She grabbed the back of the seat. “They can’t have gone far. You have to catch up with them.”

Williams hit the accelerator. DeLucca turned to gaze at Nealy’s now flat stomach, but she didn’t ask any questions. What was the point? She already knew the truth.

They were on a wider residential street now, but there was no sign of the Winnebago. Nealy guessed Lucy was heading for the highway.

“Turn right at the intersection.”

“Are you sure you don’t want the police, Mrs. Case?” Williams asked.

“No. Lucy might panic.”

Nealy ignored the glance the agents exchanged. He’d called her by her real name, and she hadn’t denied it. Her glorious adventure had ended the moment Mat had told her how he earned his living.

They spotted the Winnebago at the edge of town. Lucy was driving under the speed limit, but she was having a hard time steering the cumbersome vehicle, and she kept creeping toward the center line. The blood in Nealy’s veins turned to ice.

“My daughter took my car once when she was fourteen,” DeLucca said. “It was about the same time my hair started to turn gray.”

Nealy dug her fingernails into her palms. “Right now I feel like I’m eighty.”

“Kids’ll do that to you. I’m Toni, by the way. Jason’s driving.”

She acknowledged the introductions with a distracted nod. “Try to pull up so she can see me, but whatever you do, don’t scare her by putting on a siren.”

The road was fairly straight and traffic blessedly light. Before long, Jason was able to ease into the other lane. As he drew alongside the Winnebago, Nealy saw Lucy. She was staring straight ahead, and she had what looked like a death grip on the steering wheel.

“Oh, God, don’t honk!”

“I’ll pull in front to slow her down,” he said. “Just relax, Mrs. Case. Everything’s going to be fine.”

She wanted to scream that he had no way of knowing that.

He slipped in front of the Winnebago and slowed. Nealy twisted around to look out the rear window, but Lucy’s eyes were fixed straight ahead, and she didn’t see her.

Mabel drew closer, then closer still. Brake! Put on the brakes!

She gasped as Lucy swerved toward the shoulder. She seemed to be fighting the wheel, but she got Mabel back in the lane. She looked terrified.

Jason tapped the horn, and Lucy finally saw Nealy gesturing through the back window.

She hit the brakes hard.

Nealy gasped as the motor home fishtailed. Lucy jerked the wheel, and it fishtailed again. The tires hit the shoulder and gravel sprayed. Finally, the vehicle shuddered and jerked to a stop.

Nealy remembered how to breathe.

Within seconds, she was out of the car and racing toward the motor home with Toni and Jason following. She lunged for the door handle, but it was locked.