Page 22 of Zero Visibility

Everett started for the exit, but Ben couldn’t let the older man face the unknown alone. “I’m coming with you,” he said and grabbed the ball cap and sunglasses he’d used earlier.

“That’s not a good idea, brother.” Will was quick to point out. “The cap and glasses only conceal you so much. If they’ve seen the news, they’ll recognize you.”

“Ben, you can’t.” Jen rose and came over to him.

He framed her face with his hands. “I’ll be okay. If anything goes south, I need to protect Everett.” He tucked his handgun in the pocket of his jacket and followed Everett to the door. “Ready?” he asked the doctor who quickly agreed. “Good. Just stay calm. As far as they know, we’re just a family taking a trip.”

Together, they stepped out into the late afternoon.

A woman who appeared around the same age as the driver had joined him. They stared down at the car’s engine.

Ben tugged the cap down lower. “I’ll let you handle the conversation.”

As they drew near to the car, the man whirled toward them with panic on his face.

“Sorry to startle you, my friend.” Everett smiled genuinely. “We noticed you were having some trouble. Is there anything we can do to help?”

The man’s suspicions were clear on his face.

“My name is Doctor Simpson, and this is my son.” Everett made the introduction and held out his hand.

“Larry Parsons. This is my wife, Berta. I’m not sure what’s wrong.” He turned back to the vehicle. “It was running fine until half an hour ago when it started sputtering. I was hoping we’d make it to the nearest town before it died. Stuck on the side of the road like this with what’s happening is the last place I want to spend the night.” Larry stopped, as if realizing he was talking too much.

“What’s going on with all this traffic?” Everett indicated the line of cars passing.

“The border’s closed. There’s a line several miles long waiting to get through. That’s why Berta and I decided to find a place to spend the night and wait for the line to go down. That is, until this happened.” He pointed to the car.

Everett leaned under the hood. “It could be the fuel injectors. You’ll definitely need a mechanic more skilled than I am to fix it, if that’s the case.”

“What? Oh, yeah.” Larry stared at the doctor as if he recognized him somehow. Right away, Ben was on edge. The doctor and his wife didn’t have any known association with them. How could this man recognize him?

“Do I know you?” Larry asked Everett. “You sure look familiar.”

The doctor’s shocked gaze slid to Ben. “I don’t believe so. Are you from Colorado?” he asked while trying to take the focus off himself.

Berta tugged at her husband’s arm. “No, we’re not. Thank you for stopping, but I’ve called for assistance. They should be here soon.”

Ben grabbed Everett’s arm. “You’re welcome. Hope you folks make it to where you’re going safely.” Ben didn’t wait for the couple to answer. He urged Everett back to the RV. Once they cleared the door, he ordered Peter to turn the RV around and head back the way they came.

“They both recognized Everett. See if you can find out any news,” he told Will before turning to the doctor. “You’re sure you didn’t know them?” Ben hoped against all possibility.

Everett confirmed Ben’s fears with a shake of his head. “We’ve never met before.”

“Uh oh,” Will exclaimed, capturing Ben’s full attention.

“What do you have?”

“The doctor and his wife are now being sought in association with us.”

Ben stared at a photo of the couple on Will’s phone. “How do they know…the tracker they planted in Jen’s bag. They traced it to the Simpsons’ home and put everything together from there.”

“Which means they’ll be looking for this RV soon enough if they aren’t already,” Jen voiced Ben’s concerns aloud. “I’m so sorry, Everett. Nancy.”

“Nonsense.” Everett didn’t hesitate. “We wouldn’t change a thing. These people must be stopped.”

“We need to get off this road right away.” Ben whirled back to Peter. “That couple back there is probably reporting us right now. Take the first road you see that’ll get us out of sight.”

Peter nodded.

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