“I guess you looked like you needed extra vitamin C,” she responded, trying not to giggle.

Shrugging, he drained the glass in a few gulps and replaced the glass.

“So, you say your place is about another three hours?”

“Uh-huh.”

The door opened and a man and woman came in, dressed in jeans and T-shirts. They took a table on the other side of the room. The waitress went to their table.

“Howdy folks,” she greeted them brightly. He ordered coffee and she ordered tea and the waitress retreated again.

After bringing the newcomers their drinks and taking their orders, she reappeared at their table, burdened with platters and smaller dishes.

“Okay, here ya go,” she grunted, retrieving plates and placing them on the table. “One Good Mornin’ and one Country.” She set a regular sized dinner plate in front of Elgin and a serving platter in front of Harm and a soup bowl of mixed fruit off to the side. A covered basket, two tubs of butter and a rack of small glass jelly jars, red, orange and purple.

“Getcha anything else?” she inquired. “Catsup er hot sauce fer yer eggs? More coffee?”

“No, I think we’re fine.”

“Well, you holler if you need somethin’. Enjoy.”

Harm stared at the mountain of food facing him.

“Christ,” he exclaimed in a hushed whisper, “look at this. These must be ostrich eggs. And there’s gotta be half a pound of sausage here. I didn’t realize when they said ‘Country’ they meant enough food to feed one.”

“Well, I’m sure you can handle it.”

He could almost feel the sharp point of her jab. She was making fun of him, convinced he couldn’t get it all down. Well he’d show her.

They ate in silence but he could almost hear her counting the bites, waiting for him to throw in the towel and admit defeat. Fuck you, bitch.

She sipped her second cup of coffee when he finally forced down the last bite of potato and dropped his fork.

“Whew,” he breathed, “that’s quite a feed.”

“I’m surprised you finished it,” she purred. “Takes quite a man to handle the big jobs.”

“Yeah, well if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to see a man about a horse.”

He stood and looked around the room.

“In the back,” she helped. “Down the hall, all the way to the end. Can’t miss it. Got a picture of ‘John’ Wayne on the door.”

Stuffed, he could barely move and the men’s room seemed to be on the other side of the moon. Inside, he checked the single stall and went to the urinal. A few moments later, the door opened and the other male patron took his place beside Harm.

“Anything?” the stranger asked.

“Just that we’re still about three hours from wherever we’re going. We stopped here to eat and top off the tank before we start into the mountains.”

“Jan’s keeping an eye on her. When our friend hits the powder room, she’ll try and strike up a conversation. See if anything drops.”

“Wave her off,” Harm replied. “She’s a smart cookie and despite the façade, she’s nervous as a cat. Caught her watching our back practically as often as me. If she sees you coming in here and then Jan starts asking questions, she’s bound to add it up. I don’t want to take any chances on blowing this. Again.”

“Okay. We’ll peel off here then. GPS is tracking you from about two miles back. We’ll keep in touch.”

“Thanks.”

Finished, Harm washed his hands and left, still weighed down with the enormous breakfast. It had been a stupid, childish thing, he realized now, taking her up on what had amounted to a dare. Something Jeanne might have…

Stop it, he told himself, angry that she’d surfaced so unexpectedly, especially in the same thought as this woman.

Returning to the main dining room, Harm saw that the booth and the table were empty. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. Women used the restroom in places like this and perhaps Jan could glean something useful in passing.

Raising his hand, he signaled to the waitress.

“Can I have our check please?”

“Lady already paid it,” she answered uncertainly. “Right after you went to the men’s room, she asked for the check, got up and went down the hall. Expect she’s in the ladies.”

“Thanks.”

A couple more minutes went by and Harm checked his watch again. Why the hell did women always take so long in the bathroom?

Jan appeared at the other table but didn’t sit down. Instead, she threw Harm a panicked glance and tilted her head ever so slightly toward the rest rooms. Picking up her jacket, she moved back down the hall. After waiting a few seconds, he stood, stretched and followed her, trying to appear casual and unhurried.

He found her just around the corner, pretending to use the pay phone.

“She’s gone,” Jan blurted out, anxiety and fear making her voice a harsh whisper.

Harm felt his heart miss a beat and his blood go cold.

“What do you mean, ‘She’s gone’?” he growled, leaning down into the smaller agent’s face.

The young woman flinched and went pale.

“She…she called the waitress over,” the woman managed to stammer, “paid the check, got up and came down here. I thought she’d gone to the ladies’ room so I waited a few seconds and then followed her. I didn’t want to make her suspicious. When I got there, the door to one of the two stalls was closed so I went in the other one and pretended to use the toilet. When I came out, it was some other woman.

“I got back out here as quickly as I could and then realized there’s an exit up there, just before the ladies’ room door. It leads to the side of the building. Nate’s out checking the parking lot and the woods now. The trees come up to within about fifty feet of the door.”

“Okay,” Harm breathed, trying to think, “she can’t have gone far. Go on out the front and scout the street. Make like you’re window-shopping or something.

“I’ll go out and help Nate. We’ll meet back at my car in five minutes. My radio and cell phone are packed in my bags. She didn’t want me to bring them and I couldn’t take a chance of her spotting them. If you see anything, contact Nate on his radio. Now get going.”

Jan scurried away and Harm almost ran down the narrow hall to the door, opening about midway down the side of the building. On his left, down near the rear corner, sat two big, green dumpsters, one open, one closed. To his right, part of the gravel parking lot and the road beyond. Directly in front of him and curving as far as he could see, a stand of tall pines against a pale blue sky.

It would be so easy he thought. Pretend to be coming or going to the men’s room, hanging by the side door. A gun jammed in her back, a hand clamped over her mouth, “make a sound and I’ll kill you,” a car parked just outside the door. Gone in a matter of seconds.

But how could this have happened? He’d watched the road and had seen nothing; there hadn’t been a car parked here when they’d pulled up. He was sure of that. No one could have known where they were going, where they’d stop.

A figure emerging out of the trees riveted his attention, bringing his hand instinctively to his shoulder holster before his brain remembered that too sat in the SUV, packed in his bags. But it didn’t matter because he recognized Nate, jogging quickly toward him.

“Nothing,” he said simply, panting to catch his breath.

“It wouldn’t make any sense, anyway. He’s not going to drag her into the woods to do whatever he’s got in mind. He’d want his own place, his own sweet time.” Harm wiped his hand across his dry mouth and tried to reason rationally but all that came to his mind were terrified eyes and a cruel, victorious smirk.

“You want me to call for reinforcements?” Nate asked cautiously.

“No, not yet. Let’s see what we can find out first. Jan’s gone to check out the street. Go back to your car, get on the radio and notify everyone we’ve got on the road, behind and ahead, to keep an eye out for her. He’s probably got her in the front passenger seat so he can gloat. Tell her all the romantic things he’s got planned for her. He won’t be expecting us to have people posted so we might get lucky. I’ll meet you and Jan at my car in about three minutes.”