“No,” he said firmly, and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Oh, come on. It’s just a few hundred miles.”
“It’s over seven hundred miles, and I refuse to chauffeur a man who stole my car.”
“It’s partly my car, and I say he can ride in my half,” I snapped, getting annoyed. Why couldn’t Dixon see that this was the right thing to do?
His jaw worked for a second, but he said nothing.
The cop waved the zip tie around. “I arrest or not?”
“Not,” I said, my eyes still on Dixon. He looked quietly furious. “We’re taking him to Moscow.”
Dixon turned around and got into the car behind the steering wheel. I told Vitale, who was looking miserable, that we were going to drive him to Moscow, but that he needed to behave himself and stop stealing cars. After thanking the policeman, he hurried around to the passenger seat.
To my surprise, rather than pull out and turn around, Dixon headed in the direction the car was pointed—away from Izhevsk. “What are you doing?” I asked him.
“You wanted to drive to Moscow—that’s what we’re doing,” he answered grimly. “We’ll try to make Kazan by midmorning, then go on to Novgorod.”
“But we’ve been driving all day.” I looked at my watch. “It’s almost ten. I thought you were tired?”
“Iamtired, but I’m not going to give our friend back there another chance to steal the car. Since you insist on bringing him along, we’ll drive all night, taking turns sleeping. You go first.”
“What about Tabby and Sam? You can’t just drive off without telling them we’re not going to the hotel.”
“At this point, I don’t particularly care about being filmed.”
“Roger will have a fit if he hears about that,” I murmured.
“I don’t care.” He relented after a moment, adding, “Sam and Tabby can catch up to us in Moscow. We’ll be too exhausted to go on without proper rest.”
I hurriedly texted Tabby.
August 5
To: Tabby
We’re going to Moscow.
August 5
From: Tabby
The fuck you are! That’s at least two days’ driving!
August 5
To: Tabby
Dixon doesn’t want to give Vitale another chance at taking the car. I think I may have broken him.
August 5
From: Tabby
Vitale?
August 5
