Page 113 of The Man with a Treasure

Scarlett poured eggs into a hot pan. “I have never seen you nude.”

I smiled. She was adding words to her vocabulary every day. She had just used ‘quite’ and ‘nude’.

“Oh,” celebrated Mae, “another treat coming?” She also set bags on the counter.

“Mae!” Scarlett sounded so happy. “I’m making omelets! Would you like one?”

Mae put groceries in the refrigerator. “No, sweet girl. I need to get back home during the bike convention.”

My gut tightened. “Bike convention?”

Mae kept casually dealing with groceries, but her eyes said much. They held my stare as she said, “More like unwanted visitors that pass through once in a while.” Then she looked at Sal. She was trying to tell us something, which was shocking because she never had before. “Haven’t seen them in a bit.”

Sal turned his attention to a grocery bag and unloaded, but asked, “They don’t, uh, pass through often?”

She, too, emptied another bag but wasn’t paying attention to anything in her hands. She stared at me. “No, they don’t. The Hell Furies are not exactly welcomed in these parts.”

I asked, “Think they plan on staying long?”

“No, but they sure are nosey.” From a bag that didn’t look like the rest, she pulled out a car cover and set it in front of me.

My heart thundered as Scarlett asked, “What’s that, Angel?” With a spatula, she flipped an omelet that fell half out of the pan.

Sal went to help her, but I know he was feeling the need to be close to her.

Staring at the cover, I explained, “This, uh—It, uh—”

“Keeps all the leaves off pretty cars,” explained Mae. “Winter is coming, so the leaves are dropping.”

Scarlett gasped in a manner that told me she was about to ask a question that would seem odd, so I quickly interrupted her, “Yes. Thank you very much, Mae.”

“No problem.” She grabbed her car keys. “I’ll text when the town isn’t so busy with visitors.” She walked toward the door.

Gasp! “Town? Sal—”

“Salami?” quickly covered Sal. “No, that would taste terrible in an omelet.”

Slipping the car cover under my arm, I rushed to follow Mae. Outside, I pulled out my wallet, but Mae held up a hand to stop me. “No. No tip needed.” I closed the door after she gestured for me to. Quietly, she said, “Not even the owner knows three people are here. You guys never come into town, so no locals know you’re here. Nor did they see two ‘Italian men and a pretty girl in a blue fancy car pass through town.’ Understand?”

They’re trying to track us. I nodded, thankful this woman was trying to help.

She grabbed the cover from under my arm and opened the package, her eyes focused on me. “This cover is only a precaution in case someone drives by.”

Not one car had since we’d been there.

She went to the car. “The Furies won’t. These bikers aren’t fond of miles and miles of dirt roads up a mountainside if not needed to be traveled. Understand?”

I nodded while helping her cover the car.

“You have money for another car?”

“Yes.” And I had plenty to run with Scarlett and hide elsewhere if needed.

“If you want one, let me know.”

“Thank you.”

In silence, we tucked and tightened the cover where needed.