“It would be at that.”
They walked together back to the bus and Damita remembered her notepad and one entry in particular in which she reminded herself not to get too friendly with anyone; especially men. Over the last several months she had already proven that her instincts about men were terrible and given her present condition, she couldn’t afford to put her life in jeopardy.
After two days, they were finally in Seattle. She looked around and realized she had done it. She had left New York without being stopped, arrested, or approached in any way by anyone connected with her old life. As soon as she got there she remembered she had no place to stay. She hadn’t wanted to book a hotel in Seattle with her own credit card and figured it would make more sense to find a hotel once she arrived in Seattle. Once she was there she could pay in cash.
She wondered how difficult it would be to check into a hotel in Seattle without using any identification. Even the low-budget motel on Staten Island, in New York, had wanted to see some identification. She was able to get around it by paying a large enough additional deposit so that the desk clerk in New York didn’t bother her any further. She wasn’t sure if it would be quite so easy in another city.
“Well, so-long, Halle,” the guy sitting next to her said.
“So-long, cheesy lines guy.”
He stuck out his hand to shake hers. “My name is Lester Jones, by the way.”
“Hello and goodbye, Lester Jones.”
“You know, usually when someone introduces himself, the other person offers their name as well. It’s one of those societal give-and-take things we’ve all grown so accustomed to.”
“Just call me Halle,” Damita said.
“Happy trails, Halle,” Lester said, as Damita exited the bus.
CHAPTER THIRTY
When Damita got off the bus, she could see there was a hotel close by. She retrieved her luggage and walked in the direction of the hotel. Suddenly, someone drove by honking the car horn. She turned to look and it was Lester Jones.
He rolled down the car window. “If you’re heading to that hotel, it’s a lot farther away than it appears.”
“To pursue or approach stealthily,” Damita repeated.
“You’re a real funny girl. I like funny girls.”
“Goodnight, Lester Jones. It’s been nice knowing you.”
“I could help you with that list of yours.”
Damita’s face changed from amused to angry. “You snooped through my notebook?”
“Technically, it’s not snooping if the information is on the first page. I picked it up and there it was. One look at that list and I knew you were a woman on the run.”
Damita’s face wrinkled into a frown. “And you chose to capitalize on that fact, I assume?”
“That’s not what I want to do at all. In fact, I can help you. I believe you had a notation about establishing an identity? I know what you need and who you need to see.”
“What are you going to want from me if you help me with my little dilemma?”
“There’s nothing in it for me at all. Well, practically nothing. I may get a little finder’s fee from the guy I bring you to, but other than that, there’s nothing in it for me. The guy I’m going to take you too helped someone very close to me once.”
“Who says I need whatever help it is this guy offers?”
“Halle, I didn’t fall off the turnip truck. I can recognize a woman in trouble when I see one. You’re most definitely a woman in trouble.”
“I suppose you’re here to take all my troubles away, huh?”
“No one can do that. I’m here to lighten the load, but only if you let me. Come on, Halle. If you’re going to stay here, you’re going to have to trust somebody first. It might as well be me. Believe me. I’m one of the good guys.”
“That’s what they all say.”
“I’m guessing it would be easier if it was a woman you were trusting, so I tell you what, I’ll make it happen.”
“So, what are you going to do now, morph into a woman?”
“Even better, I’m going to go get that person who is close to me, who needed the same assistance.”
“Are you always so cloak and dagger?” Damita asked.
“Sometimes in life we have to be. And, Halle, whatever or whoever it is you’re hiding from, you’re going to have to learn to adapt to some of those cloak and dagger ways as well.”
“I suppose you want me to come with you?”
“No, because you won’t do that. I’ll take you to the hotel. That is where you were going, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it was.”