Harper was struggling to stay awake, and she’d already made up her mind to stop at the first motel she came to. As far as she could tell, there was no one following them. Once they’d left Decatur, traffic had been light. By the time midnight rolled around, the nearest car to her was at least a mile behind as the headlights faded in and out of her view. As they approached Wichita Falls, even at this hour on a Sunday night, there was a little more traffic than she would have imagined. It made it harder to judge if someone were following, especially at night as cars’ headlights seemed to merge and blur with every blink of her eye. Still, she felt confident that if he had been following, he wasn’t right on their tail. And he didn’t have to be, did he? He was following the locket.

She glanced over at Dani and couldn’t help but smile. She was curled against the seat, facing Harper. She’d tried to stay awake, tried to keep the conversation going but as the miles ticked by, she’d given up the fight.

“Hey…wake up,” she said softly. “We’re here.”

Dani shifted in her seat, then jerked her head up. “Oh, my God. I fell asleep. Why did you let me?”

“I tried tickling you, but that didn’t seem to help,” she teased. “Besides, you didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Neither did you,” Dani said around a yawn. “You must be exhausted.”

“I am.”

She pulled into a well-lit parking lot, following the blinking arrow to the office. There were ten or more cars in the lot of the Coyote Motel and—at least on the outside—it appeared to be clean and meticulously maintained. Large pots of colorful flowers glowed under the lights and gave a welcoming appearance.

“Will this do?”

“It’s fine with me,” Dani said. “Will you be able to sleep or…”

“I’ve got to get a few hours, yes.”

“Will it be safe? I mean—”

“We’ll get two rooms—adjoining. One for us, one for the locket. I’m not sure he’ll try anything tonight. We’ve left Dallas, probably threw him off his game a little. I’d guess he’s going to see what we’ve got planned.”

“Cat and mouse.”

“Yes. When we head out again tomorrow, he’s bound to think I’m taking you back to LA.”

“But couldn’t he decide to follow along and wait until I’m back home to resume his stalking?”

“I don’t think so. He’s past that. What fun would it be for him to walk up to your door, pretending to be Detective Zapalac? You’d let him in. There’d be no fight, no chase.”

“I hope you’re right.”