Page 18 of Final Ride

“Did you ever see Vicki on her phone, Virge?” asked Travis.

“Not much.”

“Okay, we can safely assume it wasn’t Vicki taking the bets,” said Travis.

“The house didn’t look like a place of business,” I said. “We were careful when we did the search.”

“So, if Vicki’s mother was a bookie, we have no idea where she operated from,” said Travis.

“Huh,” said Virge. “This is a crazy mixed-up mess.”

“Now that they both took off and left their business and their home behind,” said Travis, “something must be coming down on them.”

“They’re running,” said Virge. “That’s easy enough to see. There were no clothes in either one of their closets. I checked.”

“You didn’t mention it,” said Harlan.

“Far as I can figure,” said Travis, “it has to be either the mob or the feds. Sure as hell ain’t us, and we’re the only ones left on the list.”

“Shitfires,” said Virge. “I never knew Vicki was badass.”

“Live and learn, son. You gotta put this behind you and get ready to go to Texas tomorrow.”

Cracker Barrell. Roanoke. Virginia.

“I love this restaurant, Tammy. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten here before.”

“Popular spot on a lot of the interstates,” said Tammy. “I’ve been into a few of the ones on the chain. They have decent fudge and a lot of candy and good peanut brittle.”

“I like licorice,” said Willy.

“They have that, and they offer a different special for each day of the week.”

“What day is it?” asked Willy and then he laughed at himself.

“I think it’s Wednesday, but I can’t be sure,” said Tammy. “I haven’t been out of the cabin until today. It could be winter for all I know.” She laughed and Willy laughed with her.

After the Wednesday special of broccoli cheddar chicken, followed by lemon meringue pie, Willy browsed through the old-fashioned country store wanting to buy Tammy a gift. He finally decided on a rainbow T-shirt that reminded him a lot of her.

“Will you wear this?”

“If you buy it for me, of course I’ll wear it, Willy. Thank you.”

“You have no clothes, Tammy, after the police taking them out of your truck. We have to think seriously about shopping for you.”

“I could use a change of underwear.”

Willy winced. “We’ll definitely work on finding you the basics today.”

“Thanks. I don’t need much to get by,” said Tammy, “as long as I have you.”

Willy Watson squeezed her hand.

Great Smoky Mountains. North Carolina.

Carefully studying the accident report, Bobby found his way to the lookout point on the side of the mountain. Didn’t take much brainpower to see the section of guardrail that had been recently replaced.

Bobby stood behind the shiny new metal and peered down into the deep gorge that seemed to go on for half a mile below him.

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