Maybe both. In any event, Dave learned his lesson. He wouldn’t even try to take a guess at her age.
“This is Melissa,” Wayne said. “She’s the one who told me about your red pickup truck.”
Melissa looked at Dave and said, “It was a 1982 model. Maybe an ’83. Had an ’82 myself back in the day. Great truck. That’s why I remembered it.”
“How long ago was this?”
“I don’t know for sure. Best I can do is guess. Maybe a month. Maybe a bit more.”
“Was a little girl with them?”
“Yes. I had a chance to talk to her while the old couple was napping. I don’t remember her name. It started with a B, I think. She said they were trying to convince her she was their granddaughter, but she wasn’t. She said her daddy was coming for her.”
“Did she know where they were taking her?”
“Yes. She said to Atlanta.”
Chapter 45
Dave was stunned.
There hadn’t been too many times in his life when he was speechless. But this was one of them.
Melissa went on.
“I know what you’re thinking. I once had good friends who lived in Atlanta… back when I was alive, that is.
“I told her she must be mistaken. That Atlanta is way on the other side of the country. And that they were going in the wrong direction.
“But she insisted. She said the old woman told her that’s where they were headed. To some relative’s place in Atlanta.”
Dave found his tongue, but didn’t know how to respond.
He wanted to find fault in the woman’s story. To convince himself she was wrong about their destination.
But everything else she’d told him was spot on.
He’d never mentioned to Wayne the details of the truck. Or that Beth was traveling with an old man and an old woman.
He was trying to wrap his arms about what he’d just heard. But it would take some time. Right now his head was quite literally swimming.
He reached into his pocket and felt his last three gold coins.
He took two of them out and handed one each to Melissa and to Wayne.
“Is there anything else you remember?” he asked Melissa.
“No. I’m sorry. That’s it. I hope you find her. She was such a sweet little thing.”
“Thank you both for your help.”
They didn’t acknowledge his words, disappearing into the maze of tarps and tents instead.
Dave walked back over to Rebecca.
He wasn’t sure why, exactly, but he took the third gold coin from his pocket.
She smiled.
“Did you change your mind about wanting some affection?”
“No ma’am. I mean… no. I just want to contribute to your retirement fund, if you’ll let me.”
She eyed the coin, half with suspicion and half with appreciation.
“You’d like to give me a gold coin, without expecting anything in return?”
“It’s not such an odd concept, is it?”
“These days it is.”
He reached out the coin and she took it.
“Thank you, Dave.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Not for the coin.”
“Excuse me?”
“Thank you for showing me there are still good men in the world. That’s worth more than a thousand such coins.”
“You’re welcome for that too.”
“Good luck to you, Dave. Can I hug you goodbye?”
“Sure.”
They embraced, but there was no passion.
“Good luck to you too, Rebecca. I hope you find your dreams someday.”
“I hope you find your girl.”
“So do I. That’s my dream. Goodbye.”
Dave walked off, still in a semi-daze. If they’d been through here, and something turned them back east of here, they could be halfway back to Atlanta by now.
But that didn’t make any sense. They’d have had to go back the same way he’d come in… on Interstate 40.
He’d done a lot of traveling around the country during his military days.
He knew the interstate highway system quite well.
The I-40 didn’t go to Atlanta. The I-20 did. But the I-20 didn’t extend any farther than Texas.
If they were here a month ago and then were headed back along the same highway Dave was traveling, had he passed them along the way?
Was it possible they were bedded down, somewhere just off the highway, and Dave had gone buzzing past, never even realizing they were there?
Had he made a colossal mistake from the very beginning, traveling at night when they were traveling by day?
The thought made him sick to his stomach.
All this time he felt he was getting closer and closer.
And perhaps he was actually getting farther and farther away.
He hoped there was some mistake.
There were so many things that didn’t make sense.
Why would they travel so far and at such peril, halfway across the country, only to turn around and go back the other way? Was there something they had to do here? Someone they had to pick up?
Dave always was an extremely self-confident person. His self-assurance was unmatched by anyone else he knew. But now he felt like a failure.
He felt he’d let his daughter down.
The sun was dipping low in the sky now.
He’d have to bed down for the night and there were no tractor trailers nearby.
He could go back to the brothel, ask to borrow an unused tent if they had one.
But he had no more money to pay for it, having already given them the last of his gold.
There was a good chance they’d let him stay for free. He’d left on good terms.
But he wasn’t sure he’d be comfortable sleeping in such a place anyway.
What he needed short term was sleep, and he was exhausted enough to sleep anywhere.
Long term, what he needed were answers.
Sleep would help him get there, he hoped.
A good night’s sleep would help clear his head. Give him a chance to think things through. With logic and clarity.
