“I should have waited to see what car they were driving,” Molly said. She hit the steering wheel with her fist. “I just had to keep moving. I didn’t think it through.”
“It’s okay. We’ll recognize them. Keep looking.” A dark green Corolla went by with two women inside. Then a truck with a single guy and a big German shepherd, his head out the window, his tongue hanging long. There was a space of five heartbeats, then a filthy black truck, its bed empty. In the cab were two men.
“That’s them,” Ramsey said. “Okay, Molly, ease back onto the highway. Keep a minimum of three cars back.”
She was already driving out from behind the Mobil station. There was a small white Honda in front of her. She wanted to honk, to run over it, to yell at the older woman driving, but she managed to keep herself calm and steady, but she was whispering, “Move, move, move.”
Ramsey just kept his arms loosely around Emma. “You okay, kiddo?”
“I’m scared, Ramsey.”
His arms tightened around her. He kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could give you the power not to be afraid of anything, Emma, but I can’t. Fear isn’t bad, just as long as it doesn’t freeze you up. I know you don’t like to think about it, but you didn’t freeze up that time. You managed to escape and run into the woods and I found you. You were extraordinarily brave. And so you see that if you just keep thinking, if you don’t give up, then you can help yourself. You’ve got a chance.” He knew Molly was listening. “You won’t forget that, will you, Em?”
“No,” she whispered. “I won’t forget. There’s the truck, Ramsey. Mom’s close now.”
“Can you see the license number?”
“It’s really dirty, but I can see it.”
Then he laughed. “You can see it but you can’t tell me the letters or numbers. I’m going to teach you how to read tomorrow, okay, kiddo?”
“I know how to read a little. Mama’s taught me. She reads to me all the time. She points her finger at the words while she’s reading. You think it’ll just take one day?”
“With you, maybe just half a day.” He said to Molly, “It looks to me like it’s a B, then an L, then mud’s all smeared over the next letter. There’s a space, then three-eight-eight-something. That last number’s too smeared to make out.”
“You’ll find a cell phone in my bag. Since you’re a federal judge, you’re bound to know someone who can tell us who owns the truck. Once you find that out, I promise I’ll call the cops in Denver and tell them. You don’t have to tell anybody anything. Now, I’ll hang back until you find out.”
A cell phone. She had a cell phone and hadn’t told him until they were holding on by their teeth. He wanted to yell at her, but he didn’t. He pulled out the slim phone. He started to call Virginia Trolley in San Francisco, then paused. No, she couldn’t do anything. He needed someone objective, someone with an inside track who wouldn’t butt in, but would give him all the help he could. He dialed the main number to the FBI in Washington, B.C., and asked for Dillon Savich in the Criminal Apprehension Unit.
In two minutes he was talking to Savich. “Why don’t you ever use my e-mail, Ramsey? You know I hate phones. I think when I was a kid a phone cord must have wrapped around my neck and nearly choked me to death.”
“Sorry, I don’t have my laptop and modem with me. Long story. I need help, Savich.”
“Talk to me.”
No hesitation, no questions. Ramsey said, “I need to know who belongs to this license plate.” He gave Savich the information. “I’m on a cell phone.” He gave him the phone number. “Yeah, I’ll keep it on. I owe you one, Savich.”
A grunt, nothing more. Ramsey smiled into the cell phone. He hung up but left the phone button on.
“Who did you call? The police in San Francisco?”
“No. I called a friend of mine in Washington, D.C.”