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It was all Lucy’s fault. If she hadn’t dragged Nell into that lookalike contest, nobody would have found out and everything could have gone on like it was, with just the four of them and Button snuggling in Nell’s lap when she got cranky.
But Lucy knew she was lying to herself. Nell still wouldn’t have married Mat. She was Mrs. Case. If she ever got married again, she’d marry somebody famous. And even if she did decide to adopt some kids, they’d be polite, smart kids, not poor, beat-up kids like her and Button.
As for Mat . . . he hadn’t wanted them from the beginning.
She pulled the baby closer over the hurt in her stomach and tried to tell herself she wasn’t scared, but she was. The whole time she’d been with Bertis and Charlie, she’d been thinking about what she had to do. She knew if she didn’t act right away, her baby sister would end up with strangers. And no matter how scared she was, she couldn’t let that happen, so she reached in the pocket of her shorts and pulled out the key to Mabel that she’d stuck there before she’d left. No strangers were going to take her baby sister away from her.
Nealy stared through the window at the Iowa River curling in the distance. But it wasn’t her river. Her river was a thousand miles away, flowing past Arlington National Cemetery into Chesapeake Bay.
She was dressed again in the clothes she’d worn earlier, and she’d wiped off most of the makeup Lucy had applied. Mat had driven away in the Explorer ten minutes ago, so she wouldn’t have to deal with him. She stepped over the Wal-Mart pillow and began packing her clothes, even though she knew she wouldn’t ever wear any of them again. A noise outside distracted her. The sound of Mabel’s engine.
She reached the bedroom window in time to see the Winnebago creeping crookedly down the drive, then lurch over the curb and into the street, barely missing the car parked on the other side. Her hand flew to her mouth as she caught a glimpse of Lucy behind the wheel. Then the motor home pulled away.
Panicked, she raced for the stairs and reached the front porch just in time to see Lucy narrowly miss a stop sign as she turned onto the cross street and then disappeared.
Let me drive. I know how to drive this thing.
She was dizzy with fear. Driving the Winnebago was a challenge for someone with experience, let alone a fourteen-year-old without a license. And Lucy wouldn’t be alone. She’d never have left Button behind.
Nealy clutched the porch railing and forced herself to think. The Explorer was gone, and she didn’t have a car. Maybe a neighbor . . .
Just then she noticed the dark blue Taurus parked across the street. DeLucca, the female agent, was out of the car on the passenger side, staring in the direction the motor home had taken and reaching for her cell phone.
Nealy didn’t even hesitate. “Put away the phone!” she cried as she ran toward her.
De Lucca snapped to attention. Williams jumped from behind the wheel, ready to throw himself between her and a bullet.
“She’s only fourteen,” Nealy said, “and she’s taken the baby with her.”
Neither of them asked any questions. DeLucca was already climbing back in the car while Williams pulled open the rear door, then slammed it closed after Nealy.
She grabbed the back of the seat. “They can’t have gone far. You have to catch up with them.”
Williams hit the accelerator. DeLucca turned to gaze at Nealy’s now flat stomach, but she didn’t ask any questions. What was the point? She already knew the truth.
They were on a wider residential street now, but there was no sign of the Winnebago. Nealy guessed Lucy was heading for the highway.
“Turn right at the intersection.”
“Are you sure you don’t want the police, Mrs. Case?” Williams asked.
“No. Lucy might panic.”
Nealy ignored the glance the agents exchanged. He’d called her by her real name, and she hadn’t denied it. Her glorious adventure had ended the moment Mat had told her how he earned his living.
They spotted the Winnebago at the edge of town. Lucy was driving under the speed limit, but she was having a hard time steering the cumbersome vehicle, and she kept creeping toward the center line. The blood in Nealy’s veins turned to ice.
“My daughter took my car once when she was fourteen,” DeLucca said. “It was about the same time my hair started to turn gray.”
Nealy dug her fingernails into her palms. “Right now I feel like I’m eighty.”
“Kids’ll do that to you. I’m Toni, by the way. Jason’s driving.”
She acknowledged the introductions with a distracted nod. “Try to pull up so she can see me, but whatever you do, don’t scare her by putting on a siren.”
The road was fairly straight and traffic blessedly light. Before long, Jason was able to ease into the other lane. As he drew alongside the Winnebago, Nealy saw Lucy. She was staring straight ahead, and she had what looked like a death grip on the steering wheel.
“Oh, God, don’t honk!”
