Page 24 of The Hitchhikers
“He’s overheating.”
She shoved the corn back into the freezer. The bag of peas wasn’t ready yet, so Alice found a juice can, wrapped a cloth around it, and placed it against Tom’s forehead, then his neck, and along his shoulder. She got a glass of water and leaned him forward so he could drink.
“I want to stay with him. He needs someone.”
“Jenny can sit back there. You drive.”
Alice swallowed hard, looked at Tom, and squeezed his hand. He squeezed back.
“I’m better. The water helped. Are you okay?” he whispered, searching her face.
She shook her head, trying not to cry as she watched Simon pull one of Tom’s beers from the fridge and guzzle it down in one shot.
A moment later Jenny was standing in front of her. “I hope you didn’t get hurt when you fell onto the floor.”
Alice stared at her. What was wrong with this girl? A man had just beenmurdered. His body dumped into a ravine. Was this some kind of joke? Jenny wasn’t smiling, though. She seemedspaced out, her eyes blank. Maybe she was in shock. Alice looked past her to Simon.
“Come on,” he said.
“I can’t drive. Not after that.”
He pulled the gun out of the pocket of his shorts. “Get behind the wheel, Alice.”
“Why don’t you drive?” As soon as she said the words, she wondered if that would be worse. He might not know how to drive a large vehicle. They could crash.
“I’m not in the mood for bullshit. You really going to try me on this?”
No. Not after what she had just witnessed.
Alice moved to the driver’s seat. She wondered if the motorcycle might have damaged the underframe of the RV, but it started with no problem. She couldn’t say the same for herself. Everything felt strange. Like her arms and legs didn’t belong to her. They were working but she didn’t know how. She’d seen a dead man. She’d touched his skin. She glanced down at her clothes. Did she have his blood on her? She hadn’t checked. Beside her, Simon was tapping his fingers on one knee, the gun resting on his other, finger crooked inside the trigger.
“Stay the speed limit.” He slumped against the side window. She smelled the beer on him, the musk of his sweat. The blood streak was gone from his forehead.
Several miles down the road, he took the cash out of the biker’s wallet, stared at the man’s license for a moment, then threw the wallet out the window into the forest.
CHAPTER 10ALICE
They made their way back to the highway, with Simon looking at the map and giving Alice directions. The morning turned to midday, the mountains hazy in the heat. They drove through more farmland and small towns with names like Malawka, Craigellachie, and Taft. Some didn’t have anything other than a roadside general store, and maybe a diner or gas station.
The highway darkened as it cut through a forest, then it broke free and curved around a large lake, with only a narrow bank between the water and the pavement. The mountain across the lake looked as though it was rising straight out of the water. Simon’s side of the road was sheer rock, with broken boulders in the narrow ditch, and signs warning of landslides.
Alice kept a tight grip on the wheel and tried not to look at anything but the road in front of her. Finally, they reached the far end of the lake, where there was a motel and restaurant. When Alice saw the sign that read Three Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town, she remembered that Tom had wanted to stop there. He’d been so excited about the idea of seeing a ghost town and real pioneer buildings. She blinked hard and took a few deep breaths to push back the tears.
They had crossed another long suspension bridge and were passing through a town named Revelstoke when Alice noticedthat the RV’s temperature gauge had climbed to the red line. She didn’t know if the RV was overheating or if the gauge was broken, but she got her answer when a thin veil of steam began to rise from the front.
“What’s going on?” Simon frowned at her as if she was the culprit.
She pointed to her gauge. “It’s overheating.”
“Pull into that parking lot.”
Alice guided the RV into what appeared to be a strip mall and parked at the far end, under a small stand of trees that would provide some shade. She glanced at her watch. It had only been an hour since they left the Sicamous area, but she felt like she’d been driving all day. She wondered if anyone had been past the spot where they’d left the biker’s body. Would they notice something? Maybe there were drops of blood or shards of glass that Simon had missed sweeping away. The body would soon start smelling in this heat. How long until he was found?
“C’mon.” Simon reached over and yanked the keys out of the ignition, then spun his chair and got to his feet. Alice climbed out of the driver’s seat and over the engine cover.
“Is it bad?” Jenny said.
“Don’t worry, babe. I can fix anything.” Simon gave Jenny a quick kiss. The words were sweet, but when he turned toward the door, Alice saw the frustration in his scowl.
