Dark Justice(34)

Then it hit my tired brain. Even with cash, she’d want to see my driver’s license. I’d still be traceable. But only if the Bad People managed to trace me to this hotel. If I didn’t use a credit or debit card, that would be so much harder.

I nodded. Tried to smile again. “Okay. I’ll give you cash for three days.” I tilted my purse as I pulled out my wallet so Tina wouldn’t see the gun inside. With trembling fingers I handed over the money. Had Tina noticed? “Sorry. I’ve been driving too long.”

Her head dipped. “You do look tired. Let’s get you a room so you can rest.”

She asked to see my driver’s license. With reluctance, I showed it to her.

“Okay, Mrs. Shire.”

I winced at the sound of my name.

Tina gave me the plastic room key in a small holder with the unit number written on it. “You can come through here and go down the hall, or you can park down there a ways”—she pointed—“and go through the outside door closer to the room.”

“Great. Thanks.”

I got out of there as fast as possible without seeming obvious. As I slid behind the car wheel, Mom still slept. How I envied her that ability.

I drove toward the door at the end of the hotel, turned around, and backed into a parking space. Didn’t want my license plate blaring out to the world.

Wait. A license plate sat on the front of my car as well.

I closed my eyes, bringing two fingers to my forehead. Such a little thing, yet so big. So indicative that I had no idea what I was doing.

With some difficulty I woke Mom and got her moving. I gave her the bag of groceries to carry. I gathered my purse, her suitcase, our coats, the tote bag. Loaded down, I struggled to find enough fingers to push the key into the slot and open the outside door into the hotel. When we reached our room, I had to manage the feat a second time.

Once inside I locked and bolted the door. Dropped everything but the tote on the floor. The bed looked so inviting it almost made me cry.

Mom looked around, lost. “Is there a bathroom?”

“In here.” I walked over and turned on the light for her. She went inside and closed the door.

I hid the tote bag under a pillow on one of the beds. Then sat down hard. Now what? We had so little. I didn’t even have a toothbrush or change of clothes. All I had were two guns, one of them not registered to me. And I had a mother suffering from dementia with needs I wouldn’t be able to meet.

I had to call Emily, tell her we were okay. Why hadn’t I found a pay phone before checking into a hotel?

And I needed a different car. Couldn’t keep driving my own with people looking for it. But I couldn’t rent a car without leaving a trail.

Plus I’d soon need more money. But how would I get it without leaving a paper trail?

My head hung. Hot tears stung my eyes. Lord, please help me. I have no idea what to do.

Mom shuffled out of the bathroom. Her face drooped with tiredness. I pulled myself together and stood. “We have to call Emily. She’s worried about us.”

“Okay. I’ll tell her we’re fine.”

“But we have to use a pay phone.”

“Oh.” Mom frowned. “Why?”

“It’s safest.”

“Oh.”

I should have done this first. How stupid of me. Now we’d have to go back out and search for a phone at a gas station. More driving around—as the sun rose. More danger.

Purse over my arm—with gun still inside—I mobilized the two of us and headed for the parking lot. We both wore our coats against the chilled air. In the car I drove to the gas station across the road, already open for the day, but saw no pay phone.

On the other side of the exit was a second station, also open. Two cars were getting gas. There I spotted a phone—and my heart surged. I pulled up in front of it.

“Stay in here, Mom, I’ll just be a minute.”

“I want to talk—”

“Next time. Right now I have to hurry.”

I got out before she could protest.

Breath on hold, I fingered multiple quarters from my wallet and fed the first into the slot. It had been so long since I’d used a pay phone, I hardly remembered how they worked. Or if I had enough coins.

I dialed Emily’s number and was told how much money to put in for the first three minutes. I fed in the quarters, the ching-ching rattling my nerves. As her line rang I prayed she’d answer the unfamiliar number.

“Hello?” Emily sounded on edge.

“It’s me.”

“Oh! Where are you?”

“We’re at a hotel off I-5. Not far down from Highway 152. I’m using a pay phone.”

“No one followed you?”

“Not that I could see.”