“It has to be,” said Nemo. “And if it’s not, we don’t have time to stick around and find out.” As he turned onto Main Street, a pair of state trooper cruisers sped by, sirens blaring.

“So I’m just supposed to go with you? A total stranger who broke into my house and seems . . . well, no offense, but who seems pretty dangerous.”

“I am pretty dangerous,” said Nemo.

“And you expect me to ride out of town with you?”

“You have options,” said Nemo. “You could shoot me and face Fritz and Franz on your own. Or you could give me the book and I could let you go to face Fritz and Franz on your own. Only now that I think of it, you know a lot about Jasper and about this, this Enigma thing he was building, so I probably wouldn’t let you go.”

“So my option is to shoot you,” said Patton.

“Yeah, I guess that’s about it. Or you can stay with me and have a decent chance of not getting killed.”

“A decent chance?” said Patton.

“At least fifty-fifty.”

“Wow, I feel so much better,” said Patton, pulling on her seat belt. “Let’s go.”

Main Street rapidly became State Highway 14 and, as Nemo sped up to sixty, Patton pulled the two guns out of her waistband.

“Decided to shoot me?” said Nemo.

“Not yet,” said Patton. “They were digging into my back.” She set the guns on her lap, then took out her phone.

“Are you fucking crazy?” said Nemo, raising his voice. “Don’t you know they can track a cell phone?”

“Of course I know they can track a cell phone,” said Patton. “That’s exactly why I’m turning it on.”

“Like hell you are,” said Nemo, reaching for the phone. “You may think that I’m bad, but trust me Fritz and Franz are worse.”

“Jesus, don’t get your panties in a wad,” said Patton, holding the phone away from Nemo. “I’m trying to help us out here. You got any duct tape?”

“In the glove compartment,” said Nemo.

“Tool of the trade?” said Patton.

“Something like that.”

“Pull into that gas station up there,” said Patton.

Nemo steered the car into the roadside service station with two semitrucks parked out front, one pointing in each direction.

“Are we going to keep heading east?” said Patton.

“That’s the plan,” said Nemo.

Patton hopped out of the car. Checking to be sure no one was watching, she tore off a piece of tape and attached the phone to the underside of the running board on the truck pointed west. Ten seconds later she was back in the car.

“Let them chase that for a while,” she said with a smile.