The Chase

“Really?” she asked excitedly. “Except what I could glimpse from the city bus, I’ve hardly seen LA. Where did you have in mind?”

“Where we visit will be up to you. We’ll sit down and make a few decisions, then each pack a bag. In the morning, we’ll give you some money, the key to Beck’s convertible, and a two-hour head start.”

“Head start? You’re not coming with me?” Heavenly’s excitement dimmed at the thought of exploring without them.

“Nope. And this is where it gets fun.” Beck grinned. “We’re going to chase you.”

“What?” Were they crazy?

“Here’s how it will work: you can go anywhere you want, but every half hour, you have to pull over, take a picture with your cell phone, and text us the image, something you think will give us a hint of your location without actually revealing it. So be creative. Send us a shot of a billboard, a mom-and-pop motel, a park…whatever.”

Butterflies dipped and swooped in her stomach. It sounded like an exciting scavenger hunt.

“You’re smiling,” Beck observed. “So I’ll take that as a good sign. We’ll maintain radio silence during the day—”

“Unless you run into trouble. Any trouble.” Seth’s voice suddenly took on that implacable tone it had at Gloria’s. “If the car breaks down, you get a flat tire, or even feel remotely uncomfortable? You. Call. Us. Immediately. Is that clear?”

“You two will be the first and only ones I call. I promise.”

Seth didn’t look relieved. “We’ll hold you to that.”

Beck stepped in, his voice more placating. “But barring any unforeseen trouble, this is supposed to be fun.”

She nodded, but something told her eluding the pair might be more difficult than it sounded, especially since Seth tracked people for a living. “What happens if you can’t guess my location from my clues?”

“That’s where the incentive comes in.”

“Incentive?”

“Oh, yeah.” Seth’s tone was pure seduction. “If we find you before we’re supposed to meet at our designated hotel at six p.m., we get to do whatever we want to you that night.”

A forbidden thrill slid through her. “And if I elude you until then, do I get to choose what we do?”

“Of course.” The grin spreading across his face looked way too innocent.

“You two are going to cheat, aren’t you?” she demanded, brows arched.

“Cheat?” Beck scoffed. “How could you accuse us of such a thing?”

Heavenly rolled her eyes. “Seth can track my phone.”

“I’ll turn off your location services,” the PI promised. “That rescinds my permissions so I can’t know where you are all the time. We can always turn it back on after this week.”

“That sounds fair.” Except…he seemed awfully okay with not tracking her. Just yesterday he’d insisted on knowing where she was for safety’s sake at all times. “You don’t have some other way to track my phone, do you?”

“None.”

She still didn’t quite believe him, but she couldn’t call him a liar since she couldn’t prove anything. But she’d definitely be watchful…

“Okay, so I’ll have Beck’s car, some money, and my phone. Am I limited to a certain radius around LA or…”

“Nope.” Seth shook his head.

“We’ve got suggestions if you want them,” Beck put in.

“There are so many places I’ve heard people talk about that I’m dying to see. One of the other volunteers at the hospital was telling me about this ghost town that was creepy but super interesting.”

“That’s a possibility,” Beck encouraged. “What else?”