“It worked for a few moments.”
“Long enough for us to get away.”
He sighed. “You mean, with a power assist from a bookcase and a display table.”
“We’ll get better at it. Maybe you have a particular talent for putting ideas into people’s heads.”
“I don’t think I’ll put it on a job application.”
She winced. “I wish we could get out of town and hole up somewhere to practice mental skills.”
“We can’t hole up somewhere. We have to stay here and figure out what’s going on. And clear our names.”
“You’re right,” she said, nodding. “I guess it was just wishful thinking.”
She laid her hand over his as they drove, the contact comforting and at the same time unsettling.
She could hear him mentally running through possible scenarios and discarding them.
Let’s try the cards,she said.We went to a lot of trouble to get them.
Yeah. We’ll check into another motel, not the one we chose last time.
Because she needed a little separation, she pulled her hand away and leaned back, closing her eyes as he drove.
“You need to dye your hair,” he suddenly said after they’d ridden in silence for a few miles.
“I guess so.”
“And I should shave my head.”
“No! That will look awful.”
He laughed. “You care?”
“You’re my handsome devil of a wheeler dealer.”
“Okay. I’ll stick with the hat. And change the look of my clothing. You, too.”
She nodded. When he came to a discount department store, he slowed and pulled into the parking lot.
“We’ll go in separately. And take as little time as possible. I’ll get some plaid shirts and jeans.”
“Not your style.”
“Like I said.” He gave her a considering look. “Stay down while I’m gone.”
She slouched into her seat, thinking that being on the run wasn’t great for her back.
Jake returned in under fifteen minutes. In his new clothes he looked nothing like the successful businessman he was and more like a good ol’ boy. He tossed a bag in the backseat, then after getting in, he handed her some cash.
She might have protested, but he put his hand on her arm, silently telling her that what he had was hers, too. Which meant what for the future? She might have asked, but she knew neither one of them wanted to look too far ahead.
Before they could get into a mental discussion that was going to make them both uncomfortable, she got out andheaded for the store. In the women’s department, she bought jeans, a jeans jacket, and a couple of tops. As she changed in the ladies dressing room, she tried to keep her mind in neutral. But the reason for the shopping trip came slamming back at her when she went to the health and beauty aids department. She’d never thought of dying her hair before, and when she started reading the directions, all the steps she’d have to take to go blond made her stomach knot.
When she got back to the car, Jake put his hand on her arm.
“Couldn’t bring yourself to dye your hair?” he asked though she knew he’d read the answer in her thoughts.
