Shadow Woman A Novel Page 0,82

seconds from landing on his ass.

“Yes I am,” she replied, seizing the opportunity he’d just given her.

“Mothers of … no, wait … Desnit … nesigda … drivers.”

“You’re exactly right,” she said firmly. “I’m with Mothers of Designated Drivers, and we really should go so I can get back here and help someone else, later tonight.”

He gave her that sweet smile again. “Okay.” Then he handed her the keys—with a remote, thank goodness—and waited.

“Good decision,” she said, and hit the unlock button on the remote. Lights flashed on a car close to the end of the line.

“Hey, that was smart,” he said as she took his arm and led him to his car. He leaned so heavily on her, stumbling, that she began weighing the odds they’d both end up sprawled on the pavement. If he went down, he’d take her with him.

But they made it. She propped him against the car, a white compact, foreign made but common enough to blend in on the interstate.

“What’s your name, honey?” she asked as she opened the back door for him. He all but fell inside and lay down on the seat, twisting to fit into the small space.

“Sean,” he said. He added his last name, but mangled it so much it actually sounded like “subwoofer.” The odds were almost a hundred percent against that, but she didn’t care about his last name so she didn’t ask for clarification.

“Nice car, Sean.” She tossed her bag onto the front passenger-seat floorboard and adjusted the seat and the mirrors. “You keep it so clean.”

“It’s my sister’s car.” He giggled; a weird sound coming from a semi-grown man. “I’m not supposed to drive it, but her car is a lot nicer than mine, and she’s out of town so she’ll never know.” Then he made an exaggerated shushing sound.

“I won’t tell, I promise. It’ll be our little secret. Now, you take a nap while I drive you home.”

“Okay,” he said agreeably, and then he went silent.

Lizzy pulled out of the parking lot and turned in the opposite direction of the motel. What was X doing? Surely by now he had at least tried to start his motorcycle.

“Good luck with that,” she muttered.

“What?” Sean asked from the backseat.

“Nothing, sweetie, you just take a little nap. We’ll be there in no time.”

He was so far gone he hadn’t even thought to give her his address. Apparently a volunteer for Mothers of Designated Drivers was supposed to have psychic powers for divining addresses.

Within minutes, Sean was snoring. He’d probably sleep for hours, if she let him. She could just drive, with him sleeping off his drunk in the backseat. But if she did that, he’d be more sober when he woke up and therefore more difficult to deal with. Not only that, his location would be a direction pointer for the people searching for her.

X had found her easily enough before. She didn’t want to do anything to help them.

How were they doing it? She was tempted to toss everything she hadn’t bought at the drugstore that afternoon out the window. Anything she had that she’d owned before could have a tracker on it. The most likely culprit was the cell phone, even though it was in pieces. It was a constant, the one thing she always had with her. She didn’t see how they could have gotten to it; she hadn’t left it anywhere … unless someone had broken into her house while she was sleeping.

Oh God, that so freaked her out just thinking about it. She should just throw the damn thing out the window.

But not yet. There had to be a better way, a way that would confound them and cost them valuable time. And just because the cell was the most likely item didn’t mean she could just assume that was the means they were using.

Lizzy drove west on I-66, her mind spinning as the miles passed. Thinking about the cell phone made her think about the people she called. That was a very short list: Diana. It was a sad testament to the past three years of her life that she didn’t have anyone to call but one friend. And she didn’t dare call her, not with that damn phone.

Wait. Sean would have a phone, right? Everyone had a cell phone, these days.

She’d gone far enough. Lizzy took the next exit and pulled into the parking lot of a closed service station. Stopping at the side of the building, near the back, she got