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Wanting to get as far away as she possibly could, Dania jumped up on the running board. “I’m fine. Could you give me a lift?”
“Sure.”
Dania wrenched the handle, jumped into the seat, and slammed the door. “Let’s go.”
The driver shifted into first and pulled away. Several trucks followed. Dania looked in the side mirror, watching as a police officer dashed out of the store.
He glanced around, searching for her. With so many semis leaving at the same time, he’d never figure out which one she’d gotten into or if she even had. He raced around the building toward the back.
Pulling onto the main highway, the round-faced woman wearing a camo cap said, “You going to tell me what that was all about?”
“I can’t.” Dania looked at the plump woman in the glow of the dashboard’s lights, hoping she’d drop the subject.
“At least you’re honest. My late husband, Archie, used to always say an honest person was as rare as an albino moose.” She shifted gears. “But he saw him one near Coeur d’Lane. I have to tell you, though, I’m not heading to Yellowstone. In fact, I’m going in the opposite direction. Gotta get this load to Great Falls by morning.”
“It’s okay. I’ve suddenly had a change of plans.” Dania checked the side mirror again, searching for flashing lights. Only darkness followed them.
The trucker cleared her throat. “I may be many things, but I’m no fool. Does your change of plans have something to do with the cop in the store? He came in as I was just finishing the cheeseburger Jimmy’d made me.”
More than anything, Dania didn’t want to answer her. She bit at her bottom lip as she tried to think of what to say.
“Silence to a question like that one, in my book, is always a yes. Let me ask you another question. Last night, I got word to be on the lookout for an escaped convict who I must say looked like you before you hacked off your hair and colored it.”
Dania stared down at her hands resting in her lap. She wanted to die. Right here. Right now. Words failed her.
“So, you killed a U.S. Marshal and badly wounded another?”
“No!” Flashes of Big Bertha’s boyfriend came to Dania. “There was another prisoner in the car with me. Her boyfriend ambushed us. You have to believe me. I didn’t kill anyone. And I stayed behind as long as I could to help the wounded deputy. Have you heard if she made it?”
“What in Halley’s Comet did I get myself into?” She took off her cap, rubbed the top of her head, and snugged it back on. Her hands clutched hard to her steering wheel while her teeth worried her bottom lip. Finally, she glanced at Dania. “If you’re telling me the truth and you really tried to help that poor marshal, that bodes well for you. If she died, it hasn’t been on the news. You need to turn yourself in.”
“I can’t.” Dania shook her head. “I can’t go back to prison.”
The woman stared ahead. “What did you do that landed you there?”
Dania sucked in a deep draft of air. “Nothing. I’m innocent. I didn’t do what I have been accused of.”
“Of course not.” A cynical look captured her round face. “Isn’t that what all criminals say?”
“You have no reason to believe me, but I’m telling you the truth.” Dania knew her words sounded hollow, and she’d probably never convince her.
The woman pursed her lips together. “Okay. I’ll try to be fair minded. Tell me whattheysay you did.”
“That I killed my husband. The truth is, when I got home that morning, there was a man wearing a ski mask standing over my husband’s dead body.” She stared at the trucker, hoping she’d believe her.
“Wait a minute.” The woman glanced at her, then back at the road. “Did this happen about three years ago?”
Dania should have known she would put two and two together. “Look, if you just want to stop right here at the side of the road, I’ll get out.”
She shook her head. “I should have recognized you. Your face was in all the papers a few years back during your trial.” She didn’t slow down, just kept driving. “Attorney General Tyler is offering a $100,000 reward for your capture. I must admit that money would go a long way. The only thing Archie left me was this rig. Nothing’s stopping me from getting on the radio and turning you in, except—”
Dania felt the Glock in her pocket. If backed into a corner, could she pull the gun on this woman? She prayed she wouldn’t have to find out.
The trucker looked directly at Dania. “I bet it was hard to have a fair trial, especially with your father-in-law being the attorney general.”
Dania was amazed the woman understood that Walter, being the state’s lead prosecutor, could have influenced the jury’s verdict.
“Look, I might not dress fancy, and I look like a country hick, but I do read. Your escape was all over the papers. I can imagine if my Archie had been murdered, the authorities would have arrested me in a heartbeat. They always look at the family first.” She grew quiet.
