“It’s no trouble at all,” he insisted with a wave of his hand.“I was about to close up anyway.”He glanced under the counter and then patted the pockets of his pants.“Now where did I put my keys?”
“They’re on the hook by the cigarette rack,” Navarre said.
Gus spun around and snatched the keys from the small metal hook.Then he grabbed a baseball cap with the North Carolina Tar Heels logo and popped it on his head.
They followed him out to the old red pickup truck.
“She don’t look like much, but she gets me where I need to go.”Gus opened the door on the passenger side and gestured for Sloane to get inside.“Think you can both squeeze up front?If not, I can take some stuff out of the bed.”
“I’m sure we’ll fit,” Navarre said.
Thankfully, the truck had a bench rather than bucket seats, which made squeezing two people into the passenger side easier.Still, it was a tight fit.Not that Navarre really minded.It gave him an excuse to stretch his arm over the top of the seat and tuck Sloane against his side.
Gus slid behind the wheel and tossed a pack of cigarettes onto the dash.He jammed the key into the ignition and, after a moment’s hesitation, the engine rumbled to life.
“How long will it take to reach town?”Sloane asked.
“From here?Oh, about twenty minutes or so.”He pulled onto the road and hit the gas, and the truck gradually picked up speed.“Who else is going to be in your new movie?”
“I’m not sure.They’re still casting.Last I heard, they were in talks with Nash Capwell to play an FBI agent.”
“Oh, he’d be good.I liked that movie he did with Vicky Hale.”
While Sloane chatted with Gus about movies, Navarre searched for signs of anything out of the ordinary, because the last thing he wanted to deal with was another ambush.The old truck wouldn’t fare nearly as well as the armor-plated rental car.
“Any place in particular you want me to stop?”Gus asked as they passed the City Limits sign for Fleet Creek.“I’m afraid there’s not much open this late in the day.Tourist season hasn’t started yet, so everyone’s keeping shorter hours.”
He wasn’t kidding.In a town this small, there weren’t many options to choose from, and most of them had Closed signs in their windows, even the little diner that was probably their best shot at getting food.He hadn’t seen any pay phones either, because that would have been too easy.
“You can drop us off in front of the post office,” Navarre said.“Ms.Page’s assistant will be here soon to pick us up.”
Gus pulled up to the curb and left the engine running.They climbed out of the truck, and Navarre already missed the feel of Sloane pressed against him.
“Thank you so much, Gus,” Sloane said through the open window.She flashed that thousand-watt smile at him again.“You’re a lifesaver.”
The old man blushed.“If you ever need help again, you know where to find me.”
They watched the truck pull away from the curb.Gus honked the horn, and they waved at him as he headed back the way he came.
“I’m impressed,” Navarre said, and now it was her turn to blush.“If you’d asked him nicely, he probably would have driven us all the way to Orlando.”
“I didn’t see the point in pushing our luck.Where do we go now?”
He gestured with his chin.“We passed a motel about a quarter mile back.”
Sloane’s mouth fell open.“Why didn’t you say something?Gus would have dropped us off there.”
“Because there’s always a chance the wrong people might ask him about us.This way, if it happens, he won’t be able to divulge our exact location.”A bolt of lightning split the sky, followed by a clap of thunder that shook the ground.“Come on, let’s go.If we’re lucky, we’ll get there before the rain starts.”
Somuchfornotgetting wet.
The sky opened up and pelted them with rain as they darted across the courtyard of the Fleet Creek Cabin Motel, which consisted of eleven small cabins arranged in a U-shape, with rooms opening to the parking lot.They headed for the cabin in the middle with a sign marked Office and went inside.
Aside from a small reception desk, the place looked like somebody’s home.A couch and overstuffed recliner faced the television that was mounted over the fireplace, with an old coffee table crammed in between.Nature pictures adorned the walls, while the hall to the right presumably led to the bedroom and bathroom.
A middle-aged woman wearing tan pants and a flannel shirt sat on the recliner watching a home improvement show on the television.She glanced up at their entrance and smiled, not seeming to notice that they were drenched to the skin.“Welcome to Fleet Creek.How can I help you today?”
The door swung shut behind Navarre.“We were hoping you had a cabin we could rent for the night.”
