“Not yet, Kendra.”

“Seriously?”

“I know I could make bail, get some super-duper lawyer, pay the guy’s medical costs, and be done with it. I don’t want to do that. I’m not paying him a dime. I’m going to stay here and get a good local attorney and maybe a private investigator. We can’t let scum like that bully people.”

“You can fight him from anywhere. You can hire an army of lawyers and investigators to make his life miserable forever. You don’t have to stay here to do that.”

“It will put more pressure on the locals to do the right thing. ‘Wealthy heiress detained in small-town jail’ will attract a lot more attention than ‘Entitled Rich Bitch Victimizes Local Man.’”

“I have a third headline for you: ‘Former Mental Patient Might Be Crazy After All.’”

“Very funny.”

“I’m not trying to be funny. If Bubba got his hands on a sleazy lawyer, that’s what they’d make people think.”

Beth gave her a questioning glance. “Not people like you.”

“Of course not. It’s just…” Kendra struggled to find the words. “I told your sister I’d look after you. Eve would have loved for you to move to Georgia to be near her, but she understood that you needed your space. I thought the same thing. Now I’m thinking I didn’t do a very good job.”

“A good job looking after me? I don’t need or want to be looked after. I had that all those years I was in the institution. I wanted freedom. I always knew you were there, Kendra, just a couple hours drive away. That’s all I ever needed.” She leaned forward in her chair, her gaze holding Kendra’s. “The choice was never yours or Eve’s. I just wanted to be on my own for a while. I thought you understood that.”

“I do. When I got my sight, I didn’t want anyone hovering over me for those first few years. I wanted you to have space, Beth. I think I understood that better than Eve. But I know she wants to get to know you better. You were separated your entire lives until she found you.”

“And I want to get to know her. But I want to be a complete person when we come together again. Not a victim. A year ago at this time, we didn’t even know each other existed.” She shook her head. “Hell, I didn’t exist. I wasn’t me with all those drugs they forced down me. But the next time I see Eve, I’ll be complete with experiences and a personality that’s totally my own. And I won’t see her again until that happens. That’s why you mustn’t tell her about this. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” She understood the passion and the struggle that Beth was going through better than ever before. She had thought that her own battle for independence and discovery were similar to Beth’s, but that wasn’t true. Kendra’s wild years were principally exploration. Beth was also having to go through a painful element of creation. “And I won’t call Eve into this.”

She gave a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

“But that doesn’t mean you’re not stuck with me.”

“I don’t need you to—” She stopped as she saw Kendra’s expression. “You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“It won’t be painful if you’ll just work with me. Let’s look at the situation. You’re a guest of the Inyo County Jail. We both know I’m not going to abandon you. But it will be a real drag to have to stay here at this jail and hold your hand. I have a life, you know.”

“I believe I’ve heard rumors to that effect.”

“Then I have to satisfy your idealistic goals in order to get on with it. I promise that I’ll do that.” She looked her in the eye. “But first you have to let me bail you out.” She held up her hand as Beth opened her lips to protest. “I know. I know. But trust me. Before we leave town, I’ll find this guy—your Bubba Joe—and see what I can do for you.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not sure. I have a few ideas, but I may have to change with the situation. That’s where the trust comes in.”

“That’s not very reassuring.”

“Trust me,” she said again.

Beth gazed at her for long moment. “I do trust you.” She suddenly smiled impishly. “And if you don’t get me what I need from Bubba, I can always do some more damage to him and end up right back in jail.”

“Yes, that’s always an option.” She smiled. “But you’d better start thinking of him as Harley Gill and not Bubba if we have to deal with him.”

“I like my name for him better. You know, it might be fun working this out with you.”

“Another experience?” She shook her head. “Where can I find him?”

Beth tilted her head, thinking. “I have a pretty good idea…”

Highway 395

Olancha, California

AFTER A HEFTY STACK OF PAPERWORK and the transfer of $2,500 in bail money, Beth and Kendra made their way to what passed for Main Street Olancha—a gas station, a bar, a diner, and a fresh beef jerky stand, all on the same side of a lonely stretch of two-lane highway. As Kendra stood and took in the scene, a tumbleweed literally blew across the road.

“What ever made you come here?” Kendra asked.

Beth shrugged. “I’ve been to lots of places like this in the past few months. Big cities still kind of freak me out. For now, I’m comfortable in places where you see the same people every day.”

“Until you move on to the next town?”

“Well, I don’t want to get too comfortable. But I’ve met a lot of nice people along the way.”

“And at least one rotten one.” Kendra nodded to the bar ahead, identified by the faded, sand-blasted sign that read BLITZED.

Beth suddenly slowed her pace. “Yes. But I’m not going to be a victim anymore. I can take care of myself.”

“You’ve already proved that. But part of taking care of yourself is knowing when to let people help you. It took me a while to learn that one.”

“You’ve already helped me, Kendra. You and Eve both. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t—” She stopped dead in her tracks. “That’s him.”

Kendra looked ahead to see a beefy man wearing a Transformers T-shirt that didn’t quite cover his bandaged torso. A black extension sling held his arm at an awkward angle before him, and he had a massive bruise over his right eye that resembled a patch. He stood next to the bar’s front door, smoking a cigarette.

Kendra squinted. “Did you give him that black eye, too?”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that.”

“Jeez, Beth. You are The Terminator.”

The man’s sunburned face practically turned white when he saw Beth. He dropped his cigarette and stepped back. “Stay away from me.”

Kendra smiled. “We’re just taking a walk, Harley. Care to join us?”

His gaze was still on Beth. “No.”

“Too bad,” Kendra said. “Nice day.”

Beth nodded. “Beautiful.”

Harley glared at Beth. “I’m pressing charges against you, bitch.”

“Oh?” Beth said. “And I thought I spent the night in jail for the turndown service and exquisite cuisine.”

“Just keep sassin’ me. You’ll see where that’ll get you.”

Beth stepped toward him, and he instinctively recoiled so quickly that he nearly stumbled. He winced in pain.

“I’d be less worried about her and more concerned about yourself,” Kendra said.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you lied to a police officer. And your friends did, too. And if this goes to trial, are you willing to perjure yourselves?”

“Oh, it’s going to trial. And it’s her word against all of ours.”

“Not just her word,” Kendra said.

“What do you mean?”

She pointed to the roofline of a defunct, graffiti-ridden Laundromat next to the bar. A small security camera was aimed toward the sidewalk. “These days there are eyes everywhere.”

“What…” He took a few tentative steps toward the camera, as if it were a bomb that could go off at any moment.

“Yeah, I talked to the building owner this morning,” Kendra said. “I guess he got tired of vandals, so he put this camera up a few weeks ago.” She reached into the pocket of her jeans and produced a USB flash drive. “I got video of the whole thing. You attacking that college girl and Beth here kicking your ass all over the sidewalk. Once your friends know we have this, do you really think they’ll stick to their stories?”