him. His sweet little innocent Carolyn needed him. He would take care of her. He would protect her and provide for her and in return she would honor him and obey him. She would be a dutiful wife.
But he had to find her, first.
Shame on her for moving and not filing a change of address notice with the DMV. Though of course, the problem could more likely be laid at the state's doorstep. Maybe she did file it and they were just being lazy asses getting everything processed. Yeah, now that he thought about it, it likely was the fault of some lazy file clerk.
Now that he had this room at a motel that offered free Wi-Fi, and a part-time job working under the table, sweeping up and cleaning at the bar across the street, he could hunker down and find his woman.
George sat on the bed with the computer on his lap and started working. He'd learned a lot from the course he'd taken in prison. And he'd learned a lot from talking to another inmate, and making contact with a friend of his online.
He wondered if Bubba had figured out yet that he'd lied when he'd promised to help him get out early in return for all the help that con had given him?
Bubba had told him that where there were records and agencies, there could be manipulation, and that good ol' boy had come up with a fine plan to work that particular kind of magic to his own advantage. Unfortunately for Bubba, since he'd been in prison for doing some of those very same things using a computer and the Internet, the authorities weren't letting him anywhere near modern technology.
A soft "ding" sounded and George quickly brought up his e-mail account. His heart started to pound when he realized that one of the little alerts he'd set up had just paid off. He hacked into the state's DMV database. A smile bloomed on his face as he read the file update just posted.
Scrambling for his pen and the miserly pad of paper supplied by the motel, he copied down the information.
Despite being excited to finally have a lead, he took the time to wipe out any trace of his incursion.
Once he was out of that system, he pulled up Everywhere Earth and began to search. He found the location straight off, though from what he could see from the satellite imagery, it didn't look like much of a town - barely a blip on the map.
He closed that and began a search trying to learn all he could about his woman's new location. There wasn't much online, just a few mentions here and there. The town had a website but again, he didn't learn a whole lot.
Of course what he needed to know he wouldn't find in any database or on any website. "Tell me, Carolyn, what the hell are you doing in a place called Lusty, Texas?"
George figured he'd have all of his questions answered soon. She probably hadn't been there for very long. He recalled how shy and withdrawn she was. He also knew how folks in small towns were. They doubtless looked at her as some sort of interloper. She likely had no friends, and sure as hell no one would care two bits about her. That, really, was perfect. She had been perfect. Perfect for him.
No one would give a shit for her, and while they wouldn't be very welcoming to him - another newcomer - they wouldn't give a rat's ass that he was in their midst. He'd shop at their general store, if they had one, eat at their restaurant, buy gas at their gas station, and that would likely be enough to get them to leave him be.
Small town, or large city, didn't matter. People were all for themselves anymore, and didn't care one damn about anyone else.
George nodded. All he had to do was map the location and do a little more research. Now that he knew where she was, he had a little time. George Lockwood, after all, no longer existed. He was George Smith, a man free and clear. George smiled. It would just be another few weeks, time enough to do some shopping, and some planning, and get it all set in his mind. No more going off on a tangent. Doing that had landed his ass in jail. He'd learned his lesson. He'd be a little patient, and then he would get his ass