I pulled onto the road and motored away. The sky had cleared a bit more and the moon threw a thin illumination across the land. I rounded a slight curve in the highway and saw before me a long straightaway cleaving through the forest and swamps. I reflected on how things had worked out this evening. I hadn’t made contact with Sweet Thang, but Truman had found his granddaughter, and I’d had a great time. I only wish it had been Leon and Junior there at the lot. But there would be other nights. As the saying goes: Hope springs eternal.

I was pretty sure Rainwater had enough sense to know that his granddaughter would have to go into hiding. He was going to have to watch his back trail, too. But somehow or other, I had the feeling Brother Rainwater knew how to handle himself. As for me, I’d check those other places in my search for Sweet Thang. And if I had to, I’d change cars. In fact, it was a good idea that I rent another car for my next foray.

I don’t think Dewayne had gotten a look at what I was driving, but it was a good bet the girls had. And I was pretty certain they were going to be as helpful as possible to Dewayne and his superiors. I came to a stop at a crossroads and then continued on.

In the far distance, a set of headlights appeared in my rearview mirror—they were closing fast. I held my speed at five miles an hour above the limit. If it were a cop he wouldn’t pull me over for speeding—and this time, all the lights on the car were in working order.

The car came on rapidly until it was a couple of car lengths behind. It held there for half a minute with its lights, irritatingly, on high beam. Then, he swung out to pass. I drew my pistol from the holster and held it on my lap.

The car—it was one of those four-door Dodges favored by would-be thugs—flashed by with a burst of speed. As it pulled back in front of me, the driver hit the accelerator and rapidly pulled away. I thought I saw two people in the front seat but the windows of the car were so darkly tinted I couldn’t be sure. I continued on at the same speed but kept the pistol held in my lap.

A few seconds later, and more headlights came into the rearview. These, too, were closing rapidly, and there were lots of them. The lights set high—like on a truck—there were fog lights below the bumper and off-road lights up on top of the cab. The effect in the rearview was blinding. I turned the mirror so that the gleam of the lights was thrown back at its source.