Spencerville

"Well, the usual — car rental places, airports within a two-hundred-fifty-mile radius of Spencerville to be increased each half hour, bus terminals, train stations, all roads and highways — like that."

"Why are they looking for us?"

"Kidnapping. Major league. Seems they found her car in your barn."

"Would you advise me to go to the police and explain?"

"Nope. Don't do that. They'd hold you until he arrives and tells his side. He's a cop, they're cops."

"But if she signs a statement saying..."

"I spoke to Baxter. He says he's got his kids on the way in from college. I don't know if that's true, but if it is, and if they all wind up at some station house with you two, it could get real messy and emotional. If you can get away, do it."

Keith considered this. Annie would never go with Baxter — but why put her or her children through that? He had other, cleaner options. Or he thought he did. He said to Larry, "Okay. Thanks again."

"You okay?"

"Yeah. We're about to fly out."

"Do that. Good luck."

Keith hung up. Ten minutes ago. That gave him about no minutes to get out of the airport.

He walked quickly through the empty terminal, wondering if he shouldn't have tried for Dayton or Columbus airports. But if he had, he'd still be on the road, and even if he'd gotten to one of those airports, they'd be looking for him and Annie by the time they arrived. In fact, they'd be looking for them here within minutes.

So there was no use second-guessing decisions; you made them based on what you knew and what your experience and intuition told you. Plan A hadn't quite worked; Plan B was simple. Hide.

He went outside and saw an airport security man standing at the curb near the Blazer. The man looked at him and walked over. "This your car?"

"Yes."

"The lady says you're flying to New York. I don't think so."

Keith saw Annie get out of the Blazer and walk toward them. Keith said to the security man, "I guess not."

"Nope. I told her the last flight left over an hour ago."

"Right. I just found out."

Annie stood beside Keith and said to him, "This gentleman says we missed the last flight."

"Yes. Let's go home." He took her arm and walked her back to the Blazer.

The security man followed and pointed to the license plate. "I see you got this car in Toledo."

Keith glanced at the plate, whose frame had the name of the dealer advertised on it. "That's right."

"Lady says you drove in from Chatham County."

"Right. I bought the car in Toledo." He opened the passenger-side door, and Annie got inside.

Keith noticed the two-way radio on the man's belt and didn't want to be around when it broadcast an all-points bulletin. He went around to the driver's side and opened his door.

The security man followed and said, "You should have called for reservations before you made that drive."

Keith had faced too many of those kinds of questions around the world, and he knew the mentality of the people that asked them. He had no idea what Annie had already told the guy, except that they wanted to go to New York and were from Chatham County. Meanwhile, Keith had already inquired about a flight to Washington.

Keith glanced at Annie, and in his best midwestern accent, he said, "I told you we should have called up ahead for reservations."

She nodded in understanding and leaned toward the open window, addressing the security man. "Like I said, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing to go to New York. Like you see people do in the movies." She added, "We never flew before."

The security man advised them, "You can get a motel and stay over. There's a USAir flight to New York in the morning."

Keith replied, "The hell with it. We're going home." He opened the door, got in the Blazer, and drove off. He watched the security man still standing at the curb. Keith said, "He was a little too nosy."

"You've lived in Washington too long. He was trying to be helpful. He was very concerned when I spoke to him."

"I guess." Either way, the man would remember them and the car.

Annie asked, "What are we going to do now?"

"Get a motel."

"Can't we just drive to New York?"

"I don't think so." He glanced at her and said, "I spoke to Larry. There's an all-points bulletin out on us and this car."

She didn't say anything.

Keith left the airport and turned east on the airport highway road, toward Toledo.

She said, "Could we rent a car?"

"I thought we could before I heard about the all-points. We have to be careful where we go and what we do."

She nodded.

There was an Airport Sheraton up ahead, and Keith pulled up and parked out of sight of the lobby. "Wait here."

She tried to smile and said, "Just like old times."