Bennie glanced at the dashboard clock, glowing in the dark. It had been over an hour, and they had to be finished with dinner soon. The sidewalk was deserted in the downpour. The storm blew full force, the rain driving on a slant, bouncing off the sidewalks, washing down the gutters and thundering on the hood of her car.
She held the gun while she watched the entrance, planning her next step. Alice and Carrier would come out. They would either share a cab or not. If they shared a cab, she would follow it until it ended up at her own house, with Alice. If they didn’t share a cab, she would follow until Alice got out, probably at her house. And then it would be done.
Finally, the door to the restaurant opened, and Carrier emerged, followed by Alice, who put up an umbrella covered with crazy, colorful stripes. It had to belong to Carrier, and before, it would have made Bennie laugh. The women shared the umbrella, which hid their faces. Carrier’s yellow clogs practically glowed in the dark, and Bennie recognized her own brown pumps on Alice’s feet. Still she remained detached, waiting and watching.
Alice looped a hand through Carrier’s arm and they walked abreast, together under the umbrella. Carrier raised her right hand for a cab, but there weren’t any. The traffic had let up, and it wouldn’t be easy to get a cab down here. For some reason, they headed toward the Toyota, which Bennie didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense to keep walking away from Roux to catch a cab, and if they got much closer, they could see behind the truck and Alice would see her own car.
Bennie ducked down in the driver’s seat and peeked above the steering wheel. Rain ran in jagged rivulets down the windshield. She could barely make out Alice and Carrier, walking together, approaching the deserted stretch in front of the empty parking lot, with the dark loading dock.
She felt a tingle of alarm, without knowing why. Alice had an oddly close hold on Carrier’s left arm. Carrier’s right arm was up, waving for a cab. Then Carrier and Alice appeared to be talking under the umbrella, and in the next second, Carrier’s hand went down and Alice seemed to be pressing her toward the loading dock.
Something was wrong.
Carrier was in trouble.
Bennie grabbed the gun, cracked the door, and sneaked out, crouching so she couldn’t be seen. A van whizzed by and sprayed her with dirty water and gravel. She scrambled forward, still crouching along the side of the parked cars, and in four more cars, she’d reach Alice and Carrier.
One.
Two.