The Infiniti bounced over the lip of the highway and turned onto a muddy washboard of cracked asphalt and potholes.

“Whoever it is certainly doesn’t spend any money on upkeep,” Jesse said. “Must be an abandoned farmhouse.”

Ethel kept her eyes straight ahead. “Maybe, but there must be advantages beyond isolation. I would never set up an exchange with only one way out. Too easy to be trapped.”

Jesse took the point a step further. “But isn’t it also the only way for us to get out?”

“That’s why you’ll stay in the car and keep the motor running. And as at the Finch house, turn the car around so we’re headed out.”

A few minutes later, they came to the open gate. As soon as Ethel cleared it, she stopped the car and opened her door. “Let’s change places before we get any closer.”

She got out in the light drizzle, but instead of going to the passenger’s side, she walked to the gate. Jesse followed.

Ethel lifted one end of the chain where the open padlock hung from a link. “Note these are new. The gate’s bars are rusty but sturdy.” She removed the padlock, snapped it shut, and threw it into the underbrush. Then she yanked the shiny chain free and tossed it under some briars on the other side. “Now if someone closes the gate at least they can’t lock it.”

Back in the car, Jesse used his jacket sleeve to wipe water from his eyes. “So, if I’m with the car, I won’t be able to help you.”

“Your job is to get away safely and be the witness if something happens to me. No heroics.” She gave him a fierce stare. “Understand?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll make a final logistics decision when we see the layout, but, bottom line, I need you to be prepared to fly out of here. Now, let’s go forward nice and slow.”

Jesse set the automatic transmission in low gear and continued along the rough road.

When they broke through into the clearing, Ethel exclaimed, “So, that’s their way out.”

Jesse stopped at the edge of the parking lot. “What? That one car?”

“No. The airstrip behind the hut. One of my former roomers worked a case involving drugs flying into central Virginia. This must have been abandoned while the owner’s getting his room and board courtesy of the Feds.”

“There’s a plane in that hangar?”

“I doubt it,” Ethel said. “Otherwise it would be out and prepped for a quick takeoff. No, I think someone’s coming to fly our culprits out of the country. They know the game is up, and this is their last effort to take twenty million dollars with them.”

“So, now what?”