to give you a hand. Right now, you’re stranded and Toby might be out there waiting for you. I don’t think you want to go walking off by yourself. Do you?”
Sherry turned her gaze toward the window. The broad, well-lighted pavement of Venice Boulevard reminded her of an airport runway—a runway in the middle of the night with no flights coming in or going out.
Leaves and litter hurried by, leaping and diving in the wind.
On the other side of the road, trees were shaking.
Toby’s car was nowhere to be seen.
She saw nobody on the sidewalks.
She met Jim’s eyes.
“I guess you’re still afraid of me,” he said.
“I don’t know you. That’s how I got in trouble with Toby. I mean, you seem like a really nice guy, but…how do I know you’re not some kind of maniac pretending to be a nice guy?”
He frowned as if giving deep thought to the matter. Then he said, “I suppose you can’t know for sure. You’ll just have to trust your own judgment.”
“My judgment hasn’t been so great lately. Not where men are involved.”
He suddenly grinned. “I’ve got just the solution.” Leaning sideways, he reached into a front pocket of his trousers. Sherry heard jingling sounds. Then his hand came out with a key ring. He unclipped a small, black plastic device and slid it across the table.
“What’re you doing?”
“That’s the remote for my car. Controls the alarm and door locks.”
“What am I supposed to do with it?”
He unclipped a key. “This is for the ignition.” He slid it over to her.
“Jim?”
“Take my car,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s just outside in the parking lot. A blue Saturn. Take it. I’ll walk home. It’s not that far.”
“Are you saying I can take your car without you?”
“Sure. Do whatever you need to do. I can get by without it for a while.”
“You’re not serious.”
“You can drop it off at my place when you’re done. My address is in the glove compartment.
“I can’t take your car.”
“I want you to.”
“Nobody lets a stranger drive off with his car. You don’t even know me. What if I decide to keep it?”
“You won’t,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“You’re not a thief.”
“You can tell by looking?”
He tipped his head to one side and squinted at her, his eyes twinkling. “I think so.”
“Tell you what,” Sherry said. She pushed the remote and ignition key back to his side of the table. “You drive.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Wait here,” Jim said. “I’ll check the parking lot and make sure the coast is clear.” He shoved open the door and went out into the night.
Sherry stayed just inside the Nacho Casa.
Jim returned in about fifteen seconds and opened the door for her. “No sign of him. Ready to go?”
“Ready.”
Hunched over and leaning into the wind, Jim hurried across the parking lot. Sherry followed him, holding her blouse shut with one hand, pinning her skirt down with the other. The hot wind blew against her. It hurled grains of debris that bit at her bare skin and raw wounds.
Jim stopped at a low, dark car. Ducking, he pulled open the passenger door. Sherry climbed in, and he shut the door. It closed with a quiet solid thud, sealing out the wind and grit and noise.
She reached for the seat belt, then stopped.
Let’s just leave it off, she thought. I might need to get out of here fast.
Not that I don’t trust him.
Jim dropped into the driver’s seat and shut his door. “Where to?” he asked.
“How about the Speed-D-Mart over on Robertson?”
Jim started the car. “What’s the main cross-street?”
“Airdrome.”
He backed out of the space, pulled forward to the lot’s exit, then turned right.
This has happened before, Sherry thought. It made her uneasy, even though she knew that a left turn onto Venice would’ve been illegal.
“It’s the other way,” she said.
“I know.”
“I realize you can’t go that way.”
“I could. If you don’t mind a few bumps.”
“That’s all right.”
At the first intersection, he turned right. This wasn’t the route Toby had used. Plus, they were now heading in the proper direction. Sherry felt some of her tension slip away.
“This is awfully nice of you,” she said.
“I like your company.”
“Lucky for me you were there.”
“I’m there most nights.”
“Why is that?” she asked. “I mean, if you want to tell me.”
“I’m a people person.”
A laugh jumped out of her.
Jim turned his head and smiled. “I don’t mean that the way you probably think.”
“You mean you’re not a ‘touchy-feely’ kind of guy?”
“Right. I just like to watch people. From a distance. So I go where they