“Okay, that’s good. I’m texting a friend who works nearby.”
The gray sedan appeared again in Natalie’s rearview. Any doubt that it might not be Michael in that car was gone. She felt her heart swim up her throat. Sweat gathered on her brow, her neck throbbing from the awkward angle used to hold the phone in place.
“He’s still following,” Natalie said in a whispered voice.
“Listen to me carefully,” Kate said, speaking more forcefully this time. “Soon as you cross over North Second Street, you’re going to take your first right onto a dirt road.”
Natalie forced herself to slow down so she wouldn’t miss the turn as she passed Dubois. She spotted what appeared to be some kind of cut-through for large trucks, judging by the size of the tire tracks left in the dirt. Kate was right to say it was a tricky turn to spot, but the driver of the sedan had seen where she’d gone and could follow her easily.
How was this going to help? Natalie wondered.
“Now, when you reach the end of the dirt road you’re going to take a sharp right onto a paved portion that runs parallel to the dirt road. You’re essentially going to backtrack the way you came until you reach the IGA parking lot. You’ll be entering at the rear of the building. I know the manager and he’s expecting you. I’ve been texting him while we talk. Drive my truck straight into the first open bay, the first one you come to. Don’t hesitate. Just drive.”
“We’re off the road again,” Addie cried out after Kate’s truck slammed hard into a deep pothole that sent everyone bouncing.
“Sorry, I missed our street,” said Natalie, with forced cheer in her voice. At the end of the dirt lane, she made the U-turn onto the paved road. The jouncing stopped thanks to the asphalt beneath her wheels. Up ahead the expansive brick fa?ade of the IGA came into full view. Out of her passenger window, Natalie observed the sedan coming toward her now. Were it not for a steady line of shrubs and small trees separating the dirt road from the paved one, the sedan could have easily swerved to intercept her. Instead, they’d have to backtrack as Natalie had done.
The vehicles passed each other while driving on opposite sides of the shrubbery. Sunlight and the cloudless day made it possible to see inside the vehicle. Natalie confirmed her worst fear—it was Michael in the passenger’s seat, traveling with a man she did not know.
Her truck bounded over a speed bump placed at the entrance to the rear lot of the IGA, which sent everyone up and down like they were in a traveling bouncy house. She was going too fast to safely steer the truck toward the loading bays. Instead she watched as the only open bay door fell away in her rearview mirror.
Natalie hit the brakes hard, seat belts locking, tires squealing beneath her. She jammed the truck into reverse, not wanting to waste precious seconds turning the vehicle around. Glancing over her left shoulder as she drove backward, Natalie let the phone and her lifeline to Kate fall to the truck floor.
She navigated toward the open door, sacrificing speed for precision. Off in the distance she could hear the revving engine of Michael’s sedan headed her way. In seconds, it would come over that speed bump. He’d see her. Then it would all be over.
Natalie jammed her foot down on the gas.
“Mommy, what are you doing?” cried Addie in distress.
Natalie was too focused to answer. The truck picked up speed, still going in reverse. A man dressed in beige coveralls emerged from the darkness of the warehouse space. He was big and burly like Chuck, waving his arms frantically in an effort to guide her.
Sunlight gave way to darkness as Natalie steered the truck successfully through the open bay door and into a cavernous building. She heard the rumbling roll of a steel door as it closed shut.
The children sat stunned and quiet. Natalie’s nerves hummed inside her with an electric charge. A knock on her window drew Natalie’s attention. Her savior in coveralls motioned with his hand for Natalie to kill the engine, which she did, but not before she rolled down her window.
“I’m Gus, friend of Kate’s,” the big man said in a deep, resonate voice. “I’ll keep a lookout, so I’ll know when that car is gone and it’s safe for y’all to leave.”
“Thank you, Gus,” Natalie said, feeling both relief and profound gratitude.
“What do you mean, safe?” asked Addie from the backseat. “What’s wrong, Mommy?”
“There’s nothing wrong, sweetheart. There’s just a problem with Kate’s truck and it needs to be looked at. Gus here is going to help.”
“We should go to a gas station then,” said Addie, ever the wise. “This is a warehouse.”
“Yes, I know it’s a warehouse,” said Natalie, finding her calm. “I was worried about the engine overheating, so Kate called ahead, said that Gus here could fix it,” she added definitively. Natalie then thought of Michael, how one lie of his had led to another, and then another still, until he’d erected a city of them, where they all lived under the illusion of comfort and security.
Damn him to hell, she thought.
“We have to give the engine a chance to cool down, so I need you both to be patient and quiet,” said Natalie. “You can play with your iPads while we wait.”
The wait lasted ten minutes, maybe fifteen. Natalie was glad, however, when Gus returned to the truck after opening the bay door, which rose as nosily as a roller coaster going up a track.
“All set,” he said to Natalie through her open window. “That car came and went. Hasn’t come back. We’ve been keeping an eye out and the coast is clear.”
“Thank you, again. I can’t honestly say it enough.”
“Don’t ya mention it,” Gus replied, drawing out each word. “Don’t know what’s going on exactly, but if Kate says you need my help, then I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Please tell Kate we’re okay, and that I’ll be in touch soon,” said Natalie.
Following a head nod from Gus, Natalie drove the truck out of the warehouse, feeling great relief.
But what now? she asked herself while she was stopped at a red light.
She was at the intersection of Auburn Street and South Third, on her way to 79, lost in her private thoughts, when from the backseat she heard a yowl of delight. Then came the click of a seat belt and the metal squeak of a door swinging open. In her peripheral vision, she caught motion as she was turning her head to have a look. To her horror, she saw Bryce bounding out of the truck and onto the road, his face beaming with pure joy.