She clapped her hands like a schoolgirl, jumped over the seat, and planted her lips to his rough cheek. “Thank you. I can’t wait to be clean again.” She settled back in her seat and counted the mile markers to the next town.
They found a corner store that seemed to have a little of everything. Like a mini Walmart, there was clothing for the whole family in a few aisles and groceries in the other.
“We won’t be here long. Don’t talk to anyone.”
Gwen made a keying motion on her lips and smiled. He handed her two twenties. “I’ll grab some food, you get whatever you need.”
She hopped out of the car and practically skipped inside the store. After grabbing a basket and finding the shampoo aisle, she bought a couple of travel size shampoo and conditioners, soap, and a razor. She walked past the hair dye and stopped. She found a washable tint in both brown and red, tossed them inside. Lip gloss, bug repellant. The important things.
A woman walked past her and Gwen pretended to read the back of one of the boxes.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d taken, so she headed to the register and noticed one more item she had to buy.
Condoms.
It never ceased to amaze Neil how people responded to the simple things in life after they’d done without them for a while.
Gwen’s smile lit up her face as they climbed back into the car.
“Get everything you need?” he asked.
“I’m sure I forgot something, but I managed the essentials.”
She unscrewed the cap of the small shampoo and brought it to her nose. “Lovely.” She pushed it in his face. “Smell.”
“Smells like you.”
“Not yet, but soon.”
He pulled out of the parking lot and watched the rearview mirror until they were back on the road. They’d find a hotel that wouldn’t ask questions and he’d make a phone call in the morning once they were far away from the place they slept.
It was time to start leading his prey.
Being the prey wasn’t an option.
Not any longer.
He still needed to work out how to keep Gwen far from the action when it went down. A couple of ideas swam inside his head, each nearly impossible for its own reason. He still had a few days to figure it out.
“You’re frowning. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“I’d love to believe you, but my guess is you’re trying to work out what to do next. We’ve left California, but we can’t run forever. Though a little while might be fun.”
He felt the frown on his face lifting. “You like running?”
“Come now, Neil, have you ever seen such a beautiful place in your life? I would never have seen this had you not dragged me out of the house in the middle of the night.”
“There’s nothing stopping you from taking a road trip.”
“When there are perfectly good airplanes to take me where I want to go? I would never have chosen to take a car.”
“Sometimes the journey is the destination.”
“Hmmm,” she hummed. “I like that. Anyway, you’re worried about what comes next. Am I right?”
“Worried, no,” he lied.
“Perplexed then?”
He didn’t answer.
“Sometimes talking about it helps you work it out.”
He couldn’t tell her he planned to find an ivory tower for her, lock her inside, and then go fight the bad guy. Neil didn’t think she’d sit back and let that happen. She was a lot better at the cloak-and-dagger life than he thought she’d be and would probably insist on coming along to help.
“Women talk, men think quietly.”
“Is that your way of telling me to stop talking?”
“When have I ever been that polite?”
She leaned against the seat back and smiled. “Oh, you’re quite right. You’d tell me to shut up if you didn’t want to hear me any longer.”
“Finally,” he said laughing. “The woman understands me.”
“The hell she does.”
His jaw dropped.
“What?” she asked.
“You said hell.”
“Of course I said hell. I’m not a prude. I did live with Eliza, you know. The woman can make a sailor blush when she wants to.”
Neil kinda liked that about Eliza. He supposed he admired her battle-tested spirit as well. Carter was a lucky man.
“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you profess you’re not a prude.”
She ran a hand through her hair that she’d left loose since they’d pulled away from the store. “Oh, why’s that?”
He nodded to the backseat. “I bought you something new to wear.”
Gwen’s face lit up, her grin nearly blinding him. Her seat belt was off and she was reaching in the back in seconds.
Her body stilled.
“What the?”
“You said you’re not a prude.”
She twisted back into her seat, his purchases in her hands. “You’re joking.”
The look of horror on her face brightened his. He for one couldn’t wait to see her in his choice of clothing.
“Are these shorts?” She lifted the teenybopper shorts that only sported enough material to cover one cheek modestly.
“Those are shorts.”
“They won’t cover my knickers, Neil.”
He’d seen her knickers. They’d cover a thong plenty.
The red and white checkered top was right off the queen of the Fourth of July parade.