“Jeez,” Glottis breathed, “that’s real bad. Hey!” he exclaimed. “Is that why we were fired? For getting in the way of the scam? We could be in big trouble, Manny!”
“Relax, Glottis,” I said. “We’re getting farther away from El Marrow all the time. No one knows where we are or what we’re doing except the LSA.”
“Can we trust them?”
“Well,” I said, “I trust Eva and Eva trusts Salvador. That’s good enough for me.”
“OK, Manny,” Glottis said. “I’ll trust you.”
The waitress brought Glottis’ food and my coffee. After I got some in me and Glottis was still stuffing his face I got up and walked over to the waitress as she fiddled with ketchup bottles and salt shakers behind the counter. “Slow night, huh?”
She shrugged. “About usual.”
“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a dump like this?”
She shot me an annoyed look and said, “Trying to earn some money to get me across the Land of the Dead. The DOD wouldn’t do nothin’ for me.”
The hash-slinger came around from behind the grill and said to the waitress, “This guy buggin’ you, Lola?”
“Nah, Eddie,” she said. “He’s OK.”
Eddie glowered at me as he retreated.
“I’m looking for a woman who’s kind of in your fix,” I said to Lola, “named Mercedes Colomar.”
Lola shook her head. “Never met anyone by that name,” she said.
“She goes by Meche,” I said. “Might’ve come though in the last day or so.” If she caught any breaks, that is.
Lola shook her head again. I sighed. “Well, thanks anyway,” I said and made to return to Glottis.
“Wait,” Lola said. “What’s your name, mister?”
“Calavera,” I answered. “Manny Calavera.”
“OK, Manny,” she said. “If I see this Meche woman I’ll tell her you’re looking for her. Maybe I can even send word to you.”
“I’ll be stopping in Rubacava if I don’t find her first.”
“Then stop first at the Rub-a-Mat when you get there,” Lola said. “That’s a diner, the first joint you’ll come across when you get into Rubacava. I sort of know the owner. If I see your Meche I’ll send word there.”
“That’d be great, Lola. Thanks,” I said.
“Sure thing, Manny,” Lola said.
“Are you nuts, Lola? That guy’s troubles ain’t yours,” I heard the cook say as I went back to my booth.
“Oh, shut up, Eddie,” Lola grumbled.
“Any luck?” Glottis asked when I sat back down across from him.
“No,” I said. “Maybe she’s ahead of us.”
“She’s gotta be behind us. I was doing 80 once we got on that road.”
“It took us a while to get through the forest,” I reminded him.
“Manny, we averaged about 15 in the forest. Just how fast do you think Miss Colomar can walk, anyway?”
“Just think positively,” I said.
“OK, Manny,” he sighed. Then he yawned.
“C’mon buddy,” I said. “Let’s check out that motel.”
“Sure,” he said, getting up.
We spent the rest of the night in the Bone Wagon. All the motels we came across between El Marrow and Rubacava were just mercenary, it seemed; and Glottis needed food more than he needed a soft bed, although his back wasn’t convinced of that.
I asked about Meche wherever we stopped. Glottis thought it was crazy, but I knew that sometimes walkers get lucky and hitch rides from car owners or sympathetic demon bus drivers. More importantly (since Meche’s post-mortem luck wasn’t looking bankable so far) I made contacts and maybe one of them might let me know later on if they ever came across Meche.
I got an unpleasant surprise at one of the last stops before Rubacava. It was just a gas station and lunch counter. The guy running it said he hadn’t seen any Mercedes Colomar, but then he said, “You know, you’re not the first to ask me about this twist.”
I quickly put my cup of coffee down before I could drop it. “You’re kidding me, right?” I asked hopefully.
“Nope,” the guy said. “It was just the other day. I remember because I’ve never heard of anyone being named ‘Mercedes’ before. Thought that was just cars.”
“Depends on where you’re from,” I said. “So who was asking about her?”
The guy shrugged. “Never got his name,” he said. “He was a big guy, built like a football player or something.” An icy feeling seeped into my marrow. “Supposed he was the boyfriend or something. People hunt for wives and girlfriends all the time after they come over. Never understood that, myself. A while back this little rat of a man was hunting for his wife. I told him to forget the old bird and be glad he got away without having to pay alimony. Didn’t listen, the jackass.”
Does this guy ever shut up when he has nothing to say? I said, “Yeah, well, what happened to the guy that was looking for Meche?”
“Oh, he went back down the road. Guess he was giving up. Good for him if he was.”
I shivered a little. I would have been cooked if I had met up with Domino. I wondered how he missed us, though. The Bone Wagon wasn’t exactly the standard DOD-issue bathtub.
I paid the guy for the coffee, the gas, and the hotdog I took to Glottis. He was poking around the Bone Wagon’s engine. I handed him the hotdog and said, “Bad news, carnal.”
“No Miss Colomar,” he said. “Surprise.” The hotdog vanished.
“Worse,” I said. “Domino was here.”
“Mr. Hurley?” Glottis asked, his eyes going wide. “D’ya think he was looking for Miss Colomar, too?”
“I know he was. She’s a loose thread.”
“Yeah,” Glottis said, “and you’re a loose cannon. What do you suppose will happen if you two meet up in Rubacava?”
I shook my head. “Domino turned back.”
“He’s got the right idea,” Glottis said. “Miss Colomar can’t be ahead of us.”
“I think we’re on the right track,” I countered. “It’s a sign he’s getting desperate that he’s doubling back.”
“But, Manny—” Glottis began.
“Don’t say it,” I said. “I know how fast we’re going. But we stop every night so you can sleep. A soul in its own car won’t necessarily stop. Remember that guy we met up with twice? And buses just make brief stops. At least five have passed us.”
“Yeah,” Glottis said. “Miss Colomar could’ve hitched a ride, I suppose.”
“That’s right,” I said. “Anyway, we don’t even know what route she’s taking. There are a lot of ways to get to to Rubacava so we might be up against a long search, especially if she does end up walking the whole distance. We need a base to operate from, carnal, and that’s Rubacava. Sal and Eva aren’t sitting on their thumbs in El Marrow, so let Domino run around in between like a headless chicken.”
“OK, Manny. I guess that makes sense,” he said. “Mostly,” he added under his breath.
The Town that Never Dies
We only had one more stop that night before reaching Rubacava at the crack of dawn the next day. We roared into the parking lot beside a building with a three-story tower at one end shaped like a cactus: the Rub-a-Mat according to what I’d been told along the way.
“Hello!” Glottis hollered as he raced the Bone Wagon’s engine. “Miss Colomar!” I climbed down from my seat and walked up to Glottis. “We’re here to save you!”
“Hey, lay off the racket, will you?” I shouted over the engine. “The whole town’s asleep!”
“But I wanna drag race!” He protested, finally letting the engine idle. “When they get a load of my car, we’re gonna be the talk of the town!”