It was time to call Ernie.

* * *

A plain four-door sedan lurked in the northwest corner of the complex facing the restaurant. The two FBI agents inside the sedan watched Amber park her car and walk into the restaurant.

“Looks like her daughter’s with her.”

“Yep.”

“Now we wait.”

“Yep.”

Their wait wasn’t long. Five minutes later, Amber Sheldon marched across the parking lot and slid into her car.

“Here we go, she’s on the move.” At a safe distance, they followed her onto Highway 99 heading south. After three miles or so, she used her turn signal and exited the highway at a convenience-store gas station. Screened by mature eucalyptus trees, they stopped on the exit ramp. The driver watched through field glasses as Amber pulled into the gas station’s parking lot and climbed out. She walked over to a pay phone on the side of the building and stood there, as if waiting for a call. Like a bad actress trying to look impatient, she kept glancing at her watch every few seconds. The agent on the passenger side pointed a clear, sixteen-inch parabolic mike at Sheldon’s location and donned a headset.

“She’s waiting for a call,” the driver said.

“Yep.”

Somewhat irritated, the driver asked, “You ever say anything other than yep?”

“Nope.”

“Funny. Real funny.”

“What the hell?” the driver said. He watched Amber Sheldon reach up to her head and pull off a blond wig, exposing dark-brown hair. She held it high in the air and waved it like a flag. “Shit. We’ve been had. That’s not Amber Sheldon, it’s her daughter.”

* * *

Would the real Amber Sheldon please stand up? Driving her supervisor’s car, she grinned as she pulled into the McDonald’s driveway seven miles north of Pete’s Truck Palace. Her smile faded as she realized this trick only worked once. She kept telling herself she was doing it for Janey, but she had plans for McBride’s fifty grand. Even if she never got the million-dollar reward for Leonard and Ernie, McBride’s money wasn’t peanuts. Had it not been for Janey, she would’ve told Nathan McBride and his FBI pals to stuff it. With a little luck, this would all be over tonight and she believed in her heart she was doing the right thing. When the pay phone rang, she quickly picked up the receiver.

“Ernie?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Thanks a lot for everything. My life’s turned to shit.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about Janey?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking me that! Were you a part of my life? Were you ever going to be? You never gave a shit about me, it was always about you, what you wanted.”

“I had a right to know.”

“You disappeared after you got out of prison. I can count on one hand the number of times you called to ask how I was.”