Double Jeopardy

51

8:25 P.M.

FORTUNATELY, SHE ANSWERED THE phone herself.

“Hello, Staci?”

“Oh my gosh. Travis? Is that really you?”

“Yes. Now listen—”

“Travis, where are you?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Travis, you’ve been in all the papers.”

“I know, honey. Listen—”

“Travis … those things they’re saying … They aren’t true, are they?”

“Of course not, honey—”

“Aunt Marnie says they are. She says she was always suspicious of you. She says it isn’t natural for a guy your age to be so interested in a teenage girl.”

That never prevented Aunt Marnie from accepting the money I gave her, Travis thought. He wondered if any of it got spent on Staci. “Sweetheart, listen to me. This is very important.”

“I knew something was wrong when you asked Doc and Jameel to break into your own apartment. Someone’s trying to hurt you, right?”

“Staci, just listen—”

“Tell me where you are, Travis. I’m coming.”

“No! Absolutely not! Now listen to me.” He heard her steady, expectant breathing as she quieted. “You’re right, people are trying to hurt me, and I’m afraid they might try to get at me through my friends and”—he swallowed—“loved ones. So I want you to leave Dallas.”

“Leave Dallas? Where would I go?”

“What about your uncle Jacko? In Oregon.”

“Uncle Jacko? He’s not even a real uncle.”

“Can you think of anyone else?”

Silence on the other end of the line.

“Jacko it is, then. Dan will make your travel arrangements.” He gave her the phone number. “If you need any money, use that credit card I gave you last year for emergencies.”

“What if Aunt Marnie won’t let me go?”

Travis swore silently. This was advice he hated to give. “Go anyway,” he said softly.

“Okay. Wow.”

“Are you writing all this down?”

“I can remember.”

He only hoped that was true. But at times her attention disorder was extremely pronounced—her powers of concentration were low and she couldn’t be expected to retain anything. “This is very important, honey. Don’t mess around. And don’t tell anyone where you’re going.”

“I don’t like this, Travis,” she said. “It’s not right running off when you’re in trouble.”

“It is right, honey. It’s the most right thing you can possibly do.” He exhaled, much relieved. “I can’t stay on this line any longer. I’m going to hang up.”

“Travis?”

“Yes?”

She stalled, apparently unable to say what she wanted to say. “Be careful.”

“I will.”

“If you don’t come see me soon, I’ll punch your lights out!”

“Understood.” He hung up the phone and climbed back in the car with Cavanaugh. “Now. We need to talk to that Elcon corporate president, but I suppose we’ll have to wait until morning. In the meantime, let’s find a safe place to catch some shut-eye. I wouldn’t object to getting something to eat, either.”

“Any suggestions?”

“No. I don’t know what’s safe.” He gripped the steering wheel tightly. “I don’t understand how these people keep finding me wherever I go.”

“Well, we have to stay somewhere, so pick a place.”

Travis shrugged. “Cheap motel.”

“Fine. Just don’t make it the Million Dollar.”

“Deal.” Travis glanced uneasily into the rearview mirror.

Cavanaugh leaned closer to him. “You think someone’s following us?”

Travis thought a long time before answering. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I just don’t know.”

“Did you get it?”

The technician pressed the headphones closer to his ears. “I think so. …”

Kramer slapped him brutally across the side of his face, knocking him out of his chair. “Don’t tell me what you think, goddamn it! I need results!”

The technician lay sprawled on the floor of the truck, stunned. “I’m—I’m sorry. I got it. Every word.”

“When is she leaving? Where is she going?”

Crawling back to his feet, the technician related everything he had heard.

“Then there’s still time.”

“Do you want me to arrange for some of the boys to meet her?”

“No,” Kramer replied. “I’ve depended on assistants far too much already. I’m going to take care of her myself.”

The technician tossed the headphones down beside the recorder. He felt nauseated—not from the blow, but from the thought of Kramer “taking care of” a teenage girl. “I don’t understand, sir. How will this help you find Byrne?”

“It won’t.” A wide, leering grin spread across his pocked face. “Byrne will come to me.”