“Get up, lover,” she said. “You’ve got to get out of here now.”

He tugged on his clothes while she opened the window for him, and then he was out and slipping into the woods at the edge of the clearing. He did not linger this time, didn’t look at his watch or pause to listen for footsteps.

When he got to the storage building, he paused at the edge of the woods for a moment to be sure the way was safe. Across the green a hundred yards away he saw a light come on in a window. He moved quickly to his door and grasped the knob.

It wouldn’t turn. He crouched on the steps, put pressure on it, then examined the space he’d created to see if the crack was wide enough so he could jimmy the lock with his pocketknife.

Suddenly the door swung open, and Lonny Mann was standing above him in the doorway, grinning. “Hi, Ed.”

“Let me in.” Ed ducked low and barreled in under Lonny’s arm, as Lonny tried to lower it to hold him out. Ed closed the door behind him and set the lock. “That wasn’t funny,” he said.

“I think it was,” Lonny said. “I’ll bet it’s the first time I’ve laughed since that trip to Weldonville—you looking all wide-eyed and scared, like you got caught stealing something from somebody while he was away.”

Leonard was silent for a moment, thinking carefully about the consequences of the various things he could say. Finally he said, “I guess it’s time to get up anyway, so I will. You can go back to sleep for a while if you want.”

“I’d rather stay up while you tell me all about it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just got up to go to the outhouse. I thought I heard something, so I waited around a little to see if somebody was here who didn’t belong. But I didn’t see anybody. I thought I must have locked the door by accident.”

“Nope,” said Lonny Mann. “That was me. I locked it. Tell me about you and Charlotte.”

“There is no me and Charlotte.”

“Good,” said Lonny. “I’m relieved to hear that. It leaves the way clear for me.”

Leah had been following the Subaru since morning. They were heading south on Route 71 again, after taking detours that lasted most of the day. When she looked at the map on her phone, she thought they could be heading for Shreveport, Louisiana.

The ideal strategy for her would be to get a transponder onto their car. She had adapted the plan for the Subaru, but so far, when the Subaru had stopped, they’d never all left the car at once.