her for more than she was ready to handle.
As they reached the stairway leading down to the parking lot, she heard the sound of his heavy leather boots behind her. She shoved down the handle of the bag to carry it down the stairs, but Ben nudged her aside and picked it up, carted it down to the parking lot and over to the Tahoe. He tossed both their bags into the back and closed the lid.
“I looked up El Paso on my iPad,” she said as she pulled open the passenger door. “It’s a little over four hundred miles from here.”
It was the town Duke Hutchins lived in, according to Ben’s friend Sol. It had taken two hours for Sol to locate the man whose legal name was Dennis Arthur Hutchins. Apparently, only his close friends called him Duke.
Ben had been pacing the floor of the motel room by the time Sol had called him back with the information they so desperately needed.
“It’s about a seven-hour trip,” Claire said. “I take it we’re driving, not flying.”
“We know Bridger’s headed for Louisiana, or at least that’s the way it looks. We need to stay hard on his tail, try to intercept him somewhere along the way, hopefully in El Paso. So yes, we’re driving.”
“According to Google Maps, we could shave off a few miles by heading back to Phoenix and cutting over on I-70.”
Ben fired up the engine. “Less traffic if we stay on I-10 and just keep going. I’ll make up the time.”
She remembered his Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride driving and figured indeed he would.
Instead of heading straight to the freeway, he drove a few blocks from the motel and pulled into a minimart next to the freeway on-ramp. “I need some more coffee. How about you?” They had finished the in-room coffee hours ago while Ben worked on his laptop, but had come up with nothing more on Duke Hutchins.
She yawned as she cracked open her door. “I could definitely use a cup.”
A heartbeat passed. He was eyeing her again, sure she was going to add a comment about how little sleep they’d gotten last night.
Not gonna happen, tough guy. They’d made a deal and she was sticking to it. She could deal with a single night of passion, handle the idea that they were adults and it was something both of them wanted, but she couldn’t afford to get in any deeper with Ben.
She didn’t say a word, but she couldn’t stop another yawn.
They went their separate ways inside the minimart, Claire scooping up a couple of breakfast bars, a carton of orange juice out of the refrigerator section, filling a big cup with coffee and adding cream. Walking up beside her, Ben looked down at the cocoa-colored brew in her cup.
“I thought you drank it black.”
“Not unless someone leaves me no choice.”
He muttered something and held up the paper bag in his hand. “They’ve got fresh doughnuts. I got a couple of extras in case you wanted one.”
She held up the breakfast bars. “These are healthier. I got an extra one for you.”
They grabbed their goodies and headed for the register. Ben insisted on paying for all of it.
“You don’t have to keep doing that. I can pay my own way.”
“Yeah, I remember—you’re a liberated woman.” His gaze ran over her in a way that made her think of last night and feel like blushing. Instead, she turned and headed for the car.
They ate on the road, finishing off their makeshift meals, then settling in for the long ride to El Paso.
“Have you ever been there?” Claire asked as the vehicle roared along, well over the speed limit.
“I’ve been to Juarez. That’s just across the Mexican border.”
“What were you doing there?”
“My job.”
He didn’t add more. He didn’t have to. He was a SEAL. Their work took them to every corner of the world. As they’d made love last night, she’d noticed a long puckered scar low on his back and another on his thigh. She knew he had left the SEALs because of an injury he’d received in the Philippines, and wanted to ask him about it. But last night was about pleasure and satisfying needs, not delving into the past.
“Juarez has been in the news a lot,” she said. “Thousands of people murdered in drug-related shootings. I’m glad Duke Hutchins lives on this side of the border.”
“I just hope Bridger’s there with Sam when we get there.”
She drained the last of the coffee in her