26.
behind her, then, more important, took an extra security measure from her bag: a portable safety lock that was impossible
to remove from the outside. She slid this under the door and set it.
She sat under the window with her bag and waited. She took her gun from her holster and touched it, briefly, to her cheek.
An hour later, she heard the truck. It slid up the road, its lights turned off. She sat up on her knees and peeked through
the curtains. The man in the truck watched the motel for a moment, making sure no one else was there, then he backed slowly
into a hidden spot on the road.
In a few minutes, she saw his shadow, loping across the parking lot like a wolf. She ducked again.
His shadow passed above her to the room she had left. With a deft move, he popped the lock to room 11, using the same technique
she had used. He found the security latch set, because she was not a fool, but within moments he had disabled this, too, by
sliding the same blade up under the latch and popping it out.
She waited. She could hear him rustling around on the other side of the wall, looking for her. She had left the back window
open and knew he would find this, but he would have no idea where she’d gone.
Soon he came back out. She could hear him breathing outside, frustrated. Where was she?
I am nowhere, she thought. I am a missing woman.