"How the fuck did they figure this out?"
Andrew thought he was just blowing off steam, not really expecting an answer to his question. Then he felt the slap on the back of his head, hard enough to make him swerve and unexpected enough to make his stomach lurch.
"How?" Jared yelled again. "What did you do to tip them off?"
"Nothing," Andrew said, and suddenly his heart was pounding in his ears again. Was there any reasoning with a man who didn't need a reason to do what he was doing? Would he dump the car along with Andrew? "How could I do anything? I've been with you the whole time."
He needed to calm his own panic and not give in to Jared. He needed to think positive. He could use this turn of events to his advantage. He had to try. What did he have to lose? While Jared twisted around to watch out the back window, Andrew slipped his hand down to the bottom of the steering wheel. From there he could reach over and turn on his headlights. He should have thought of that sooner- anything to get someone, anyone to notice his car. Maybe the pickup driver back in Nebraska City had already called it in. Maybe they were tracking them or at least sending a cruiser to investigate. If he could buy some time-yes, that's what he needed to do. He needed to think.
"This could work to your advantage," Andrew said, trying with effort to keep his breathing steady. If only he could think. If only he could remember all his research and access it now when he needed it. He knew volumes about criminals and sociopaths. Couldn't he use his knowledge to his advantage? One thing he knew for certain, he had to sound as if he was on Jared's side.
"What are you talking about?" Jared was still twisting around in the back seat.
Andrew could see Melanie turn toward him, looking for the first time interested. Up until now she had barely acknowledged his presence.
"They're looking for this car, right?" Andrew continued. "I could be your decoy. Hell, I could drive all the way down to Kansas, maybe cut across Missouri. In the meantime, you could be headed in the opposite direction."
Silence.
Jared stopped fidgeting. Melanie shifted in her seat to look back at Jared. It took effort for Andrew to keep quiet, to not oversell his plan. He resisted the urge to glance in the rearview mirror. He couldn't look overly anxious. Jared had to think about how the plan benefited him. A true sociopath thought only in terms of "me." Andrew was counting on it.
Finally Jared sat forward, reached across the front seat and pointed. "See that farm up ahead. Pull off and head up there."
CHAPTER 41
11:00 a.m.
Melanie dropped her head back against the soft leather headrest and let out a sigh of relief. Finally Jared was listening to reason. For a brief second she wished she could stay in the car and drive off with Andrew Kane, never mind that it meant certain capture and arrest. She just wanted an end to all this madness.
After following the long driveway, Jared insisted Andrew pull up to the house. The gravel snapped and popped against the bottom of the car despite the Saab slowing to a crawl. Rainwater had filled the tire ruts and the smooth luxury ride turned into a bumpy carnival ride.
Charlie started whistling the theme song from "Green Acres," and Jared actually laughed before he told him to "shut the fuck up."
Melanie tried to ignore them. She admired the farmhouse, a big two-story home. When she was a little girl growing up in a smelly roach-infested apartment, she had dreamed about living in a house like this with a long porch, though she would never have told Jared. He would have laughed at her and told her to stop dreaming. The porch even had a swing, the kind you saw in the movies with people sitting out on summer nights, sipping lemonade. This was a house that said, "Come in, make yourself at home, stay awhile."
"How we gonna do this?" Charlie asked and Melanie could hear him already pulling his backpack from the floor.
"Everybody keep your mouths shut. I'll handle it. That goes for you, too, Mr. Ordinary Citizen."
Jared used the radio guy's term as if it were an insult. Or, Melanie wondered, did he want to remind Andrew that he wasn't a part of Jared's team? Not that it mattered; she couldn't help thinking there didn't seem to be any perks to being on Jared's team.
A farmer appeared from the side of the barn. He must have seen them coming up the driveway. He didn't look at all like Melanie expected. Instead of overalls and a flannel shirt he wore blue jeans and a pale yellow oxford button-down. Instead of a straw hat or feed cap, he had on a red baseball cap.
"Hey, look, Andrew-" Jared pointed "-he has on the same fucking cap you have on."
The farmer waved to them and started toward the car.
"Everybody fucking smile," Jared told them.
Melanie heard a rustling from the back and glanced around just in time to see Jared removing the gun from his waistband. Her stomach lurched. She wanted to scream at the farmer to stop.
"Jared, what the hell are you doing?"
"Just smile, Melanie, and relax. Charlie, you take this."
And he slid the gun over to her son who didn't hesitate in slipping it under his leg. "You stay with Andrew in the car. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere. Melanie, you and me need to use this guy's phone."
She didn't have time to figure out Jared's scheme. She was so relieved he wasn't going to use the gun that she didn't care what he asked her to do.
Jared pressed the button and the window slid down silently. It was too late for him to reprimand Andrew when he brought his window down, too.
"Morning," Jared said in a friendly tone that Melanie recognized as fake. "We're a bit lost. We're supposed to help a friend move, but we can't find his place. You mind if we use your phone to call him?"
"What's his name? I know just about everybody around here." The man stopped in between the two car windows, first glancing and nodding his head at Andrew, then turning to Jared.
"Actually, he just bought a place down here. We're helping him move in."
"That's odd. I don't know of any place that was up for sale. Know the name of the person he bought from?"
Melanie started twisting the hem of her blouse. This guy was screwing it all up. Why didn't he just let them use the fucking phone?
"Gosh," Jared said, "I really don't know. All I know is we were supposed to be there an hour ago. He's really gonna be pissed at us. You mind? I promise I'll make it short. Your wife won't mind, will she?"
"No, no. She's off having her hair done. Her girlfriend picks her up every Thursday, and they spend the morning in town."
"That's real nice that you let her do that."
"Let her?" The farmer laughed. "Son, if you think you have any control over what women do you're in for a mighty big surprise. They have minds of their own. Isn't that right, ma'am?" He bent down to look in at Melanie, and she smiled back at him, wanting to warn him not to fuck around with Jared.
"Come on in," he finally said, standing up straight and waving a hand for them to follow.
Jared didn't hesitate, opening the door and climbing out, but he turned to nod at Charlie and shoot Melanie a look of warning. She knew that look. It said, "Keep your mouth shut."
Inside the kitchen Melanie took in everything, from the cute little plaques of hand-painted vegetables to the cheery yellow and white-checkered curtains. She found herself wanting to sit down at the table with a cup of coffee. She wanted to stay awhile.
The farmer pointed out the phone on the counter to Jared. At some point, both Melanie and the farmer had missed seeing Jared grab a butcher knife from the wooden block on the counter. Suddenly he had the man by the collar, the knife to his throat, forcing him into a chair.
"Get something to tie him up, Mel."