Tomorrow he had a very big decision to make: should he continue on? Or should he turn back and head toward Atlanta?
It would be a very long and very fitful night.
Chapter 47
Dave spent several years in the Marine Corps and did his share of traveling. Many times he went from one base to another, to assist them in their training or to evaluate their maneuvers and war games.
One indisputable fact about the United States military is that they’re cheap. They know how to stretch a dollar.
Oh, it’s not their fault.
Sometimes Congress, who controls the purse strings, just doesn’t give them enough money to do the things they’re tasked to do.
And sometimes the generals make poor decisions. Like to buy tanks they don’t need or fighter planes with more bells and whistles than the fliers want.
The travel budget frequently suffers, and those who schedule official travel tend to cut as many corners as they can.
Direct flights are expensive. Flights with long layovers are cheaper. Bus travel is even cheaper yet.
By the time Dave left the Corps he was an old pro at sleeping anywhere and everywhere he had to.
He’d slept on the floor in more airports than he could count. And airport gate areas, sprawled across the seats.
On park benches in front of bus stations.
Once he’d even slept upright, sitting on a toilet, in a men’s room at the San Francisco bus terminal.
He was carrying a satchel of classified documents. He’d been up for two days and nights and knew he’d be falling asleep soon.
There were no secure storage facilities available, and he suspected if he went to sleep in an open area the satchel would be gone when he awakened.
His solution was to enter an unused stall, place the toile
t seat down and the satchel atop it, then to sit on top of the satchel.
He leaned against the stall’s wall and finally allowed himself to drift off.
He’d only slept for three hours, but it was enough to keep him moving a little longer, until he was able to deliver the satchel to a nearby military base and to rid himself of it.
Many people can only sleep in a big soft comfortable bed.
Dave, because of his time in the Corps, could sleep anywhere.
Even on the bare dirt of California’s high desert, surrounded by scorpions and rattlers and an occasional curious coyote.
He was asleep within minutes, but would toss and turn all through the night.
Dave seldom dreamed, and therefore treasured dreams when he had them.
Most of his dreams over the years involved happy affairs from his past. A favorite birthday from his childhood. Fishing with his grandfather. The day one of his daughters was born.
Sarah was the love of his life and had been since his school days. She was a frequent visitor to his nocturnal jaunts down memory lane.
If a seer was to tell Dave before he retired that he was going to dream, and had given him a thousand guesses who he was to dream about, Dave still wouldn’t have guessed… Red Poston.
Red Poston was a high spirited redhead he met after he wandered into the wrong town in central Texas. He’d made enemies of several townsfolk by trying to pilfer automobile parts from a shuttered parts store.
He’d been severely beaten with baseball bats and was lucky to be alive.
He likely wouldn’t have been if Red hadn’t intervened and rescued him.
Red explained she was once a scrub nurse and he’d asked, “A what?”
“An operating room nurse. I was the one handing the doctor scalpels and sponges and cleaning up the mess after the doctor left to play golf.”
She left the profession because she hated seeing patients die on the table. Especially the littlest patients.
She retained her skills, though, and nursed Dave back to health.
Red had her own mission to attend to and they traveled together for awhile.
And while Red was a beautiful girl there was no physical attraction between the two.
They’d parted just as very good friends.
Dave had thought of Red many times during recent months, but never thought she’d come to visit him in one of his dreams.
“Hello, Dave.”
“Well hello, Red. What in the world are you doing here?”
“I just came to check up on you. To see if you were still doing stupid things that got you into trouble. And to see if you needed to be rescued again.”
“No. These days I’m much more careful about where I steal generators from, thank you very much. How are you doing? Still rescuing beaten dumbasses and stripping all their clothes off of them and then saving their lives?”
“Not lately, no.”
“Did you accomplish your mission in Lubbock?”
“Yes, I did. I sent that man straight to hell where he belonged.”
“And that ugly banker in Blanco? What was his name?”
“John Savage. He’s dead too, but I didn’t have the pleasure of killing him myself.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I know you wanted to.”
“It’s okay. I decided there’s been too much killing. Now I get paid to prevent such things.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. The town council offered me the job as Chief of Police.”
“Seriously? That’s quite an honor. Congratulations.”
“It’s not as big a deal as it sounds. There’s only me and one other officer. Officer Lilly Thomas. Did you ever meet my best friend Lilly?”
“No. You talked of her. She sounded like a great girl.”
“She is. I’m lucky to have her as a friend. She helped me survive when I was at my worst.”
“I guess we all have one.”
“One what?”
“One angel of mercy who swoops in to save us when we’re in bad shape.”
“I suppose. Hey, Dave?”
“Yes?”
“I didn’t really just drop by to pass the time. I had an ulterior motive for coming to see you.”
“I suspected you might. What is it?”
