THE VAN PULLED INTO a motel and a man climbed out and went into the office. Clovis parked in the grocery store lot across the street and waited. When the driver came out a few minutes later he was carrying a key on an oversized key chain. Climbing back into the van, he drove around to the back of the long, tan brick building.
Clovis waited a few seconds and then drove across the street, parking the Dodge Charger at the far end of the lot, under a large tree with drooping branches that cloaked the car in late afternoon shadows.
He climbed out. “Stay here.”
As he slipped into the tree line, hurrying around the end of the building, he heard the soft snick of a closing car door. He turned as she moved silently up behind him. “I’m guessing your mind was somewhere else and you missed my clear
