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“Yeah, yeah.”

Having already removed everything from her hard drive and stored it on diskettes, she emptied her desk drawers of files, notes, and scripts dating back almost to the day she was employed. She unceremoniously dumped everything into crates, which the station had provided, then the guard helped her carry the boxes to her car and load them into the trunk.

Disinclined to spend the evening alone in Daily’s depressing house, she debated where to take her picnic supper. The Lincoln Memorial? The Jefferson? Both looked beautiful by night. Still undecided, she pulled out into traffic.

“Barrie?”

She screamed and stomped on the brake.

“Don’t look back and don’t stop.”

The car behind her screeched to a halt, missing her rear bumper by a hair. The furious driver leaned on his horn, then whipped his Honda Civic around her and shot her the finger.

“Take a right at the next intersection,” Gray instructed from the corner of the backseat. He was slouched so low, his head wasn’t visible in the rearview mirror.

“You scared the hell out of me,” she shouted angrily, but she followed his instructions.

“It’s really stupid for a woman alone not to check the backseat before she gets into her car.”

“The car was locked.”

“I got in.”

His reasonable remark infuriated her. “I figured you were back in Wyoming playing cowboy by now. Why’d you leave me the other night to face the music alone? That was damned cowardly of you. And what are you doing in my car anyway? How’d you know where I was?”

“Go left up ahead, then immediately get into the right-hand lane and take the first street. Is there a green sedan about three cars back?”

“Am I being followed?”

“Check your rearview mirror, but don’t make it obvious.”

“Uh, no… yeah. There’s a green car half a block back.”

“Lose them, Barrie.”

“Lose them? You’ve lost me. How do you know that car’s following me?”

“You’ve had a tail all day.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve been tailing the tail.”

“Pray tell, Mr. Incredible Vanishing Man, why I should believe you.”

“Lose the tail and lose the attitude, okay? Try not to let them know you’re dodging them.”

Although she had a hundred questions to ask him, she concentrated on her driving. “This is fun,” she said when she managed to speed through a light that trapped the green sedan.

“Oh yeah, lots,” Gray grumbled from the backseat.

After about ten minutes of erratic driving, she told him that the green sedan was no longer in sight.

“Get on a straightaway. Head out of the city. Make sure another car hasn’t taken up where the other left off.”

She kept a close watch on her mirror. After a while, she told him she was almost certain no one was following them.

“Okay. First chance you get, turn around and go back the way we came.”