Chapter 6

The motor home drove like a dream. I had been a bit leery of wheeling it around, but it handled very well. After an hour or so on the road, it felt natural to be sitting up so high and becoming accustomed to the long wheelbase.

“Why are we getting off here, Dad? I don’t see any stations or restaurants.”

“If we stay on the same Interstate without getting off, it is pretty easy to track us. If we get off occasionally and use the side roads, with an occasional trip up or down a north-south Interstate, it may slow down their tracking.”

“This is turning into a very different experience than the life you were living last week, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Darling. Quite different.”

“Do you regret being caught up in all of this?”

“Are you kidding? Even without the special relationships we have. Without the love of two beautiful generations of offspring and without the excitement of the chase, as well as the intellectual challenge, this experience is still right up there with some of my best.”

“Are you glad we found you?”

“How can you question that? Absolutely! I only wish it could have happened while your mother was alive. She was quite a lady and it would have been fantastic to have been able to see her again.”

“Where are we headed now?”

“We are going to try to stay within the normal milieu for motor homes, so we will pick and choose routes that have a high proportion of them. There is a major manufacturer of high end motor homes in a tiny little town in northwestern Alabama. They turn out over fifty of those half million dollar suckers every week. Not only that, there is a steady stream of them going and coming for service. A lot of the buyers have sold their homes to buy them and live in them full time. When they need service or upgrades, they head back to the factory and have it done there, while they schmooze with other owners. They have a sort of informal owners’ club.”

“Ok. How does that help us?”

“We will try to blend in with the pack. If we stop off now and then, to allow the trail to cool off, it may be harder to track us. If we are parked under an awning for a few days, they may get tired of scanning freeway cameras. Being way off grid, as we are now, it doesn’t look odd to see a vehicle like ours using the back roads because all that come here do so.”

Emily joined us.

“What are you guys jawing about?”

“Jawing? You been watching old westerns?”

“You betch’um, Red Rider.”

“Damn! Little Beaver. You go way back.”

“Don’t you like my little beaver, Grandpa?”

“I’ve never licked a cuter one. Let’s see if we can talk your mom into swinging this critter down the road while we go in the back and tickle that sucker?”

“Oh, Gramps! You say the sweetest things.”

“Hey, Boss. What’s up?”

“That’s what I’m calling you about. Are you getting any closer to catching up with these clowns?”

“I don’t know, Boss. Like you say, they are complete amateurs, which is working in their favor at the moment. It would be easier to second guess them if they were pros, but they are bound to run out of new things to try before too long.”

“That’s the problem. We can’t keep the entire team on these clowns for much longer. We have already blown through the budget for them, with nothing to show for it.”

“Do you want us to come in?”

“No, not yet. Give it another day or so. If they don’t trip any wires by then, we will have to put them on a back burner.”

“I don’t know, Boss. I have a feeling about these guys. I’ve got some leave coming. Maybe I’ll just nose around a little on my own time after you call off the official search. Would that be ok?”

“You know I can’t pay you, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but maybe you could cover expenses if I come up with them?”

“Go ahead. I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks, Boss.”

“Can we stop here for the night, Dad? I’m tired of bouncing around.”

“Sure. I’m kind of tired, myself. What about you, Kitten?”

“Ok, it’s been a rush to be able to drive this mammoth machine, but it will be nice to get out and stretch my legs a bit.”

“Now, Daughter. That was a fine meal and the dessert you two provided was even better. You two snuggle up here beside me and get ready to spill the beans. I want to know everything.”

“Ok, Pops. I guess we owe you that. You dropped your entire life to come when I called, without demanding to know anything about us or why we are on the run. The least we can do is to spell it out for you. I suggest you brace yourself.”

“Ok. You can start by telling me whether Emily is part of it or if she is simply caught up in the situation with her mother.”

“Oh. Well, actually, Emily is the principal and I am the associate.”

“Oh?”

“Yep.”

“Go on.”

“Remember that high profile judge that died a while back.?”

“How high?”

“HIGH!”

“Oh. Yes, then I see what you mean.”

“Well, he liked them young and as you can see after being around Em for a while, she can appear to be any age from here to there, depending on how she dresses and acts.”

I could see that, quite clearly and there had been times when she looked up at me with those big blue eyes while her mouth was quite full and I wondered whether I should check her birth certificate.

“Unh, huh.”

The aforementioned Em was idly stroking me while she radiated an innocence that I knew to be very false.

“The people I work for wanted this judge off the bench if he wouldn’t change his opinion on a major case. They thought a mother-daughter act might put him in a very uncomfortable position that would allow them to apply enough pressure to get what they wanted from him. Em and I were put in his path, with instructions to play him and for Em to act as young as she was able. They knew hizzoner liked them as young as was attainable. He didn’t take the flights with Slick Willie or anything like that, but he did like his tight poontang.”

“So, you’re telling me... ?”

“Yep. We double-teamed him. We managed to appear in his sight line several times. In each case, Em would have various wardrobe and physical accidents around him. He was no fool and probably knew he was being played, but must have expected to remain in control.”

“What sort of accidents?”

“In one case, she was riding her bicycle near him and fell off it just as they met. She acted as if she were a bit woozy and didn’t realize that her Hello Kitty panties were shining right in his face or that they were slightly loose and pulled to one side a bit, with some very private flesh seeing daylight for perhaps the first time. He stopped to help her but failed to cover her Hello Kittys while he checked over the rest of her body for scrapes, contusions and fractures.”

“Was there no one else around?”