he’s back there.”
Lee shook his head. “That opens a whole other can of worms. That is
definitely not a good idea.”
“We can’t just leave him back there. It’s not right.”
“Do you suggest we go to the local precinct and try to explain this
thing? They’ll put us in straitjackets.”
“Dammit! If you won’t do it, I will. I am not leaving him back there
for the squirrels.”
“All right, all right. Calm down.” He sighed. “I guess we could
place an anonymous call in a little while, get the cops to check it
out.”
“Fine,” said Faith.
A few minutes later, Lee noticed that Faith was fidgeting.
“I have another request,” she said.
The woman’s demanding style was really starting to annoy him. Lee
tried not to think about the hurt in his elbow, the irritating specks
of cold dirt in his eyes, the unknown dangers that lay ahead.
“Like what?” he said wearily.
“There’s a gas station near here. I’d like to wash up.” She added
quietly, “If that’s okay.”
Lee looked down at the stains on her clothes and his expression
softened. “No problem,” he said.
“It’s down this road-”
“I know where it is,” Lee said. “I like to get the lay of the land
where I’m working.”
Faith simply stared at him.
In the bathroom Faith tried not to focus on what she was doing as she
painstakingly cleaned the blood off her clothing. Still, every couple
of minutes she felt like ripping off all her clothes and scrubbing
herself down using the soap from the dispenser and the stack of paper
towels on the dirty sink.
When she climbed back in the car, her companion’s look said what his
mouth didn’t.
“I’ll make it, for now,” she said.
“By the way, my name’s Lee. Lee Adams.”
Faith said nothing. He started the car and they left the gas
station.
“You don’t have to tell me your name,” he said. “I was hired to follow
you, Ms. Lockhart.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “Who hired you to do that?”
“Don’t know.”
“How could you possibly not know who hired you?”
“I admit it’s a little unusual, but it happens, on occasion. Some
people are embarrassed about hiring a private detective.”
“So that’s what you are, a private eye?” Her tone was one of contempt.
“It can be a very legit way of earning a buck. And I’m as legit as
they come.”
“And how did this person come to hire you?”
“Other than the fact that I’ve got a killer Yellow Pages ad, I don’t
have a clue.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re mixed up in, Mr. Adams?”
“Let’s just say I have a better idea now than I did a little bit ago.
Getting shot at is the one thing that has always captured my undivided
attention.”
“And who shot at you?”
“The same guy who nailed your friend. I think I winged him, but he got
away.”
Faith rubbed her temples and looked out into the darkness. His next
words startled her.
“What are you, Witness Protection?” Lee waited. When she didn’t
answer, he continued. “I did a ten-second down-and-dirty on your
friend while you were busy choking out the car. He had a Glock
nine-millimeter and a Kevlar vest, for all the good it did him. The
shield on his belt said FBI. I didn’t have time to check for ID. So
what was his name?”
“Does it matter?”
“It might.”
“Why Witness Protection?” she asked.
“The cottage. Special locks, security system. It’s a safe house, of
sorts. Nobody’s living there, that’s for sure.”
“So you’ve been inside.”
He nodded. “At first I thought you were having an affair. A couple
minutes inside told me it wasn’t a love nest. Strange house, though.
Hidden cameras, tape-recording system. Did you know you were on stage,
by the way?”
The astonished look on her face answered his question.
“If you didn’t know who hired you, how were you engaged to follow
me?”
“Easy enough. Phone message said a packet of information on you and an
advance on my fee would be delivered to my office. They were. A file
on you, and a big chunk of cash. It said to follow your movements, and