“Help me escape and I’ll make you rich,” Beaumont went on. He negotiated like a man still in power, still in control. He has no idea how much his situation has changed. There’ll be no more fancy houses, fancy clothes, fancy cars. No more respect or obedience. As Sally’s replacement, he’ll be imprisoned in that box day and night except for the few hours when I pull him out to finger his own kind for extermination.

Some might get a kick out of seeing the tables turned on a beast like him, might revel in holding the future of such a devil in their hands. I don’t. It’s just another burden added to my load.

“You’re wasting your breath,” I said. “Money can’t buy anything I need now.”

“Jesse is using you. He has no loyalty to you.”

“And you do? You won’t betray me like you betrayed him?”

“Don’t be a fool.”

“Too late for that,” I said and put the gag back in his mouth.

When Jesse returned he loaded the revolver and the automatic with the bullets he’d bought. The click of the cartridges sliding into place sent a chill through me. He put the automatic to Beaumont’s head and pulled the bandana down.

“Which way?” he said.

“East toward the lake,” Beaumont said. “On the old highway.”

We were soon rolling through open desert. One star lit another, and the sky filled quickly. We saw only one other vehicle, a car going the opposite direction. Now and then we passed the ruins of a gas station or motel.

“This man tried to enlist me to help him kill you,” Beaumont said out of nowhere, addressing Jesse.

I clutched the wheel tighter but didn’t speak.

“He’s going to dust you and your brother at his first opportunity.”

“What do you have to say to that?” Jesse asked me.

Inwardly, I was panicking, but my voice was calm. “I told you I’d never do anything to put my wife in danger,” I said.

“Such a touching lie,” Beaumont said.

“Which of us is more desperate?” I said.

Beaumont hissed when Jesse smacked him with the gun. He replaced the gag and told him to grunt when we got to where we were supposed to be. We drove in silence until a red arrow appeared ahead of us, part of an old motel sign. Beaumont made a noise and pointed with his chin.

“Keep going,” Jesse said to me. “Don’t slow down and don’t look over.”

As I sped past the motel, I glimpsed a cluster of cabins and a gravel parking lot. Half a mile down the road Jesse told me to kill the lights and take my foot off the gas. The truck slowed without me using the brakes, and I steered onto the shoulder.