Faith stared ahead but saw nothing other than run-down homes, cracked
sidewalks and sickly-looking trees and lawns. They were traveling
parallel to U.S. Route 1 in Virginia, also known as Jefferson Davis
Highway after the president of the Confederacy. It was ironic they
were here, Faith thought, since Davis himself knew very well about
being chased. In fact he had been chased all over the South after the
war until the boys in blue had finally caught up with him and Davis had
served a long prison term. Faith knew the history, she just didn’t
want the same result.
She didn’t ordinarily come to this part of northern Virginia. It was
heavily industrialized, speckled with on-the-fringe small businesses,
truck and boat repair shops, shady-looking car dealerships working out
of rusted trailers, and a flea market housed in a decrepit building one
failing support beam from condemnation. She was a little surprised
when Lee turned and headed for Jeff Davis. She hurried to stay up with
him.
“Shouldn’t we be getting out of town? I mean, according to you, the
FBI can do anything. And then there’s the other people you refused to
name who are on our track. I’m sure they’re incredibly deadly in their
own right. And here we are strolling through the suburbs.” Lee said
nothing and she finally grabbed his arm. “Lee, will you please tell me
what’s going on?”
He stopped so abruptly she bumped into him. It was like hitting a
wall. Lee glared at her. “Call me stupid, but I just can’t shake the
feeling that the more information you have, the more likely you’ll get
another harebrained idea in your head that’ll end up getting us both
checked into coffins.”
“Look, I’m sorry about the airport. You’re right, it was stupid. But
I had my reasons.”
“Your reasons are bullshit. Your whole life is bullshit,” he said
angrily, and started walking again.
She hurried up next to him, jerked on his arm and they squared off.
“Okay, if you really feel like that, what do you say we just go our
separate ways? Here and now. Each take our chances.”
He put his hands on his hips. “Because of you I can’t go home and I
can’t use my credit card. I don’t have my gun, the Feds are right on
my butt and I’ve got four bucks in my wallet. Let me just jump right
on that offer, lady.”
“You can have half my cash.”
“And where exactly are you going to go?”
“My whole life might be bullshit, and this may shock you, but I can
take care of myself.”
He shook his head. “We stick together. For a lot of reasons. Number
one being when and if the Feds pick us up, I want you right there next
to me swearing on your mother’s grave that yours truly is just an
innocent babe stuck in the middle of your nightmare.”
“Lee!”
“Discussion closed.”
He started walking fast and Faith decided against saying anything else.
The truth was she didn’t want to go it alone. She jogged up to him as
they turned onto Route 1. At the light they hurried across the
street.
“I want you to wait here,” Lee said, putting the bags down. “There’s a
chance I might get recognized where I’m going, and I don’t want you
with me.”
Faith looked around. Behind her was an eight-foot-high chain-link
fence with barbed wire on the top. It housed a boat repair facility.
Inside the fence a Doberman patrolled the area. Did boats really
require that much security? she wondered. Maybe in this area
everything did. The business on the next corner was located inside an
ugly cinder-block building with big red banners across the windows
proclaiming the best deals in town on new and used motorcycles. The
parking lot was filled with the two-wheeled machines.
“Do I have to stay here by myself?” she said.
Lee pulled out a baseball cap from his bag and put on his sunglasses.
“Yes,” he said curtly. “Or was that a ghost back there telling me she
can take care of herself?”
With no snappy reply coming to mind, Faith had to content herself with