Thomas Perry - Runner

"You know this route that well?"

"I've driven it plenty of times. Even before the security at airports got serious, it wasn't always a good idea to take a plane. There were always too many people who got a chance to see your face, too many times when you had to give a false name. And when you get on an airplane, there's not much you can do about who gets on with you. So I've always tried to use the highways when there was time. Turn right up here. Now keep going straight. There will be a big sign on the left that says DILL'S. The parking lot is next to it."

Christine said, "This is going to be the best place around here?"

"Best for us."

"For us?"

"Two women driving west, one of whom is being hunted. Picking where you're willing to stop is a good skill to learn. Find places that cater to people who look just like you, if you can. You don't want to stand out any more than you have to. Dill's is a place where local people go, which means the food is dull but safe. It's too far from the main highways to get much of the passing traffic. The rest-rooms are very clean. That's a big sign. It means that there's somebody in charge who cares about the business. If something seems to be threatening to one of his customers—meaning you—he's going to try to help."

Christine found the restaurant, and drove into the parking lot. Jane said, "Park between those two big SUVs. They hide the car from the road."

She maneuvered the car into the space Jane had indicated, and Jane said, "Now before you turn off the engine, look around. Is there somebody visible who seems to be watching every car that arrives, or has a particular interest in us?"

"Not that I can see."

"Good. Anything else that feels odd?"

"I don't think so. Does what I feel matter?"

"Absolutely. Your fear is the best thing you have right now. Use it. Listen to it. Always give yourself a few seconds to let those feelings come to you. If you feel things aren't right, then they aren't. How does it feel here?"

"Comfortable. Easy," said Christine. "It reminds me of the places my dad used to take my mother and me when I was little."

"The reasons your father picked a place like this are complicated, but they're essentially the same. He wasn't going to take a woman and a child into a place that wasn't safe or where they'd feel conspicuous. Now, what if you and I are both wrong about this place? Or what if things change quickly? If you know in advance what you plan to do, then you'll be able to do it efficiently. If the four come, can they block the exit?"

"Not really. If they tried, I can drive over the lawn to the street in a second."

"Heading where?"

"I'd take any direction that was clear, but I think I'd try to go that way if I had a choice." She pointed to the right.

"What's there?"

"If you make a right turn, you're hardly ever held up waiting to do it. And I think that's the way to the center of town. There will be people, maybe a police station."

"That is the way downtown. Very good." They got out of the car and walked to the front entrance of the restaurant. "When we get inside, read the place and the people for me."

They went in and a plump middle-aged waitress with red hair and smile lines around her eyes and mouth stepped up to them, taking long strides in rubber-soled shoes. She pulled two menus out of a rack near the door, and said, "This way, ladies." She stopped at a table near the side windows of the restaurant and said, "Is this okay?"

Jane looked at Christine.

"Sure," said Christine.

They sat down and watched the waitress disappear, and then Jane said, "Tell me. What do I need to know about this place?"

"I don't see any scary people. They all look like my aunts and uncles. The exits are through the back of the room by the restrooms, and the front."

"Where else?"

"That's it."

"No, it isn't. If you go through the kitchen you'll see a back door. They have to have a back way for deliveries and to take out the garbage. Even if you don't see it, you know there is one."

Christine looked at her closely. "You did have a nightmare, didn't you?"

"It was a reminder. I've got to give you everything I can, as quickly as possible. From now on, you've got to be careful every second. There aren't any decisions that don't matter. One choice makes you safer, and the other makes you less safe. If you can tell which is which, your chances go way up. You have to get out of certain habits. Pretty young girls are taught to enjoy being noticed, and, if possible, remembered. Beginning now you want to be overlooked and forgotten."

"It's going to get harder as I get bigger and bigger."

"When the baby comes, the attention will end. Babies are all adorable and interesting. People's eyes are drawn to them, and they can't stare at both of you easily. Men in particular will stop looking at you. Their motives are pretty predictable, and when they see a baby, it will trip a switch that says you're not available for what they have in mind, so their eyes will move on. At this stage, all you need to think about are three things: Is this place safe? How do I keep from being noticed? How do I keep from leaving tracks?"

"Leaving tracks?"

"Everywhere a person goes, he leaves a trail. People see him. He has to pay for food, clothing, and shelter. At the moment I don't think the four know where you are, because we put a break in the trail. The longer you can stay invisible, the harder it will be to pick you up again. If you do everything right, it will be nearly impossible. You don't use any name if you can help it, travel at night, pay cash for everything you can."

A few other customers came in and sat nearby, so Jane and Christine ordered lunch and ate in near silence, talking only occasionally in quiet tones about the weather, the traffic, and the restaurant. Then Jane paid in cash for their food, and in moments she had steered the car back onto the road again. "Tell me about your dream," said Christine.

Jane kept her eyes on the road. "When I'm doing this—taking a runner out—I suppose I'm agitated. I have lots of dreams."

"Sharon told me that dreams are part of your religion."

Jane glanced at her. "Yours, too."

"I suppose so," said Christine. "But Sharon told me you took them seriously."

"I do."

"Are you religious?"

"No," Jane said. "I'd say that I'm a pretty staunch atheist until it gets dark. Then I'm not so sure. How about you?"

"My mother raised me to be a devout person, but she died when I was seven, and that was the end of it. I sort of forgot about the whole thing. Maybe I'll go back to church when the baby is born. What do your dreams tell you?"

"If you're a religious Seneca, you believe a dream is either advice from a spirit guide—a supernatural being who cares about you—or your soul's way of expressing a wish or a need."

"Have you had any that might be messages?"

"I think that mine tend to be a guide telling me something I need to know, only the guide is my own brain."

"Huh?"

"When important things are happening, events sometimes move too fast for us to evaluate everything we see or hear. Later on, when we dream, our minds seem to point out to us things we didn't pay enough attention to while we were awake, or maybe didn't interpret right. Something can be tickling the backs of our minds, and the dream is our chance to look at it in a different way."

"So what did your last dream tell you?"

"That I need to pay attention."

"Where are we going?"

"West."

"Because of your dream?"

"Because the last time I saw the four, they were going east."

8

Jane drove for three hours and then let Christine drive again. They moved in the afternoon across the flat plain left by the receding prehistoric Great Lakes. They passed signs for Youngstown and Cleveland, Akron and Toledo. Soon the signs advised them of the distances to Detroit and Chicago. Christine said, "Are we headed for Chicago?"