“You done?” Roy handed her the bottle of water from the center console. “Feels better, right? I used to puke after every job, but not anymore. Like I said, give it time. You get used to it.”

Helene didn’t want to get used to it. When she got her hands on her backpack again, she was going to get the hell away from him.

He leaned across her to the glove box and fished around until he found a plastic truck-stop travel kit with a tiny toothpaste and a new toothbrush still in its package. “Here you go.”

She was aware again of how big Roy was, how he filled the cab of the truck. The travel kit looked tiny in his hands. The hands that had broken that poor woman’s neck.

She realized now that he could do the same to her any time he wanted.

Like she was nothing at all.

“Oh, Roy.” She put her face in her hands. “Thank you. I’m so sorry.”

It would help if she could cry, she thought. It didn’t take much.

Roy put his strong arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

“It’s okay, honey,” he said. “I’ve got you now.”

27

As the Utah night unraveled in the headlights, the tires thrumming on the asphalt, Roy silent beside her, Helene’s mind wouldn’t leave her alone.

How stupid she’d been.

How she’d fled Bogaloosa without thinking, without planning. How she’d gotten into a truck with two strange men. How she’d stayed, drawn to Roy, despite all the warning signs.

Had she thought she would escape without cost, without consequence?

No. She’d known she might pay a price.

She just hadn’t thought it would be so damn high.

Well, now she knew.

Yes, Helene had made her mistakes, a whole lot of them. But that didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was how she was going to get herself out of this situation, and away from this killer she’d married.

She turned to Roy. “Tell me about your house,” she said. “Our house, I mean.”

“The home place? Oh, it’s heaven, you’re going to love it. Been in my family forever. Two thousand acres on the bluff above the Missouri River. Hawks and coyotes and no neighbors for miles.”

She didn’t like the sound of the last part. “When do we get there?”

“Soon.” His voice was a warm rumble. “You think you could drive for a while? I could use some shut-eye. I know the trailer’s big, but as long as you don’t try to back up, it’s easy.”

“Sure. But I don’t know where we’re going.”

He pointed at his phone mounted on the dash. “Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Just follow the directions.”

“What’s there? The home place?”

“One more job,” he said.

She worked hard to keep her voice reasonable. “Really? After what happened today? Shouldn’t we just call it quits for a while?”

“It’s not that simple,” he said. “It’s a special order. We’re on a schedule.”