“She following you?”
“The opposite. I spotted her first, so now I’m watching to see what she’s up to, if she’s here because of me.”
“Don’t think too highly of yourself, she
could be shopping or something.”
That stung RL. “How about I just shoot her right now, make sure of things?”
“Keep an eye on her, and don’t be a drama queen. If it comes to killing her, we want to do it down here where we can hide her body, or feed it to the javelinas out in the back part of the pasture at the ranch.” Ellis thought of the mine on the hill, but didn’t mention it.
“Okay. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Do that.” Ellis wasn’t worried about Hunter Kincaid three hours away in Odessa as much as he was this damn kid, Adan, down here, who had seen him push his other little buddy into the mine shaft. That kid would have to be dealt with, and gotten rid of, for sure. If he had it to do over again, he would have pushed Adan in the shaft first. Looking back, he realized the boy was more of a scrambler, a fighter than the other one.
When RL hung up, he muttered, “Drama Queen, huh. I’ll do what I want, take care of trouble from the get-go, that’s what I’ll do.” Hunter Kincaid was still in the meat market’s parking lot, making a call as she stood outside her vehicle. His eyes lingered on her hard, athletic butt in those tight jeans.
What RL didn’t see was Hunter watching him in her pickup’s side mirror. She recognized him as the one who ran with Ellis, the one who looked like a bad guy. He was nice looking, but there was something about his appearance that said trouble. She saw him call on his phone, then put it away, his face looking hurt and angry for a moment. “Well,” she said to herself, “Let’s see if he’s following me for real.” Sliding behind the wheel, Hunter pulled out of the parking lot and drove easy, just to see if he followed. He did. She called Raymond.
Raymond answered, “You have the brisket?”
“I do, plus that guy hangs with Ellis.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s here in Odessa, following me.”
“Are you carrying? Wait, I’m talking to you, so that was a stupid question. I wonder what he wants.”
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna find out.”
“Don’t shoot him.”
Hunter said, “I don’t shoot people.”
Raymond didn’t answer.
Hunter sighed, “I get the point. I’ll be nice, I promise.”
“Good. Unless he tries some crap, then you shoot him, okay?”
Hunter laughed, “10-4.” She hung up and put her attention on the roads and the vehicle following her, and in an old habit, touched behind her left hip to place the pistol’s location in her memory.
RL drove behind her, three cars back, confident he wasn’t seen. He’d noticed Hunter laughing on the phone while sitting in her pickup, so he took it as a good sign. They drove at a slow pace, with RL twisting his hands on the steering wheel like he was revving the throttle on a motorcycle because of the woman’s turtle-like speed. “What the hell is she doin’?” He said, “Takin’ a nap while she drives?”
Hunter drove through town, catching every red light, which agitated RL even more, then down to the hospital, where she turned at the last instant into the multi-story paid parking area, snatched a ticket from the machine and raced up the ramp to the higher floors. Surprised, RL reacted, flooring the gas pedal and squealing his tires on the ramp as he hurried to catch the damn woman.
Hunter drove crazy fast but controlled, drifting some of the turns to pull even farther ahead, then at the top, hurtling down the exit ramp to the second floor, where she again turned so she was going up the ramp again. She was on RL’s rear bumper by the time he reached the fourth level. He didn’t notice until the next level, and jerked when he saw her in his rearview mirror. He sped up, but she stayed right with him. Hunter flashed her headlights at him on the uppermost level where they could look out over the city because they had no roof over them.
RL saw the lights, slumped his shoulders and slowed to a stop. He exited his Buick, as did Hunter from her pickup. She approached and said, “What are you doing?”
“I…thought I recognized you, so was following to try and make sure.”
“Really.”
“Sure, why would I lie?” He smiled and held out his hands, palms up.
“And your name is…?”