The SEAL—Peter—was sitting forward slightly, watching.
“We’re okay,” Shayla told him.
“No, we’re not,” he said as that first car in line started signaling and then made a right on red. “Goddamnit.”
And just like that, the maroon sedan turned, too.
The two cars and the van directly in front of Shay’s car pulled forward but then sat there, essentially locking them in place just a few short yards from the driveway to that corner gas station.
“Shit!” She hit her horn, but of course no one moved.
Do it.Harry’s voice was back in her head, absolute in his conviction.Come on, Shay. Go! Trust me, you don’t want to have to watch while a Navy SEAL weeps. They’re known both for acting rashly and for crying like babies, you know, at the least little thing—
“Don’t be an idiot.” Oops, she’d said that aloud, and now said Navy SEAL was looking at her questioningly. “Don’t,” she repeated, saving her crazy, talking-to-invisible-friends ass by returning to their previous conversation. “You really need to let Maddie’s mother know what’s going on.”
Meanwhile, Harry was talking over her.Do it, he said again.There’re no pedestrians. Do it, Shay, or you’ll lose them!
“All right, all right, I’m doing this!” Therewereno pedestrians in sight, so Shay wrenched her steering wheel toward the sidewalk and hit the gas. Her little car was unhappy about the curb but it was rounded and worn so she finally humped up it and then carefully squeezed between a telephone pole and a row of hedges as the SEAL exhaled his appreciation and surprise.
But how well would it go, she wondered, when she informed the police officer who pulled her over that she only drove on the sidewalk because a fictional FBI agent had insisted that she should?
Not well,Harry agreed, even as the SEAL said, “You’ve got it! Go!Go!”
Her unorthodox move had brought them to the gas station’s entrance, and she now quickly zipped past the pumps to cut the corner and make the right turn to once againFollow that car.
It was in the left lane, and she quickly caught up with its ancient taillights. And then, sure enough, they both slowed as the maroon sedan signaled to turn left into the shopping mall’s main parking garage.
Don’t lose them now,Harry said, again in near unison with the SEAL’s “You got this!”
And Shayla did have it. She practically piggybacked the sedan as she also took that left with a squeal of tires. Again, the SEAL chuckled at the blaring horn from the oncoming car that she’d deftly cut off. His hands were up over his face, pressing his forehead as if he had a bad headache. But Shay knew he was hiding in case her noisy turn had caught the attention of the maroon car’s occupants.
Stay with them,Harry ordered—a far easier task now, since the speed bumps in the garage kept the ancient sedan well under the posted limit. She followed it past the firstLEVEL FULLsign and down a ramp.
The parking places in this garage were tight, as was the case in most city malls in coastal California. Tight and hard to come by. If this were the Natick Mall back in her beloved Massachusetts, the maroon sedan would’ve already found a spot. But the next level was also full, so they just kept slowly going downward.
Which was exactly where she didn’t want to be in earthquake-prone California. In the sub-sub-subbasement of a six-story building. Yay! Still, a missing teenaged daughter trumped her earthquake fears, hands down.
Courage doesn’t mean you’re not afraid—it’s acting in spite of your fear.
Thanks, Hare. “So, how are we doing this, Lieutenant?” Shayla asked briskly. “They park, I block them in? You get out and knock on the window?Hello, is my daughter in there?”
“Peter,” the SEAL said as they went down yet another freaking level. Finally there was noFULLsign, but there were still no nearby spots. “Wow, I don’t know. And, yeah, that’s smart, but…This could get ugly. You know. Loud? Maybe you should just drop me and go.”
Shay’s heart sank as she looked at him, trying to figure out if he really was merely attempting to spare her the drama—or if there was something going on that he didn’t want her to see.
Everyone was hidingsomething, but some secrets were darker than others. Shay had learnedthatlesson a little too well.
Still, she kept her voice light. “And later find out that you’re really a serial killer whom I’ve helped stalk his latest victims?” She followed the maroon sedan slowly past the bank of elevators, where there were still no empty spaces. “I don’t think so.”
The SEAL gave her a look that screamedAre you freaking kidding me?It was pretty clear that this was an officer-to-enlisted look—and no doubt one that had served him well in the past. She, however, was not, nor had she ever been, in the U.S. Navy.
So it bounced off her as she gazed back at him. “I’m a writer, and I’ve written a lot of serial killer books.” It was a good excuse. Easier to use than the truth, which was that she’d seen just how shitty some people could be—even to those they professed to love. Yeah, he seemed like a nice guy. But monsters often hid beneathnice. And she’d known him what, now? All of twenty minutes?
“I’m not just going to drop you,” she continued. “I’ve come this far, I might as well drive you and Maddie home. Especially since we’re all going in the same direction.”
“I’m not going to hit her or hurt her or do whatever other kind of violence you might be imagining,” the SEAL said, seeing through her words to the reality of why she wasn’t going to just leave him there.
I like him even more now, Harry declared.He could’ve played along, but he didn’t. That’s impressive. You have my permission to have sex with him.
