Avedissian was about to close the bedroom door when he felt Harry tug at his trouser leg. The boy had spent the last hour being entertained in the kitchen by Minnie but had come through to check on things at intervals of never more than ten minutes. Avedissian picked him up and took him back into the room to look at Kathleen sleeping. The boy struggled slightly to be let down and Avedissian placed him back on the floor. He watched as Harry moved up slowly to the bed and touched Kathleen's hand gently. He turned to discover Avedissian's reaction and Avedissian smiled at him. 'You and me both,’ he said quietly.
'How is she?' asked Feldman at his back.
'Sleeping peacefully,’ said Avedissian.
Innes reflected on the day as he drove on through the gathering darkness. It had been well worthwhile having a talk to the cashier at the gas station. A bit of flattery and a ten-dollar bill and the jerk had remembered that the Englishman had seemed distracted on the night in question. It was not until the story had broken afterwards, said the man, that he had realised that it had been a police car coming into the station that had worried him.
To Innes this had been a gem of information, a golden nugget. If the Englishman had suffered a fright at the gas station the chances were that he would have left the freeway at the first available opportunity. He, Innes, would do the same. The jerk had also volunteered the information that 'a couple of other guys' had been asking about the Englishman that morning. They had wanted to know which direction he had gone off in. 'What did you tell them?' Innes had asked. 'North,’ the man had replied.
Guessing at an average speed and knowing the time that the Englishman had left the gas station he had made an estimate of where he and the O'Neill woman would have been at around breakfast-time, assuming they had in fact left the freeway at the first turn-off. He had found the correct diner at the third attempt.
The waitress had been a bonus: not only had she known what direction the English folks had gone off in, she had known exactly where they had been going.
The Lehman woman had been a bit of a disappointment, however, with her story of St Louis, Missouri. There was just no way that the Englishman was going to head south through Kansas again in that car of his. The question was, which way would he be heading? A rough calculation of the mileage since the gas station on the freeway said that he must have been running low on fuel when he left the Lehman place. A local gas station perhaps?
The Englishman had been remembered at the second gas station he had asked at. He had bought a route map and was heading north. If he had bought a route map he must have been planning to travel long distances on country roads.
Innes slowed as he saw an obstruction ahead in the road. A break-down truck and a police patrol vehicle were blocking the way ahead. A patrolman stepped out in the road and waved him down. Innes opened the window and waited for the explanation.
'Won't keep you long,' said the policeman. 'We're just pulling a vehicle out of the field. Goddam joy-riders!'
Innes smiled and nodded. It was his policy to say as little as possible in an accent that would immediately mark him out as being different. Anonymity was to be courted at all times. It was the reason he had been so successful over the years. No one ever remembered him.
He watched idly as the winch on the recovery truck hauled the car out of the field, then the smile faded from his face and his hands gripped the wheel tightly. This car had not been abandoned by joy-riders. He knew this car. He knew it very well. Perhaps its occupants were nearby… The patrolman waved him on.
Minnie put Harry to bed and then served dinner for Avedissian and Feldman. At any other time Avedissian would have enjoyed the meal, for the food was good and the company congenial, but the circumstances of his current predicament destroyed his appetite and weighed heavily on his mind. 'Have you decided?' he asked Feldman.
Feldman played briefly with his fork before saying, 'I'm not going to call the police. Whoever you three are, you seem to care about each other an awful lot so I just can't believe you've done anything too bad. When your wife is ready to travel I'll run you over to Ames and you can make your own arrangements from there.'
Thanks,' said Avedissian. It came from the heart. His appetite returned and he ate what was in front of him with new relish. He did not even feel nervous when the phone rang.
Minnie came into the room and said, 'It's Marty, Doc.' Feldman left to take the call. Minnie cleared away Avedissian's plate and asked, 'How was it?'
'Best meal I've eaten in a long time,' replied Avedissian.
Minnie flushed with pleasure and said, 'Pity your wife wasn't well enough to enjoy it too.'
Feldman came back into the room. He waited until Minnie had gone out with the dishes before saying urgently, 'That was Marty, the man who brought you here. He said that the police have pulled a car out of a field a few miles down the road. They thought some kids had dumped it there after stealing it, but when they checked out the plates they found it had been taken from Kansas City by an English couple who are wanted for murder. They think that they must be in the area. Marty remembered that you were English. He rang to point that out. It is your car isn't it?'
Avedissian confirmed it.
'You killed someone?' asked Feldman as if unwilling to believe it himself.
'Only to stop him killing us,' replied Avedissian.
'Surely, if it was self-defence, you should give yourselves up and tell the police everything?' said Feldman.
Avedissian shook his head and said, 'Believe me. It isn't that simple. A whole lot of people want us dead. In some ways the police are the least of our worries.'
Feldman shrugged and said, 'The "least of your worries" could be here real soon.'
'We'll have to get out of here,' said Avedissian.
'If you must go, leave your wife and the boy.'
'They are in danger too,' said Avedissian. 'We'll all have to go-'
'How?'
Avedissian looked embarrassed. He said, 'I'm afraid I am going to have to ask for your car.'
Feldman shrugged in resignation and did not force Avedissian to elaborate on what he meant. He said, The keys are on the table by the door, I put gas in it this morning.'
'I'm sorry. I really am,' said Avedissian.
'I'll have Minnie get the boy ready,' said Feldman.
Avedissian woke Kathleen gently and found to his relief that she was not too sleepy from the medication. 'We'll have to go,' he whispered. 'Can you stand?'
Feldman and Minnie looked at the pathetic trio at the door and stood back to let them pass. 'I hope you know what you are doing,' said Feldman.
'I can assure you we don't have an alternative,' said Avedissian. 'Thanks for everything.'
As they walked down the path Feldman called after them, 'If it's any comfort, Minnie and I are going to bed now. We'll find the car gone… in the morning.'
Avedissian helped Kathleen into the back of Feldman's car and put Harry in beside her to cuddle up tight. He did not look back as they drove off.
Kathleen was lucid but felt tired. The snake bite and the subsequent anti-serum therapy had taken their toll in physical terms and the thought of yet another night of travelling on the run had brought her spirits to a low ebb. She had her arm round Harry but her head rested against the window and she gazed idly out at the night as they headed for the far edge of town.
Avedissian slowed as they came to a crossroads, and she idly took in the name of the bar on the corner, 'The Nitelite'. There was a man coming out of it. He was wearing a raincoat and looked, at once, strangely incongruous yet familiar. How ridiculous, she thought and then, as the man looked directly back at her, she screamed.