurry.”
“Understood. Where is your friend taking my Prius?”
“Far enough so that anyone trailing you will believe you’re going to LA. Don’t worry, he’ll take good care of it.”
“And your truck?”
“I picked Mount Nebo for a reason. My friend who drove out in it is actually going to hike and camp there for the next two weeks. I doubt whoever’s following her will stick for the whole trip once they see where she’s going.”
“And your phone?”
“In the truck. In case they’re tracking it, I’m in Utah for the foreseeable future. I put yours in the Prius. I have a bunch of burner phones for us to use. They’re in my bag behind your seat. And I loaded my contact list on each one, along with the digital sketch of the fake Ben Priest.”
“Can’t they trace the purchase of burner phones and then track the SIM card?”
“They could if I had bought them. I didn’t. Someone did it for me, as a favor. And this was about six months ago.”
“Before you even knew we would be doing this?”
“I like to prepare for pretty much anything, and being able to go off grid at any time but still communicate is a necessity.” Pine glanced over at her companion. “We need to be on our A game, okay? We’re playing in the big leagues.”
“I knew that as soon as I joined the FBI.” Blum checked her watch. “It’s nearly one in the morning. Are you good to drive?”
“I slept on the floor in my office for eight hours. I’m good until at least Oklahoma City.”
“Isn’t that far away?”
“About thirteen hours pedal to the metal. We can stop for a late lunch.”
“I’m impressed with your stamina.”
“I drove from the East Coast in this car to Utah in two and a half days. I only stopped to use the bathroom, catnap in parking lots, and I ate on the road.” Pine patted the car’s dash. “There’s just something about this ride. You want to keep driving.”
As they drove along Pine said, “You don’t believe that this Jordan and Kinkaid found a secret cave in the Canyon full of Egyptian artifacts?”
“No.”
“Did your father?”
Blum took her time answering. “I think my father wanted to believe it. He went down there enough times looking for it. Never found it, of course.”
“Even with a helpful j and k carved over the front door?”
Blum smiled. “My father spent his whole life working a job he hated. What he really wanted to be was an adventurer, you know, sort of like Indiana Jones.”
“Is he still alive?”
“No, neither of my parents are. How about you?”
“My mother’s still around.”
“Where does she live?”
“You better get some sleep so you’re ready to take over when I’m burned out.”
Pine drove on.
They ate barbeque for lunch in Oklahoma City. Then Blum, who had slept most of the way and was perfectly fresh, took over the wheel, while Pine put the passenger seat back as far as it would go, stretched out her long legs, and immediately fell asleep.
Blum drove with only brief stops to use the restroom and to stretch her legs, and once to doze in a parking lot for an hour. As they neared Nashville, she pulled off at another rest stop and nudged Pine awake.
“Bathroom break,” said Blum. “And tag you’re it on the driving. I’m beat.”
Pine nodded. It was pitch-black now, though the crack of dawn was only a few hours away. The rest area only had one operating light, and it was a feeble one at that. At this hour, there were no other vehicles here.