Chapter 13. Alice
ALICE
When the couple came back into the RV, Jenny brushed past Alice on the floor and sat at the table with her knees pressed together, her hands on her lap, and her fingers interlocked. One thumb moved restlessly against the other. Was she nervous? Had they decided something?
Alice was torn from her thoughts by Simon pulling on her arms as he undid the belt.
He stepped away, and she slowly got to her feet. Her legs were on pins and needles from sitting cross-legged for so long. She stumbled backward to sit on the bench.
Simon opened his wallet, took out the cash and traveler’s checks, and handed what looked like half to Jenny. “In case we get split up.”
Jenny nodded and cast a guilt-stricken look toward Alice. She returned it with a stony stare. Jenny looked down at the traveler’s checks and frowned.
“There’s a line…” She held up the check, showing him. “It says Countersignature must be affixed in the presence of the person cashing this check. What does that mean?”
Simon turned toward Alice and Tom. “You heard her.”
“The signatures have to match,” Tom said. “I’ve signed one corner already.”
“You mean these are useless?” The words were barely out of his mouth and Simon was lunging toward Tom. He punched him in the ribs, a meaty thudding sound. Tom gasped and groaned as he twisted his body to avoid a second blow.
“Stop!” Alice jumped in between them, shielding Tom. “We can still try!”
“You screwed me over!” Simon’s chest was rising and falling in angry pants, his hands clenched. Jenny had gotten up and was tugging Simon back toward the kitchen.
“We can go to the bank.” Alice tried to think of what to say. “I’m his wife. Maybe if he signs them twice, we can still cash them. The signatures will match, and I’ll say he’s sick.”
Simon rubbed at his head with one hand, messing his hair. “I don’t like this…”
“Alice is right. We can try.” Jenny was still holding his other hand, grasping it between both of hers, like she was an anchor, holding him back from plunging over the edge.
Silence stretched as Simon thought it over and they all waited for his answer.
“We drove past a bank downtown. We’ll go there.”
The city center was only a couple of streets with painted brick buildings nudged tightly together.
Some were short and squat, others tall and skinny, and each awning a different bold color like rows of women at an old-fashioned dance, twirling their umbrellas to get attention.
It was the mountain that was the true focal point, though.
It loomed in the background, watching over the town, so close that Alice could make out the shape of the individual trees on the bottom.
Simon ordered her to park in a shaded lot at the end of the street, out of sight from the brown-brick bank but close enough that they could leave quickly.
Alice put on lipstick and brushed her hair.
When she was finished, she gave Tom a soft kiss that she hoped provided some reassurance, which she herself didn’t feel, then she picked up her purse.
Simon was waiting with his back against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest, looking for all the world like a young man enjoying his summer vacation in his tank top and faded denim shorts. Except for the gun in his hand, pointing at Tom.
“If I hear any sirens…”
“I get it.” Alice swallowed hard, licked her dry lips. “I’m not going to do anything.”
“Just in case you do, Jenny has the knife.”
Alice glanced at Jenny, who was standing at the door, with her crocheted purse over her shoulder. Alice wondered if the knife was under her shirt or in the purse. Would she really stab Alice? She couldn’t read her face. The girl didn’t even meet Alice’s eyes.
Jenny and Alice were silent as they left the RV and walked down the street side by side until they reached the bank entrance, a grand wooden door flanked by pillars.
Alice took a deep breath and pushed it open.
The bank was cool inside, an air conditioner blasting from overhead.
Alice’s arms broke into goose bumps at the sudden chill.
The security guard met her gaze with a friendly smile.
She tried not to stare at the gun in his holster. There were no other customers.
They walked to one of the tellers—the only one available at that moment. Jenny stayed close to Alice, her sandals slapping the marble floor, and the ends of her hair swinging with each step.
A dark-haired, middle-aged woman in a lilac blouse with a bow-tie neck greeted them. Alice explained that she wanted to cash her traveler’s checks and slid them across the counter. As the woman inspected them, her lips tightened. She looked at Alice over the rim of her glasses.
“Thomas Bell?”
“Yes, my husband. He has a terrible flu—my goodness, his fever in this heat? The poor man can’t get out of bed.
We thought it would be okay if he had already signed them because you can check my ID.
” She smiled as she handed the woman her license.
“We’re visiting from Seattle. We’ve been enjoying your beautiful country. Until my husband got sick, that is.”
Jenny’s elbow brushed against Alice’s side, and she stopped talking. The bank teller was staring at her. Could she tell something was wrong?
“Excuse me for a moment. I need to talk to the manager.”
“Oh, okay. That’s fine.”
Jenny turned to Alice the moment the teller left. “Do you think they’ll do it?”
“I don’t know, but she didn’t look happy.” Alice gnawed on the corner of her thumb.
The teller came back with an older balding man in a pale blue suit and a wide tie. He gave Alice a smile that she could only describe as sympathetic. She stiffened her spine.
“Mrs. Bell,” he said. “Thank you so much for visiting our bank today. I hear you’ve traveled all the way up from Seattle.”
She nodded, waiting for him to get to the point.
“Unfortunately, we can’t cash these checks for you. With the Olympics and tourist season, there’s an increase in fraud. We’re under strict guidelines. No exceptions.”
