Not Our Daughter

Thirty-Six

Cole searched a mapping app on his new burner phone and found the nearest auto dealership to their alley was Casa Ford. With a crazy plan in mind, he left the girls behind and briskly made the fifteen-minute walk across a stretch of city. He kept the rain-soaked hood of his sweatshirt up over his head to hide his face the best he could. He didn’t want to meet any wandering eyes out on the sidewalks right now. Thankfully, the skies began to clear, and the rain stopped.

When he arrived at the auto dealership property, he took off the wet sweatshirt and tossed it in the back of a Ford F-150 on the lot. His Denver Nuggets T-shirt was drier. He kept on the black ball cap. He was trying to look as normal as possible even though his blue jeans and running shoes were still drenched. Hopefully a salesperson wouldn’t notice too much. He swiftly navigated through the many rows of cars until he got closer to the main building; then he perched himself in front of a new black Ford Explorer. He began circling it, looking in windows, knowing his presence would quickly draw a salesperson from inside the building.

It took barely sixty seconds before someone approached.

“Beautiful vehicle,” said a voice from behind.

Cole turned around. He had no idea at this point if someone would recognize him from the news. When he saw stories like his own on TV, he rarely paid much attention to the actual faces of the people involved unless it was something happening locally. Both Winter Park and Austin were far away. But what he didn’t know at this point was whether any local news had broken about them being in El Paso. It didn’t matter. He had to risk it. They could do nothing without a vehicle. The sales guy was probably in his midtwenties, with a crew cut, wearing a blue polo and khakis, with a permanently wide smile. Cole locked eyes with him for a moment, holding his breath, waiting to see if there was any hint of recognition from the guy. The salesman just kept on smiling away, so Cole relaxed a little. So far, so good.

“Jonathan Pritchett,” the sales guy said, sticking out a hand.

Cole shook it. “Dillon Foster.”

“Great to meet you, Mr. Foster. You in the market for a new vehicle?”

“Yes, and I love this particular one.” He put his hand against the Explorer. “Can I take it for a test spin?”

Cole wanted to get straight to it. He didn’t have time for small talk.

“Of course!” Jonathan replied, the smile growing bigger. “Let’s go grab the keys. I’ll just need a driver’s license and for you to sign a release form. Follow me.”

Cole followed Jonathan into the main building, and his nerves grew more unstable. There were a lot of people meandering about and taking quick glimpses in his direction. Most were other salesmen, probably wondering if Jonathan had just gotten lucky with a walk-up. But Cole still felt uneasy about everyone looking over at him. He trailed Jonathan over to a small office. Cole could hear his wet shoes squeaking on the shiny tile floor with each step. It sounded obnoxiously loud to him. But no one else seemed to notice.

Right next to the office, Cole spotted a lounge area with several nice leather chairs and sofas facing a big flat-screen TV. His throat immediately tightened up. The TV was on a local news channel, and a photo of his bearded face was currently on the screen. His question about the news breaking that they were in El Paso had been answered. Six people sat in the lounge area watching. And a few salesmen stood around with their eyes also on the TV screen. Cole watched for a moment. Video footage ran from outside the mall, showing people running all about, and a male reporter was explaining the situation. Cole felt his body tighten up. If any of those in the lounge area glanced in his direction right now, they might easily put two and two together. It took a lot for Cole to not turn around and hightail it out of the dealership as fast as he could.

“Mr. Foster?”

Cole turned. Jonathan was waiting for him inside the office. Cole let out a quick breath, tried to calm himself, and stepped inside.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Jonathan offered.

“No, I’m good. But I’m kind of in a hurry, if you don’t mind. Need to be somewhere in a few minutes to pick up the kids.”

“Of course, no problem. Just need to borrow your driver’s license.”

Cole reached into his pocket, pulled out the fake driver’s license for Dillon Foster. It was one of three options he had. The license was legit. If Jonathan ran it through a verification system, Cole felt sure he’d come out clean on the other side.

Jonathan gave it a quick glance. “Arizona?”

“Yes, we just moved here from Tucson.”

“Cool! My uncle lives in Phoenix.”

Cole didn’t respond. Hopefully Jonathan would get the hint. No chitchat. The sales guy stuck the fake driver’s license in a scanner and then handed it back to him. “Now just need you to sign this release form.”

Cole reached down, wrote a fake local address and phone number, and then began to sign, before stopping himself midscribble. Out of habit, he’d started with a big cursive C . He quickly changed course, made it into a messy D for Dillon, and signed the document as Dillon Foster. He glanced up at the sales guy. Jonathan gave him a quick puzzled look. Cole silently cursed himself. What a stupid mistake. But he thought it best to not try to explain anything. That might only make it worse.

Jonathan stood. “All right, let me grab those keys, and I’ll meet you at the vehicle.”

Before stepping back outside, Cole watched the sales guy walk over to a big glass room where several men stood around a big counter with a huge row of file cabinets behind it. Probably the manager’s office. He watched for a moment to see if Jonathan did anything more than just grab keys. Once inside, the sales guy spoke with an older gentleman. They both gave a glance through the glass in his direction. Cole felt like he suddenly had a big target on him. Had this been a huge mistake?

It was too late now. He was fully committed. But he was ready to flee at breakneck speed if he caught whiff of any potential threat. He stepped out of the building again, moved back over to the rows of cars. Another sales guy came over and offered to help. Cole told him he was already being assisted. But the more eyes put on him, the more uneasy he felt about all this. He was ready to get the hell out of there.

Jonathan finally reappeared. Cole couldn’t tell if he had any keys on him. He decided if there were any further delays, he would bolt. He couldn’t risk someone inside the building calling the cops on him right now. But thankfully Jonathan held out the keys.

“Here you go, Mr. Foster,” he said, still showcasing his bright smile. “You want me to show you some of the bells and whistles?”

Cole took the keys. “When I get back. I want to see how it runs first.”

“Yes, of course. If you want to get out on the highway and really open it up, the closest entrance is three blocks over from here. I think you’ll be very impressed.”

Cole quickly climbed into the vehicle, started it up.

Jonathan leaned into the door opening. “Take your time. Get a real feel for the vehicle. You can even go pick up your kids in it, if you want. I guarantee you and your family are going to love it. We can wrap this whole thing up today.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

It took all the restraint Cole had left to not kick Jonathan out of the way, slam the door shut, and then burn rubber out of the parking lot. He could feel his adrenaline racing. He was only seconds away from his plan working. By the time Jonathan realized Cole was never returning, they would be well on their way to Austin. And trying to track him down with the driver’s license would prove useless.

Cole wondered how much time he would have before they called the police. An hour? Maybe two? Cole again thanked the sales guy, shut the door, calmly backed the vehicle out of the parking spot, and then eased through the lot. When he was completely out of sight of the dealership, he jumped all over the gas pedal.

Five minutes later, Lisa and Jade quickly climbed inside with him.

“I can’t believe you really did it,” Lisa said.

“I got lucky. Just hope the salesman doesn’t get fired because of it.”

“Well, we were due some good luck.”

“We’re going to make our own luck from here on out.”