Page 5 of Mister Prick

I clenched the steering wheel until my knuckles went white.

I was thirty miles from home, in a city that I didn’t normally frequent. Marty was more than a hundred miles from where he last lived. In the twenty-four months that I’d spent trying to find him, I was advised he’d not only left the state, but the entire country.

I gawked at the SUV in sheer disbelief. Obviously, my information regarding his whereabouts was inaccurate. I changed to the far-left lane and began to follow him.

I gestured toward the back seat. “Would you mind handing me my bag?”

“You uhhm. Do you need it now? While you’re driving?”

The reality of our chance encounter started to gnaw at me. I glared at the SUV. “Yes,” I said under my breath.

As the four lanes of vehicles slowed to a stop at the next signal, she unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed the leather bag. After placing it on the console between us, she reached for her seat belt.

The thought of trusting someone made me feel uncomfortable, but my choices were few. I either had to take my chances with Jess or potentially lose Marty forever.

“Leave it unbuckled,” I said flatly. “You’re going to be driving in a minute.”

“What?” She shot me a look. “Why?”

“There’s a guy in front of us that I’ve been trying to find for a long time. I’m not going to go into detail about it, but if I don’t seize this opportunity, I may never have this chance again. I’ve got to talk to him before he gets away, so I need you to drive this car.” I gestured toward the SUV. “I’ll be in that black Range Rover ahead of us. Just follow me.”

Her face contorted. “You’re going to get in with him?”

“Something like that.”

“What’s going on?” she asked with an unsteady voice. “Can’t you just honk at him and get him to pull over?”

I shot her a quick glare. “I’m getting in the Range Rover.”

“I guess I’ll uhhm...” She let out a sigh. “I’ll follow you.”

I slid the satchel into my lap, opened it, and counted sixteen bundles of one-hundred-dollar bills. With six of them pinched between my thumb and forefinger, I extended my hand.

“Take this.”

She looked at the money and then at me. “Oh my God,” she gasped. “What are you--”

I dropped the money into her lap and then handed her the remaining ten bundles, five at a time.

She returned a petrified look. “Wait…what am I going to do with…”

“That’s one hundred and sixty thousand bucks. One forty-one for the car, and nineteen for following me…” I met her wide-eyed gaze. “And for keeping your mouth shut.”

There was no doubt in my mind that this would be my only chance to resolve what I should have done two years prior. Despite being in the presence of a woman I wasn’t certain I could trust, I lifted bag’s strap over my shoulder and reached for the door handle.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“I guess so.” Without argument, she pushed the money off her lap and onto the floorboard. As she lifted her left leg over the console, she met my gaze with curious eyes. “Everything’s okay, though? Right?”

“It will be in a few minutes.” I gave her one last look. “Can I trust you?”

With one of her silky-smooth legs resting on her seat and the other draped over the console, she looked me in the eyes and gave a sharp nod. “You can.”

With those two spoken words, I opened the door and stepped into the street.