“I can see why you’d object to the waiting period,” Kathryn said reasonably, “but what’s wrong with blood tests? Are you afraid of needles or something?”
Jonah shook his head. “It’s the uncertain time element that bothers me. It can take days to get a lab report, maybe even longer than the official waiting periods are. And the more time we stay in one place—”
“The more likely it is that Daddy will catch up with us.”
“Of course, he can’t really prevent you from doing anything you want,” Jonah pointed out. “You’re an adult and you can marry whomever you choose, even if Jock’s standing right there yelling at you about it.”
Kathryn made a face. “Not a pretty picture. I think I’d rather present him with a fait accompli.”
“That’s what I expected you to say. So the best choice I’ve found is Nevada.”
“Las Vegas?” She was horrified.
“What’s wrong with it?”
She bit her lip. “I guess it’s a silly objection, but apparently it’s one of Douglas’s favorite playgrounds. And it’s not what I’d call within driving distance, either. Wouldn’t we be better off—”
“To stay right here and play sitting ducks? There isn’t a courthouse in Minnesota that will be open again until Monday, and then there’s a five-day waiting period. How certain are you that Jock wouldn’t hear about his daughter applying for a marriage license in Minnesota—especially since it’s the second one in just a few weeks?”
“You have a point,” Kathryn admitted.
“We might as well spend the weekend on the road. We don’t have to go all the way to Vegas, anyway, because anywhere inside the state line will do.”
Kathryn sighed. “I suppose, if it’s the best we can do, we should get started.”
Back in the car, he thrust a road map at her and said, “Plot me a route to Wisconsin.”
Kathryn stared at him. “Wisconsin? I wasn’t the best geography student on the planet, but the last time I looked Wisconsin was due east of here, and Nevada is southwest. Why on earth do you want to go to Wisconsin?”
“To rob that bank you were talking about earlier.” He flicked the turn signal and pulled onto the highway. He must have seen her expression, however, for he laughed. “Not literally, Katie. But we must get hold of some cash, so we’re going to have to use the credit cards. If we use them along the way, we’ll be giving Jock directions on how to follow us. So we’ll go the opposite direction, create a false trail, then double back and make our run for Nevada.”
She unfolded the map. “Don’t tell me,” she said as she buried her nose in it, trying to make out the fine print. “In your day job, you’re a spy. Right?”
“Darn, you guessed my secret. Now the director will have to assassinate us both.”
She put the map down. “You’re excited about this,” she accused. “You’re enjoying it.”
“Well…yeah, I suppose I am. Come on, Katie, this is an adventure we can tell our kids about.”
Kathryn gulped.
He shot a look at her. “What’s the matter? Hadn’t you thought that far ahead yet?”
“I guess not,” she admitted.
“Well, you’ll have at least twenty-four hours to think it over before it’s too late to change your mind,” he said easily. “Probably more like thirty-six.”
She turned back to the map, but she hardly saw it; the lines appeared to be squiggly.
Kids, she thought.
She and Douglas had never talked about the subject, but somehow she knew that they would have discussed having children, not kids. She’d never thought about the difference before, but suddenly it loomed as wide as the Gulf of Mexico. Having children with Douglas would have seemed almost clinical. Having kids with Jonah, on the other hand….
Would be one heck of a lot of fun, whispered a wicked little voice.
But she’d think about all that later. She ran a finger across the map. “This would have been easier if we’d started out in the right direction, you know.”
“Well, if I’d realized when we left Duluth that we weren’t headed for the Cities…” He sounded a bit absentminded.
“Okay. There’s a place coming up where we can turn onto highway—”
But Jonah was obviously not listening. His gaze was fixed on the rearview mirror. “Damn,” he said under his breath. “I didn’t think even Jock could move this fast. But I’m not speeding, so—”
Kathryn twisted around to look. Behind them, precisely keeping pace, was a highway patrol car with the emergency lights running. And as she watched in disbelief, the siren began to wail, and the officer flashed his headlights, signaling them to pull off to the side of the road.
CHAPTER THREE
JONAH fumbled for his wallet and extracted his driver’s license. “Don’t say anything, Katie. Keep your head turned away—but not completely, because that looks suspicious.”
She gave him an innocently wide-eyed look. “And I suppose you don’t want me to make jokes about kidnappers, either?”
Jonah rolled down the window as the officer approached with his flashlight playing over the car.
“Good evening, sir,” the officer said pleasantly. “Your driver’s license and car registration, please.” He took the documents, and his gaze slid easily from the photo on the license to Jonah’s face and back. “Thank you, sir. I’ve been following you for a while. I presume you’re not aware that your taillights are working only intermittently.”
Taillights? This was only about taillights? Kathryn tried to choke back a gasp of relief.
“I certainly wasn’t, Officer,” Jonah said.
“I’ll have to issue you a ticket for driving with defective equipment, of course. I’ll be right back with the paperwork for you to sign.”
“That was lucky,” Kathryn breathed as he walked toward the cruiser.
“Don’t get your hopes up too high.”
“But if he stopped us because of the lights, then he couldn’t have been looking specifically for us.”
“Don’t bet on it. Maybe he made up the bit about the lights as an excuse to check us out.”
“How could he just make it up?”
“It’s the ‘working intermittently’ part that makes me suspicious, because that’s not easy to check. The lights could be working perfectly right now, but I can’t exactly argue about something he says happened ten minutes ago and miles down the road.”
The officer returned with a ticket pad in hand. “If you’ll sign here, sir.” He tore off the top layer and handed it to Jonah. “You realize, of course, that the law says the car cannot be driven further until the defect is fixed.”
Jonah sounded calmer than Kathryn felt. “I suppose that means we’ll have to get a tow truck out here. Since we are sitting on the edge of the highway—”
“You’re actually in luck, sir. It could take an hour to get a tow truck out here.”
“That’s lucky?” Kathryn said under her breath.
“But the rules do allow me some discretion. Since you’re only a couple of miles from