The clerk surveyed them. He wore a thick twill work shirt and a store vest. His name was embroidered on it: Ed Tom. He turned and slid open the door of the heated display case and scooped fries into a red-and-white checked paper sleeve and placed them on the counter.

“You don’t run ’round these parts with no coat,” he muttered.

“It’s in the car,” Jack said.

“Could you put everything in a bag?” Ava asked.

Ed Tom bagged the dougnuts and soda. A can of Pringles. Two bottled waters. Outside the window, the trooper headed onto the highway.

Jack glanced at Ava, who met his gaze.

“Well, we better get going—”

“Oh, yeah. Back on the road—”

Jack unfolded the hundred-dollar bill and placed it on the counter. The clerk looked at it and looked at Jack. “We don’t take hundreds. See that sign? No large bills.”

For a second, Jack just stood there. Shit. Shit. If this was what got them caught—

“Lotta money for a coupla kids your age.”

Ava smiled. “Could you make an exception?”

A news bulletin came on the TV. “Two teens are wanted in connection with a shooting that took place early this morning at this motel—”

Jack turned and looked. A woman stood in the snow, holding a microphone. Police lights flared behind her. Then two photos appeared. School ID pictures. Ava and him.

The clerk’s eyes widened.

“Time to go,” Ava said.

She threw the fries at the clerk and he ducked in surprise, shielding his face with his hands. She scooped the bag of loot off the counter and made for the door. “Come on.”

Jack just stood there, watching her.

She’s incredible, he said to himself.

He reached across the register, grabbed the clerk’s oilskin coat, and slung it over his shoulder.

The clerk straightened and blinked. “Hey!”

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

He backed to the door while the clerk picked up the phone, and then Jack turned and headed into the snow.

They came upon the steel building where the Land Rover was parked and pulled slowly alongside it. Several inches of new snow lay on the windshield. Ava sat looking at it, and then she shut off the engine.

Jack opened the door and got out. Snowflakes were floating down. A mountain wind. Ava got out and walked around the car and opened the rear door and put the food and drinks in a pack. Jack zipped up the clerk’s coat and pulled on his gloves. Then he lifted the briefcase and shut the door. The hammer he tucked into his belt. Ava hoisted the pack over her shoulders. “Let’s go,” she said.

He looked around. “Is this it?”

“No. The road’s closed. We’ll have to go on foot.”

Jack studied the building. “What’s in there?”

“A snowmobile. He’s taken it.”

“Should we have a look?”

“It’s locked.”

“It might not be.”