Knowing by Laurel Dewey Page B

presence at the Quik Mart, on the bus prior to exiting it, and again, diving within her when Harlan attacked her by the tree. “Go on.”
    “I think it’s protecting me,” Harlan said. “And sometimes…sometimes it helps me become invisible.” Jane scowled. “See! I told you it would sound weird! I don’t mean like invisible on radar or security cameras,” he quickly clarified. “I mean invisible in that moment. Invisible to those who might want to hurt me or stop my progress.” Harlan looked Jane in the eye. “ That’s how I escaped from the hospital. I just walked out and nobody come up to me. I climbed in the back of a delivery truck and hid out under a pile of towels. And after a long bit when the driver stopped at a restaurant, I got out and started walkin’. I walked until I got to that gas station. God as my witness, I was gonna steal that sweet little red pickup but my heart told me to take your car instead.” He let out a tired breath. “And here I am. I guess it don’t get any freakier than this.”
    “Doesn’t.”
    “Huh?”
    “It doesn’t get any weirder than this.”
    “Lucky me. I got an educated cop. Just like I had an educated lawyer. I hope you aren’t as smarmy as he was.” Harlan shook his head in disgust. “The day Mr. Ramos walked in was the day my doorstep darkened.”
    “ Mr. Ramos ?” Jane whispered. Harlan was wrong. It did get weirder.

CHAPTER 5

    The gravity of Jane’s situation took a hard turn south.
    Given what she’d personally experienced that day and what she now knew after listening to Harlan, it was starting to look as if her demise was guaranteed. Death, it seemed, did appear to follow Harlan Kipple.
    Death and Mr. Ramos, to be exact.
    The problem was that Jane wasn’t ready to die. After recently escaping a close call with the Grim Reaper, she’d actually begun to allow herself to live and even love. Since she was a child, she’d been holding her breath and lingering in the dark corners of her psyche. But now, she finally felt safe to exhale and breathe in life. No, death was not an option. Especially not now, right now , when she had a short timetable to connect with the person she needed to see.
    But Harlan Kipple and his terminal trail of bodies were putting the k i bosh on her plans. Why is it, she wondered, that every time you think your life is finally on track, a boulder slams onto the path and forces yet another diversion? Fuck death , she told herself. But then again, hadn’t she already symbolically killed herself when she tossed her driver’s license into the wreckage at the bus explosion? Wasn’t that meant to create the illusion of her violent demise so the red-haired fellow would believe she was dead? Just in case. But then, she wondered, just in case what?
    Jane walked into the center of the aspen stand, her mind spinning. She needed to get into her Mustang and floor it until she hit northern New Mexico. She wished she could pretend away everything that had happened over the last six hours. She begged to forget every numinous nudge she’d felt that day. But above all, she wished she’d never met Harlan Kipple because the longer she spent with him, the more empathy she had for his terrifying situation. When all was said and done, Jane Perry’s job was to protect and defend the indefensible. It was simultaneously a ball and chain and her saving grace.
    The irritation continued to chafe as Jane’s mind returned to the ostensibly evil individual known as “Mr. Ramos.” Harlan wasn’t the sharpest tack in the box but he could easily see that Ramos’ name kindled an edgy ire from Jane.
    “What is it?” Harlan asked, his bushy brown eyebrows narrowing. Jane hesitated. Harlan reached out and grabbed Jane’s shoulder with his thick, calloused hand. “ What’s goin’ on ?”
    She looked at him with a gut full of compassion. “You did the right thing, Harlan. Ramos is the one who set you up for Jaycee’s murder. If he didn’t kill