Kelley Armstrong - Exit Strategy

He pulled out of the lot in a gray rental. I noted his license number and details of the vehicle itself, then waited until he was nearly out of sight before pursuing.

I followed the car along the highway, up the off-ramp and through the city streets. I stayed far enough back that he never saw me, but close enough that I never lost sight of him.

Finally, the car turned into a city-run parking lot. I pulled down a side alley, only to discover that I couldn’t see the sidewalk or the parking lot. No time to find a better place. I hurried from the car and crept alongside the building.

Near the end of the alley I dug into my purse and found what I wanted. Then I eased as close as I dared to the end of the alley, lifted the open makeup compact and angled the mirror.

The only people I saw were two elderly men heading toward me and a trio of teenage boys skateboarding in the opposite direction.

I was thinking of circling back when I caught a movement at the parking lot exit. A middle-aged executive, silver-haired, clean-shaven and bespectacled, briefcase swinging purposefully at his side. I sized him up against the man from the jail…then stepped back into the alley. Now I knew why he’d lingered in his car.

As I watched through my mirror, he crossed the road and marched away from me. A scant twenty feet later, he turned right, opened a door and went in. I eased out for a better look at his destination. A coffee shop.

It shouldn’t take him more than two minutes to grab takeout. Five minutes passed. Obviously, he wasn’t getting his coffee to go. Time for my own quick-change routine.

I zipped down the alley and came out on the main thoroughfare. The first promising shop I saw was a drugstore with a window display of tourist wear. Good enough. Three oversized sweatshirts, one ball cap, cold cream, a scrunchie and a bag of penny candy, and I was flying back to my car.

All three sweatshirts went on over my skintight sweater, bulking me up, schlepping me down and giving me ample room to hide my gun. Wig off. Hair pulled back in a tiny ponytail that disappeared under the ball cap. Cold cream on; makeup off.

I knew enough to take off my watch and hoop earrings. But when it came to my ankle boots, I was stuck. All I could do was pull my jean cuffs over them.

Then I returned to my spot at the end of the alley, crossed the road, fell in behind two women close to my age and proceeded past the coffee shop window. One sideways look was all I permitted myself. My would-be killer sat just beyond the window, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

I ducked down the first side road and checked behind the restaurant for alternate exits. There was an emergency door, but it was unlikely he’d risk setting off an alarm. So I circled back to my alley, took out my bag of candy and settled in to wait.

Thirty minutes later, I was still waiting.

I’d slipped past the coffee-shop window a couple of times to reassure myself the man hadn’t left. But there he was, either determined to read that paper from cover to cover, or waiting for someone.

Evelyn had expected me to pick her up twenty minutes ago. Had I been in active pursuit of a potential killer, I could be forgiven for not swinging by to grab her. But now, hiding in the shadows, I had no excuse…beyond the fact that I hadn’t ruled her out as a suspect.

If I called and said, “Hey, I’m across the road from a guy who tried to kill me,” she could tell him to sneak out and finish the job. Or come and do it herself. And that’s why I needed to phone her-to test my suspicions.

Evelyn picked up on the first ring.

“There better be a good excuse for this,” she said before I could get a word out. “I’m freezing my ass off out here.”

“You’d better get inside,” I whispered. “Find someplace warm. I-”

“What? Talk into the mouthpiece, Dee. That’s what it’s there for.”

“I’m whispering-”

“What?”

A notch higher. “I need to be quiet.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Wait, let me see if I can adjust the volume on this thing.” Pause. “There. Now, what’s going on? Is there a problem? Did you get to see Volkv?”

“No.”

“No to what? No, there’s not a problem? Or no, you didn’t see Volkv?”

I considered hanging up but, after another check of the street, I said, “Someone tried to stop me. Permanently.”

“Christ, Dee, you’ve been hanging around Jack too long. Speak in full sentences. Someone tried to-” She stopped. “Shit. Where are you?”

“Following him. He’s having coffee.”

“Good, good. How long has he been there?”

“Almost an hour.”

“He’ll be waiting to make his call, then. To report his failure. Where exactly are you?”

I gave her the name of the town and coffee shop.

It took Evelyn twenty minutes to arrive.

“Still there?” she whispered as she crept up the alley toward me.

“I think so. I’ve done three walk-bys, but I’m afraid of being too obvious.”

“I’ll take a turn, then. What am I looking for?”

I described him. She nodded and headed for the street.

Two minutes later, as she headed back toward me, the coffee shop door opened and the man walked out. I slipped back into the shadows. As soon as Evelyn appeared at the corner, I waved her over.

“He’s-” I whispered.

“Yes, I know. Stay-”

I swung past her, slid to the end of the alley and pulled the compact from my pocket. Through it, I watched the man stride into a phone booth. He dropped his briefcase, picked up the receiver and dialed.

Evelyn appeared at my side.

“Making a phone call?” she said, without even glancing in the compact mirror.

I nodded.

“Does star-69 work at pay phones?” she whispered.

“No idea.”

“Damn. Probably no time anyway. Where’s he parked?”

I hitched a thumb in the direction. “Half a block down, on this side. The main exit is off this road.”

“Here’s the plan, then. We’re ending this here. I’m going straight down this road, and you’re going to circle around the back way-over the curb, through an alley, whatever will get you out on the other side. Then you’ll wait for my signal. If you don’t see me, let him go. That means it isn’t safe. There’s only one way out of town, so if he leaves, we can catch up with him. Now where’s my car?”

I paused. Considered her “plan”…and how much sense it made.

“One lot to the west,” I lied.

“Keys?”

I made a show of searching for them, knowing she’d given me the backup set and still had hers.

“I have mine,” she said after a moment. “Just go.”

I drove to the lot where Evelyn was hurrying along the rows, her keys in hand, her lips moving in silent curses as she searched for her car.

I didn’t have time for this. Every moment I delayed was another moment for my target to escape. I should have left her here. I’d wanted to. The moment she’d given me the instructions, I knew she was planning to give me the slip and go after my pursuer herself, and I’d wanted so badly to say, “Fine, then,” take her car and peel out after him myself, leaving her where she’d planned to leave me-stranded in some no-name town.

I’d have been justified in doing so. Jack would have agreed. But letting Evelyn out of my sight wouldn’t be the smart move. After this, I trusted her less than ever. All the more reason to keep her at my side, where I could watch her.

So, I forced myself to turn into that lot, unclenched my hands from the wheel, forced my frustation-my rage-down, pulled up alongside her and put down the passenger window. She shook her head and reached for the door handle. I hit the lock button.