“I just wanted to tell you not to turn around. That you’re on the right track.”
“But how did you know about that?”
“I never told you I’m clairvoyant, Dave?”
“Um… no.”
“Yep. I’m clairvoyant and practice witchcraft and voodoo and all kinds of other crap. Oh, and I’m full blooded gypsy too.”
“A red-headed Irish gypsy girl. Who’d have thought?”
“Dave, you’re my friend, right?”
“Of course.”
“You know I wouldn’t lead you astray, right?”
“No. Of course you wouldn’t.”
“You’ll have to just trust me on this one. Do not turn around, despite what you heard. Continue on your current path.”
“If I do, will I find her?”
“Yes. You will.”
“Will she be okay?”
“Yes. She will.”
Dave had the sense Red wanted to share more information with him. She started to say something, but seemed to change her mind.
“Is there anything else, Red?”
“No. That’s it. Travel safe, my friend.”
With that she was gone.
Chapter 48
Dave awakened and for a time stared out into the night, pondering Red’s words.
It was too dark to see his watch, but as he turned his head to the east he noticed the sky was starting to lighten and the stars were getting dim.
It was within an hour of daybreak.
Part of him wanted to get up and get dressed so he could eat and get an early start.
The wiser side of him told him not to.
Rattlesnakes are notorious for crawling into cowboy boots in the night, or for nestling up against sleeping cowboys seeking the warmth of their bodies.
Cowboys all know to wait until it’s light enough to see their surroundings before starting to stir. And to turn their boots upside down and beat them together before they place their feet inside.
Dave wasn’t a cowboy, but he too knew those things.
He couldn’t remember where he learned them, exactly.
Maybe it was a Texas thing.
He closed his eyes and listened as something, probably a rabbit… ran at breakneck speed through nearby bushes.
It was chased by something… most likely a coyote.
Dave found himself rooting for the rabbit to get away.
He was like that. Always rooting for the underdog.
He saw a shooting star in the western sky and made a simple wish.
He wished to find Beth.
Everything else… the trip back to Kansas, the reconciliation with his family… their long trip back to Texas, was secondary.
Beth was first. The very first step in reuniting his family and taking them back home.
He had to find her. He just had to.
He thought again about Red. And he wondered why in the world she’d choose this particular time to come to him.
How would she know which road Dave was to take? How could she possibly know where Beth was?
And what was she about to tell him that she’d decided to keep to herself at the last second?
Dave didn’t know it yet, but those questions would haunt him for a very long time.
He didn’t know beans about psychology. He’d taken one class on basic concepts of the human mind while in college and had been bored out of his… well, out of his mind.
He didn’t understand the relationship dreams had with one’s subconscious state.
He suspected that he dreamed of Red so she would affirm what he was leaning toward anyway. To give him the extra support he needed to know he was going to make the right decision.
Even before the dream, Dave was leaning toward going on.
He’d come too far down this path to give up on it and abandon it just before he got to the end.
He’d stay his course a bit longer, until it played out. If that happened, he could still turn around and head toward Atlanta. But if he never found her he wouldn’t wonder for the rest of his life whether he’d turned around too soon.
One thing he knew. If they were averaging fifteen miles a day and he was averaging over thirty he’d eventually catch them.
But it would be a slow process.
One of Dave’s favorite sayings was from John Wayne’s classic Red River.
Or maybe it was The Cowboys.
In the end, it didn’t really matter much.
In one of his movies, the Duke had snarled to his crew, “Get up. You’re burning daylight.”
The old cowboy’s point was that every minute lost was lost forever.
And an hour wasted while a cowboy dragged his ass could never be regained.
It was light enough now to check his surroundings and dump his boots.
Within ten minutes, as the sun broke the horizon over his left shoulder, Dave was on his bike and pedaling fast toward the Los Angeles basin.
Chapter 49
Scarface and Parker told their men to stay put.
“If we come back to find any of you have deserted I’ll hunt you down and shoot you myself. Then I’ll bring your head back on a stake for the others to see. It’ll act as a deterrent for anyone else who wants to run away like a scared little rabbit.”
His men weren’t sure whether he’d carry out such a threat. It would be stupid, putting his mission to take the bunker on hold just so he could go after someone to take vengeance on them.
But they’d seen his vengeful side before and all knew he was slightly crazy.
They’d stay put.
Partly because they’d seen for themselves what was at stake. The bunker, if they could take it, offered safe refuge. It likely had all the food they could eat for a very long time.
And it had women. They’d seen them, as they surveilled the bunker in the early days before Jones went and got himself killed and announced their presence. In those days they saw three different women exit the bunker on three consecutive days to go on hunting and fishing trips with one of the men.
Payback: Alone: Book 7 Page 15