sadness twisted her features.
“What?” Dryden said.
“I had no intention to involve you in all this,” Claire said softly. “Not for something random like the guy in the trailer, and not for the rest of this, either. I never meant to drag you into it at all.”
“Then why did you?”
Claire’s eyes went back to the machine.
“I didn’t, actually,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
Claire started to respond, but stopped. A pair of headlights broke into view to the south, coming up 395 in the same direction Dryden and Claire had driven a few minutes before. The vehicle’s outline was just visible against the dim sky—a low shape with a light-bar on its roof. A police cruiser.
None of its flashers were on. The car was going the speed limit, maybe a little faster. Nothing about it suggested urgency or purpose. Just a random patrol.
“Shit,” Claire whispered.
She closed the plastic case, blacking out the glow of the tablet screen and plunging the Land Rover’s cab into darkness. Already its headlights and instrument panel were off. Along with Dryden’s Explorer, the Land Rover sat two hundred feet off the road where the cop would pass. The two vehicles were unlikely to be visible to the officer, though they would have to arouse suspicion if they were spotted.
Closing in now, the cruiser passed through a long, gentle curve where the road skirted some shallow rise in the desert. Dryden had hardly noticed the curve when he’d driven it himself. He noticed it now because it sent the police cruiser’s high beams swinging ten degrees west of the highway, out into the darkness where he and Claire were parked. An unwitting searchlight.
The brightest portion of the beams came nowhere near the two parked vehicles, but the beams’ periphery cast a faint glow through the nearby scrub, setting shadows beneath each chaparral bush. Dryden instinctively looked down to keep his eyes from shining. Claire did the same. Nothing could be done about the reflective metal and glass of the two SUVs.
Claire’s fingertips drummed on the wheel, the uncharacteristic tension running through her again.
“It’s not a problem if he sees us,” Dryden said.
“It’s a big problem.”
“We’re seventy miles from the trailer. There’s nothing to connect us to it.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What, then?” Dryden asked.
Claire didn’t answer. She raised her eyes just enough to watch the cruiser coming on. It was a few hundred yards south now, its headlights finally swinging back onto the road as it moved beyond the curve. A few seconds later, without slowing, it blasted by and continued north into the darkness.
Then its brake lights came on.
Claire’s breath hissed out like air from a ruptured pneumatic line.
The cruiser came to a stop. For five seconds it just sat there in the road, maybe three hundred yards to the north, its taillights glowing. Like the officer was weighing the decision. Wondering if he’d really seen something.
In the same moment, Claire did something Dryden couldn’t understand. She ignored the cruiser entirely and turned her gaze on the surrounding desert. She scanned the darkness, her eyes going everywhere, as if she suddenly believed something dangerous was out there. It made no sense—she had shown no such fear until now, after all the minutes they’d been parked here.
The cruiser’s brake lights stayed on. Like a tossed coin, tumbling in the air. Stay or go.
The brake lights went out.
The officer goosed the vehicle forward.
And brought it around in a tight U-turn.
Its headlights lit up the world, filling the Land Rover’s cab with harsh glare that made Dryden squint.
The effect on Claire was immediate. She turned the key in the ignition and shoved the selector into drive.
“What are you doing?” Dryden shouted.
Claire had not taken her foot off the brake yet. She turned to Dryden, and when she spoke, her voice was saturated with fear. “Get back in
“What?” Dryden said.
“I had no intention to involve you in all this,” Claire said softly. “Not for something random like the guy in the trailer, and not for the rest of this, either. I never meant to drag you into it at all.”
“Then why did you?”
Claire’s eyes went back to the machine.
“I didn’t, actually,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
Claire started to respond, but stopped. A pair of headlights broke into view to the south, coming up 395 in the same direction Dryden and Claire had driven a few minutes before. The vehicle’s outline was just visible against the dim sky—a low shape with a light-bar on its roof. A police cruiser.
None of its flashers were on. The car was going the speed limit, maybe a little faster. Nothing about it suggested urgency or purpose. Just a random patrol.
“Shit,” Claire whispered.
She closed the plastic case, blacking out the glow of the tablet screen and plunging the Land Rover’s cab into darkness. Already its headlights and instrument panel were off. Along with Dryden’s Explorer, the Land Rover sat two hundred feet off the road where the cop would pass. The two vehicles were unlikely to be visible to the officer, though they would have to arouse suspicion if they were spotted.
Closing in now, the cruiser passed through a long, gentle curve where the road skirted some shallow rise in the desert. Dryden had hardly noticed the curve when he’d driven it himself. He noticed it now because it sent the police cruiser’s high beams swinging ten degrees west of the highway, out into the darkness where he and Claire were parked. An unwitting searchlight.
The brightest portion of the beams came nowhere near the two parked vehicles, but the beams’ periphery cast a faint glow through the nearby scrub, setting shadows beneath each chaparral bush. Dryden instinctively looked down to keep his eyes from shining. Claire did the same. Nothing could be done about the reflective metal and glass of the two SUVs.
Claire’s fingertips drummed on the wheel, the uncharacteristic tension running through her again.
“It’s not a problem if he sees us,” Dryden said.
“It’s a big problem.”
“We’re seventy miles from the trailer. There’s nothing to connect us to it.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about.”
“What, then?” Dryden asked.
Claire didn’t answer. She raised her eyes just enough to watch the cruiser coming on. It was a few hundred yards south now, its headlights finally swinging back onto the road as it moved beyond the curve. A few seconds later, without slowing, it blasted by and continued north into the darkness.
Then its brake lights came on.
Claire’s breath hissed out like air from a ruptured pneumatic line.
The cruiser came to a stop. For five seconds it just sat there in the road, maybe three hundred yards to the north, its taillights glowing. Like the officer was weighing the decision. Wondering if he’d really seen something.
In the same moment, Claire did something Dryden couldn’t understand. She ignored the cruiser entirely and turned her gaze on the surrounding desert. She scanned the darkness, her eyes going everywhere, as if she suddenly believed something dangerous was out there. It made no sense—she had shown no such fear until now, after all the minutes they’d been parked here.
The cruiser’s brake lights stayed on. Like a tossed coin, tumbling in the air. Stay or go.
The brake lights went out.
The officer goosed the vehicle forward.
And brought it around in a tight U-turn.
Its headlights lit up the world, filling the Land Rover’s cab with harsh glare that made Dryden squint.
The effect on Claire was immediate. She turned the key in the ignition and shoved the selector into drive.
“What are you doing?” Dryden shouted.
Claire had not taken her foot off the brake yet. She turned to Dryden, and when she spoke, her voice was saturated with fear. “Get back in
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