Cold Trail (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Cold Trail - Chapter Six

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Six soft, cuddly cows?

Five chocolate chip cookies?

Four stainless steel milk barrels?

Three days to live?

Two flutes of champagne?

And a Christmas card in a snowflake envelope?

~ * ~

Going on a night trip with Rudolph to check out the creamery never entered her plan. She needed a way to let Jack know where they were heading. When he caught up with her, Jack was bound to kill her for putting her life at risk, but it wasn't like she had any choice. If she managed to escape, Rudolph might do something really stupid, and they would all be in way more serious trouble.

"We should sleep, and wait till morning to drive."

They were slowly leaving DC, and soon there would be no lamppost, and she wouldn't be able to read him.

"You go ahead and sleep. I'll wake you up when we arrive."

"What about you?" To watch him fall asleep at the wheel and end up in a ditch wasn't exactly how she wanted to be rescued.

"I'm a night owl. I slept all day before going to Leland's party. You don't need to worry about me."

But she also worried about leaving another clue for Jack.

"I can't go snooping around the creamery in an evening gown, Rudolph. We would be noticed right away. I need to get new clothes." If the team followed standard procedure, they would be monitoring her credit cards. "Next big town we crossed, we'll stop at Wal-Mart so I can get a pair of jeans and a top."

His mouth opened and formed an O, then closed. She took it as an agreement.

Despite her best efforts to stay awake, she dozed on and off, until they entered a town she'd never heard of, and he stopped at a gas station open all night. "I need gas, then we'll get you some clothes. There's a Wal-Mart two blocks away, and it never closes."

The parking lot of the store was empty, but the sign over the entrance said Open 24 hours.

"I need my purse, Rudolph. It'll cost about a hundred bucks, and it's not fair for you to pay. You can take my phone if you don't trust me."

He reached for the glove compartment, unlocked it, grabbed her purse, and dumped the content in the console between their seats. "Just take your wallet. The rest stays there."

Wallet was all she needed. "Can I go alone?"

"Alone?" He pocketed her blackberry. "I'm not stupid you know. I'm going with you, but you better hurry."

Once in the store, except for the running shoes, she didn't bother trying anything. It would have to fit. As far as she could tell, he hadn't figured out she was deaf, yet, and she wanted to keep the charade as long as possible. As she roamed the aisles with her cart to make sure she didn't forget anything, an idea formed into her mind. She headed for the toy alley and stopped in front of a bin full of small stuffed animals. Finding a cow shouldn't be too difficult.

Sure enough, there was the cutest, softest, cuddliest cow she'd ever seen.

Rudolph snatched it from her hand. "What is that?"

"My nieces love cows, and I've been looking to buy them one for Christmas. That one is perfect."

He gave the cow a dubious look. "How many nieces do you have?"