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walk away from your apartment and job like that?"
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"What apartment? You're in it. As for my job, it's not like I was running the
production line at Boeing. They'll just replace me. I mean, don't get me
wrong. I don't do this sort of thing on a regular basis. Usually I give
notice. I just got the feeling you were in kind of a hurry, that's all." She
grinned over at him. "Carpe diem, and all that."
"Beg pardon?"
"Never mind."
By this time Ross Ed had decided that this was a woman it would be nice to
Get To Know. What he had at first taken for flirtatious playfulness masked a
streak of genuine independence. He had the feeling she didn't much give a damn
if she was picked up by the army or not. In that event, he felt it would not
be out of place to feel sorry for the army. Anyway, who was he to be
questioning her? She'd just saved him& or at least prolonged his freedom.
"By the way, thanks."
"You're welcome." She chuckled. "They don't know what kind of car I'm
driving, which way we've gone, or when you left." She checked the rearview on
her side. "Still nobody back there. I wonder how much longer they'll sit
around waiting on you?"
"Hard to say. If they think I just ordered, they might hold off an hour or
more."
"That's the spirit. Meanwhile we'll put lots ofArizona between us."
"Where we headed?"
She eyed him expectantly. "Where'd you want to go? Do they know where you
were heading?"
"No. I haven't told anyone except a few friends back home, and they just know
I want to see the Pacific."
"So they'll have to search fromCanada toMexico . That ought to give 'em
pause." She considered. "We could cut up and over on Highway 70 through Globe
intoPhoenix , or east and down to Lordsburg."
"No," he countered sharply, "not Lordsburg. I've been to Lordsburg."
"Me, too. Can't say as I blame you. Okay, how about we get back on
one-ninety-one and head forClifton ? Although if they managed to track you to
Safford, they might block the road up that way, too." She wrenched hard on the
wheel and Ross fought to keep his balance in the chair as they began bouncing
up a narrow dirt road.
"Since I've been working in Safford I've done a lot of camping around here.
There are dozens of roads that cut through theSan Carlos reservation. It'll be
a little rocky, but we can take our time and work our way northward without
having to worry about roadblocks. We'll pick up pavement again
outsideFortApache ."
"There's really a town here calledFortApache ? I thought that was just a
movie title."
"Nope, it's a real place. From there we'll head on into Show Low. If they're
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not waiting for us there, you can bet your ass against a pig's hindquarters
that we'll have lost them. From there we'll hit Holbrook and get on Interstate
40. Then we'll head west again. You want to see the Pacific, we'll damn well
go see the Pacific. I don't see them trying to monitorboth interstates. Cause
too much comment."
"I dunno. They really want me. And Jed, too, of course."
"Too bad for them. By the time they figure out you're not in the immediate
vicinity, we'll be a couple of hundred miles to the north. When they decide to
start checking the other interstates, we'll be inCalifornia . And they still
have to identify the transportation you're using."
"I'm sold," he told her gratefully. "I'm going to have to leave it up to you.
Until this trip I'd never been further west than Hobbes, and I don't know this
part of the country."
"I do. The mountains are magnificent." She checked her console. "Only problem
is, do we have enough gas to makeFortApache ? There won't be anything open
there, but there will be in Show Low, and it's not much farther. We'll do the
best we can." The bottom dropped out of the van for a moment, sending him
careening off the sidewall. "Sorry. Plenty of ravines and potholes out here.
If we run empty, maybe we can buy some gas from somebody who's out camping.
"Now that that's settled, tell me about yourself. Who are you, and what's
with the dead alien?"
His deceased companion was bouncing around on the carpet like an abandoned
rag doll, but otherwise appeared none the worse for their close call. "Jed
seems to like you."
"Yeah? How can you tell?"
"You know how it is. After you've spent some time with someone you get to
know their moods."
"He's alien, he's dead, and he has moods?"
"Sure. I can just tell. He likes you."
"I'm so flattered. Tell Jed I like him, too, as long as he doesn't start to
decompose in my van."
Having long since left the last ranch house far behind, they bumped and
banged northward, continuing their steady climb into the mountains.
TEN
Suttles was the first one into the cafe, followed closely by Kerry, Robinett,
and a pair of massively muscled military police. No one entered armed. The
last thing they wanted was any kind of wild shoot-out. Not out of concern for
the safety of those inside but lest the priceless alien be damaged.
Hurriedly the captain surveyed their surroundings: counter, stools, booths,
kitchen in back smelling of old grease and singed shortening, a single young
couple at the far end now turning to gaze curiously at the handful of
intruders.
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The waitress emerged from the kitchen to greet them. She reminded Suttles of
his paternal grandmother. "Can I help you? You want something to eat? We don't
have a booth big enough for five, but I can put a chair on the end of a
table."
"We're not hungry." Anxiously, his eyes scanned the interior. "We're looking
for someone."
"A friend," put in Kerry unnecessarily& and unconvincingly.
"Big man, about six-five, six-six. He may have been carrying an object with
him. Something like a large doll, or a ventrilo-quist's dummy."
Peering past the three officers, the waitress could see half a dozen high
beams playing over the parked Cadillac. Both hood and trunk lid were up and
these areas were likewise receiving their fair share of attention. A
small-town old-timer she might be, but she wasn't dumb.
"Come on; you aren't friends of this gentleman."
"We just want to talk to him, ma'am." Suttles threw Kerry a warning look.
Somewhat to his surprise, she got the message and kept quiet.
The elderly employee pondered the request. "He didn't look like a bad sort. I
know people. That's one thing you learn in this business; people. You say you
just want to ask him some questions?"
"That's right, ma'am." Flipping open his billfold, Robinett displayed his
identification. "United StatesArmy Intelligence. We don't want to hurt him and
he hasn't done anything bad."
"I'm glad to hear that. He was a nice young man. Good tipper, too."
Kerry couldn't restrain herself. "You don't happen to know where he is, do
you? That's his car out front."
"I guessed, seeing the way you people are going through it. What're you
looking for? Drugs?"
Suttles chafed at the delays, but he suspected if they lost their temper with
this particular senior citizen, she'd simply clam up and refuse to talk to
them. "No, ma'am."
"Didn't he go out front?"
"No. We've been watching the front. He hasn't come out that way."
"Well then, I expect he went out the back. Unless he's in the can expressing
his opinion of our cooking."
At a word from Kerry, a cluster of military police hustled in the direction
of the rest rooms. "How long since you've seen him?"
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