As Jimmy stood there passing water, relief spread over him. He was zipping up when Jay joined him.
“Man,” Jimmy said, “I think we oughta take the chick back to the highway and let her out. We aren’t ever gonna get to Seattle if we keep stopping all the time.”
Glenn relieved himself and they stepped out into the open. “Seattle can wait,” he said. “We’ll get there. But first I’m gonna get me some of that.”
“Some of what?”
“Little Terrie, you asshole, that’s what.”
“What if she doesn’t want to give it?”
“I didn’t say I was going to ask her for it, did I? You remember me saying that? What I said was, I’m gonna get me some of that. If she don’t want to give it, then I’ll take it. For damned sure though I’m gonna fuck her in the next five minutes.”
“Are you crazy? We don’t need that kind of trouble. You force yourself on her and she’ll go running to the cops before we’re out of sight. Besides, you told me yourself you were infected.”
“Don’t let it worry you, little buddy. Cops won’t bother us. Some chick like her is the reason I got a leaky dick. Look around. There’s plenty of room to bury her up here where she’ll never be found. She raises too much fuss, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
Jimmy felt a chill start at the back of his neck and spread over his entire being. What kind of a man had he teamed up with? First the old bastard wanted to screw anything he could find and then said something about a bank job. Now he was talking of rape and, worse yet, maybe murder. If Jay was willing to kill Terrie, wouldn’t he go even further and decide to leave no witnesses?
Jimmy’s jaw set in the characteristic way he’d had since a small boy. Why was he even thinking this? The man wasn’t going to kill anybody. Not if Jimmy Dale Taylor had anything to say about it.
“You just stay away from the car,” Glenn warned. “Don’t come around until I say I’m through. This is one time you ain’t gonna interfere. I’m telling you for sure there’s plenty of room to bury two people up here. If you get in my way, that’s exactly what’ll happen.”
Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was tempted to run down the mountain, even though the night was dark. No, he would have to ride it out. Even had his own life not been threatened, it wasn’t his nature to stand by and let something happen to a woman.
Besides, where would he go?
But there was no way he could stop this big son of a bitch from doing what he wanted to do. Not unless he had an equalizer. He had to have that gun. Just in case. For protection, that’s what Jay had said.
“Wait till I get something out of the car,” Jimmy said. “I don’t want to sit here waiting without something to drink.”
“Get what you need now. No matter what, don’t come back to the car until I say you can. When I climb on top, I don’t want no interruptions. Or no audience either. You gotta pay if you want to watch and you ain’t got that kind of money.”
Room to bury her where she’ll never be found. These words rolled over and over through Jimmy’s head as he hurried towards the car, angling to his left where he could make his approach from the passenger’s side. Room enough for two if you interfere.
Terrie’s window was rolled down. She was shivering. Jimmy bet it wasn’t from the cold.
“Why are we still here?” she asked. “Jay said we were only going to stop for a minute or two. What have you and him been talking about?”
“I’m going to get something to drink. Hand me the wine bottle, will you?”
“Where are you going?”
“I won’t be far away.”
“What is he going to do?”
“I’d better let him tell you what he’s got in mind.” Jimmy opened the car door and sat on the edge of the seat. He felt under the dash until his hand touched the pistol. “I got the gun,” he said. “Don’t tell Jay I’m taking it.”
She stared at him. “John, don’t go.” She grasped his arm, but he pulled away. “Don’t go and leave me alone with him. I’m afraid. Why did we stop here?”
Voice trembling, Jimmy said, “Ask Jay. He’s driving. I don’t know where we’re at or why we’re here. But if you get in trouble, yell out. I got this gun. I ain’t afraid to use it if I have to.”
Terrie looked startled, like a fawn. She was sobering fast, and she didn’t look like she wanted his partner, not to Jimmy anyway, but maybe he was wrong.
Glenn was moving towards the driver’s door. Terrie grasped Jimmy’s arm again. “Please don’t go.”
“Time for you to get away from here and entertain yourself,” Glenn said to Jimmy. “Gimme a swig of wine first though. And just remember what I said,” Glenn warned as he climbed in on the driver’s side, pulled a couple of swallows from the wine bottle, and passed it back. For a moment the two men stared at one another. Then, taking a beer, Jimmy headed for a tree stump at the edge of the car’s lights, some forty feet away.
The gun in his hip pocket felt uncomfortable. He didn’t like touching it. Would he use the pistol if Terrie needed help? He didn’t want to have to find out.
Terrie wasn’t any virgin. He would be willing to bet on that, he told himself. She was mature enough to know what she wanted and if that was the old man it was all right with him. After they were through, they could get back on the road or they could let her off, whatever she wanted. Still, he didn’t feel good about it.
Jay was becoming weirder all the time. He drove a stolen car, and the man wanted to rob a bank. Was he capable of cold-blooded killing?
He looked around. There was no doubt there was plenty of room up here to conceal two bodies. They were really hidden from the world. Jimmy listened but couldn’t hear the sound of a car on the road or a dog barking. They must not be anywhere near an inhabited area.
All he knew was they had parked in an isolated clearing. Tall trees grew up all around and far overhead there was a sky filled with stars.
He wondered where, exactly, they were. Somewhere far up in northern California, he supposed. The last he remembered they had left Yreka and headed north. Yeah, they must be close to Oregon.
Or somewhere on the back side of the moon, for all Jimmy knew. Exactly where wasn’t important. Survival was taking center stage in his troubled mind. As he took a swig of wine, he wondered if Terrie and the old man were getting it on while he froze out there alone.
Hell, they would never get to Seattle. By now he would have been willing to bet on that.
The chilly night air was filled with the scent of pines. Jimmy heard the call of an owl and not far from where he sat some large animal ran through the brush, spooking him.
Out of habit, Glenn had taken the keys when he’d left. Now he poked them back into the ignition slot.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Nothing that you should worry about.”
“You’re not going to drive off, are you? You wouldn’t put me out and leave me alone up here, would you?”
“You know I wouldn’t,” he said. “You’re much too important to me.”
“What do you mean? I thought we were going to see Slim and Virginia.”
“They can wait. We’re not in a hurry. You be a good friend to old Jay and I’ll take you to see Virginia and Slim and the singing group, too. But first we gotta have us a little fun.”
Not