“But you can see by my ID that we have the same last name.” She tapped her driver’s license, which sat on the counter between them. He glanced down, then back at her.
“With all due respect, ma’am, we have no way of verifying that you’re married. We still need to witness the signature for ourselves.”
“I’ve explained to your teller that my husband is sick.”
“Hopefully he’ll make a quick recovery.” His expression was now turning dismissive. Alice wanted to reach across the counter and choke the man with his tie. What was she going to do now? More importantly—what was Simon going to do if she couldn’t get money?
Alice fumbled through the items in her purse and pulled out her checkbook. “What about a personal check? Surely you can cash one of those.” She lifted the pen from its holder at the side of the counter, the long silver chain twisting around her hand, and looked up at him.
“We have a fifteen-day hold on any checks from a foreign bank, and you must be an account holder at our bank. Would you like to open an account today?”
“No.” She dropped the pen into the holder, the chain slithering free of her hand.
The manager dipped his head. “If we can be of any further service…”
“Thank you. Have a good day.” She grabbed her driver’s license off the counter, and spun around, refusing to look at Jenny beside her. She walked briskly to the door.
Outside the bank, Alice took a moment to compose herself, smoothing her hair off her forehead, and wiping her clammy hands on her shorts.
“Are you okay?” Jenny asked, and Alice spun around to glare at her.
“You and your boyfriend are robbing us,” she hissed. “What do you think?”
Jenny gaped at her, then jerked her head to look over her shoulder at the bank entrance, probably worried that the officer would hear them. She turned back. “We have to go.”
“Of course. I don’t want my husband to die.”
Jenny blinked in surprise, a flush pinkening her cheeks. Alice realized it was the first time they had been alone, and it might be her only chance of getting through to Jenny. Alice glanced up the street and hoped that Simon couldn’t see them standing in the shade of a building.
“I know you think you are in love with Simon, but I can tell you right now that you’re going to get caught—and he’ll blame you for everything.”
“He would never do that.”
“He’s manipulating you. Don’t you see? He gives you orders, always telling you what to do or where to go.”
“You don’t know anything about us!”
“I know that you’re making a huge mistake and you’re going to get hurt.”
“Simon loves me,” Jenny said. “He won’t let anything bad happen to me.”
“What about the baby? What’s going to happen when you’re arrested?” Alice noticed Jenny flinch. She was listening. “You might be able to get a deal if you turn yourself in now.”
“We aren’t going to get caught. Simon’s smart.”
“He’s reckless. He likes hurting people. You didn’t see the way he looked at the biker’s body, but I did. And if you don’t stop him, more people are going to die.”
“We need to go back to the RV right now.”
They stared at each other. Jenny’s arms crossed over her chest, her chin tilted up as though daring Alice to say something else, but there was no point. Jenny wasn’t going to listen to her. Alice turned and kept walking down the street. Jenny followed at her heels.
When they were at the RV, Simon flung open the door and stepped back so they could come inside. “What took you so long?”
Alice first looked at Tom, who seemed to be sleeping, then she sat down at the table before she fell over, her legs weak with exhausted adrenaline.
“We had a problem,” she said.
“Like what?” Simon took a step toward Alice. She tensed.
“They wouldn’t cash the checks,” Jenny said in a quiet voice.
“Did you tell them he’s sick?”
“Alice tried everything,” Jenny said. “The bank manager even came out, but he said no.”
Simon grabbed Alice’s bicep and hauled her off the bench seat, then spun her around so his arm was under her chin and she was facing the bed.
He pressed the gun barrel to her temple.
It happened so fast; she was only just registering how much her arm muscles hurt when the rest of her brain and body caught up to the fact that she might die in the next few seconds.
“Wake up, asshole.”
Tom startled, his arms and legs jerking against the restraints, his eyes widening as he took in the scene in front of him. “What—?”
“Do you have more money in this RV?”
“No.” Tom shook his head. Simon pressed the gun harder.
Metal pushed against Alice’s skull painfully.
His arm squeezed her neck. She couldn’t move, she was scared to breathe.
What if his finger slipped? What if he pulled the trigger?
She wondered if the bullet would make a hole or blow her brains all over the RV.
She fought the hysteria flooding her chest.
“Are you lying again?”
“No—let her go!”
Simon’s arm against her throat tightened.
Tom’s face had gone pale. Alice had never felt such fear.
The wild urge to scratch and fight for her life.
The panic was too strong. She was about to sink her fingernails into Simon’s arm, when he released her.
He gave her a push that had her stumbling into the counter, the sharp edge biting at her hip bone.
“Get up front.”
Alice didn’t want to leave, thinking that Simon was going to hurt Tom, but when Simon lifted the gun to point it at her, she turned and walked past Jenny, who was silent at the table.
Jenny stared back and forth between Simon and Alice with her eyebrows pinched together and her face pale.
Like a mouse watching a hawk eat a rabbit.
Was he going to shoot Alice in the back?
Alice whipped around, hands out. Simon was standing with the gun resting against his thigh. Alice glanced at Jenny. Now she was staring at the table, hiding her face with her hair.
Alice dropped into the driver’s seat, her heart beating fast. She pressed her hand to her chest, surprised she couldn’t feel it bumping against her skin. A moment later Simon sat on the passenger side. He rubbed at his face, swore under his breath, then glared at Alice.
“We’re driving to Golden.”