“Yeah.”
“Take it easy for a minute.”
Penny walked around the front of the camper to survey the damage. The spare tire, which was fastened to the front, had hit the tree. The tired looked flat, but there was little damage to the camper, itself. It was probably drivable. Penny wasn’t sure this was a good outcome, but she remembered what she wanted to do.
She went back to Alfred’s door and said, “I think it’s okay. Rest for another minute. I’ll check the back.”
She ran around to the back, making sure that Alfred stayed in his seat. She removed the paper with their names printed on it from her pocket and unfolded it. Then she took out the duct tape from underneath her sweater. She quickly tore off four pieces of tape and secured the four corners of the sheet to the back of the camper. She hoped that Gary or the police would see it and be able to read it.
She went back to Alfred’s door. “Let me look at your forehead.”
“My head’s all right.”
He sounded angry.
“Let me at least wash it off.”
“Leave it alone.”
Did he blame her for his injury? Alfred wiped his forehead, smearing the blood on his hand. He pulled his handkerchief, already dark with Penny’s clotted blood, out of his pocket and wiped his hand with it. That wasn’t sanitary.
“Let me drive. You need to rest for awhile.”
Driving would give her more control. She wasn’t sure Alfred was competent to drive right now. Especially downhill on a winding, potholed dirt road with trees, cliffs, and ditches.
“I’m driving.”
Alfred shifted the camper into reverse to back away from the tree. Penny got out of the way. He gunned the engine and released the hand brake. The wheels spun, sending a spray of loose dirt into the bottom of the camper. It inched away from the tree. The tires found traction and the camper surged backward. Penny thought it would go into the ditch on the other side of the road. Alfred jammed on the brakes and managed to stop it just in time.
He sat for a few seconds, breathing heavily. He wiped some more blood from his forehead. Then he seemed to remember Penny. He looked at her and said, “Get in.”
Penny didn’t want to get in. She didn’t want to die in a car accident any more than she wanted to die by a knife or a gun. If she ran into the woods right now, was Alfred in good enough shape to chase her? She was afraid he was. She really didn’t have any choice in the matter.
She went to the right side of the camper. She couldn’t open the passenger door because the door lock was still taped down. The damage from the tree had bent the frame slightly. It might not be possible to open it even if the tape were removed. She tried the sliding door, but that was also locked. She went back to the driver’s side and told Alfred.
“Climb over me.”
Why should she have to climb over him? “Get up and unlock the sliding door. Or get out and let me get in this door.”
He again told her to climb over him. He wasn’t about to move from his seat. Was he that badly hurt, or did he think that she would drive off, either with him or without him? She had been considering doing just that. Could he read her mind?
Exasperated, Penny climbed over him. It wasn’t easy. She considered accidentally elbowing his wound but decided that would only make him angrier. Instead, she brushed her breasts across his face to see how he would react. He didn’t react at all. With grim satisfaction she planted herself in her seat.
She hoped he wouldn’t kill them both. She said, “I suggest you use first or second gear to let the engine help hold the speed down.”
Alfred started off slowly, but soon he was going faster and had to brake almost continuously. Penny saw that he was in third gear. She told him to downshift into second. He ignored her. She held on for dear life as they bounced down the hill, on the razor’s edge of control. This was a lot scarier than the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland. She hoped the brakes wouldn’t fail.
By the time they reached a level section close to Route 1, Penny was mentally promising sacrifices to the gods in exchange for her life. Alfred stopped the camper, and she had a chance to compose herself. He shut off the engine and took the key. The battery had regenerated enough to start the camper now. His forehead was still bleeding a little, giving him the look of an injured combatant, but he seemed to be in possession of his faculties.
He got up and looked in the storage cabinet. What was he doing?
“What are you looking for?”
“Duct tape.”
The roll of duct tape was under her sweater. What did he want it for? Was he going to tape her legs? Should she play dumb? She didn’t want her legs taped. He looked at her, accusingly. If he searched her, he would want to know why she had the tape. And if he got suspicious and went outside the camper, he might find the sign.
She figured it was better to have her legs taped than to have him find the sign. When he looked in the storage cabinet again, she quickly pulled the roll of tape out from under her sweater and placed it on the floor just behind her seat.
She let Alfred search for a few more seconds. Then she got up, saying, “I’ll help you look.”
She scanned the inside of the camper with her eyes, as if she were looking for the tape. Then she picked the roll of tape up from the floor. “Here it is. It must have fallen to the floor and rolled behind the seat.”
Alfred looked dubious, but he took the tape from her.
“Get on the bed.”
“What? I’m the navigator.” She hadn’t figured on this. Hadn’t she won his trust?
“We have to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and pay a toll. I’ll release you after we go through San Francisco.”
“After all I’ve done for you? Do you remember last night…?”
“I’m sorry. I have to do it.”
He sounded contrite. She was prepared to argue, to go into detail about what they had done last night, talk until he gave in. But the first thing he taped was her mouth. He obviously didn’t want to hear about his shortcomings in bed. And this wasn’t the time to let him know that she could talk with her mouth taped.
Penny was raging. If she had known he would make her lie on the bed, she wouldn’t have produced the roll of tape. She lay on her back and kept her legs ramrod straight. She placed her hands together in front of her, hoping he would tape them in front rather than behind her. Then he couldn’t tape her hands to her legs.
It worked. He didn’t try to turn her over. He taped her hands in front. He covered her with a blanket, including her head. He did feel sorry about what he was doing to her. She had won a small victory.
CHAPTER 31
It was difficult for Gary to keep his concentration. After several hours, he was sure he had missed a car or two. He just hoped he hadn’t missed Penny. He had to go to the bathroom, but he was afraid if he deserted his post for even five minutes, it would be the wrong five minutes.
He had climbed over the guardrail and now leaned against a telephone pole on the cliff side of it, mainly because he didn’t trust the drivers of the cars coming around the curve. They cut it too close. A blue house beside him sat right on the edge of the cliff. It had a square turret with large windows that overlooked the bay. He saw a man look at him from a window, but nobody approached him on foot. The road was too narrow for walking here.
Saturday morning traffic was moderately heavy. Families were heading for the coast to enjoy a late summer camping weekend. Typical of the weekend crowd was the Volkswagen camper that had just come into view. Gary glanced at the driver, just to keep in practice. He immediately became alert. The driver looked familiar-was it Alfred? If so, there was something different about him. Something about his forehead. Nobody was sitting beside him.
Gary spun his head around as the camper went by, trying to read the license plate. There was a sign taped to the back, so he switched his attention to that. He had time to read the word “Penny.” The word below it might be “Alfred.” Penny and Alfred. It was a signal from Penny. She was inside the camper.