Girl on a Slay Ride Read Online Free Page B

Mallory sat opposite Denise in a booth.
    “They have good steaks here,” he said.
    She looked across at him with desire shining in her eyes. “Steaks take so long, darling. Can’t we get something that’s faster?”
    Excitement surged through Mallory. He said, “We’ll make it two hamburgers.” He’d never felt quite this way with a woman before. Since they’d left the junction there had been no wall of any kind between them. Denise had torn it down, he thought, and let him see her desire, without pretense or coyness.
    They ate quickly and started back through the thin, chill fog for the motel. Mallory could feel the electric charge of desire between them grow stronger with each step. They reached the driveway and turned toward their unit. Denise caught Mallory’s hand and pulled him along faster.
    “Just a few more steps, darling….” Her voice ran out in a thin, wordless gasp. She halted abruptly. Her fingers squeezed convulsively on Mallory’s hand.
    He said, “What?” Then he saw the man standing at the rear of the wagon, peering in the back window. He was holding a flashlight and shielding it from his eyes with an upraised hand. In the backwash of the light Mallory recognized the neat features, the carefully brushed graying hair.
    It was the smaller man from the diner. The one who must have been driving when the sedan passed them down the road a short distance.
    Mallory’s fingers clamped down on the briefcase handle. He’d been able to dismiss this man and his craggy-faced friend once. But not now. He couldn’t accept this second appearance as mere coincidence.
    He felt Denise shudder and he turned to her. She was staring at him, her face fear-ridden in the dimness. “Oh God, Cliff,” she whispered, “they’ve found me!”
    Mallory asked softly, “Do you recognize him?”
    “I never saw him around Rick, but he was in that restaurant where we had coffee, wasn’t he?”
    He could hear the hysteria threading her voice, making it shrill. They were too far away for the man to see or hear them, Mallory thought. But he said, “Take it easy. If you don’t know him, maybe he isn’t one of them.”
    He put a hand on her arm. An uncontrollable shiver jerked at her muscles. “What else could it be?” she whispered.
    The man turned away from the wagon suddenly. His flashlight went out. Mallory watched as he walked to the end unit and disappeared inside. The rear end of the dark sedan stuck out from the carport.
    Anger surged up in Mallory. He had the sudden impulse to go to the end cabin and face the man, to batter at him until he explained his actions.
    Mallory fought for control. A lot of good that would do Denise if they were syndicate men, he thought. Or do him if they were after the securities. In either case, they would have guns. They wouldn’t have any trouble handling him.
    He led Denise quickly across the drive and into their own unit. He said, “Stay inside. I’m going to take a look at their car.”
    “Cliff …”
    He pushed her gently into the middle of the room, then he turned and went out the door, shutting it quietly behind him. He moved quickly down the driveway to the carport next to the end cabin. He bent down and examined the license plate. In the dimness, with light coming only from the red neon motel sign, he could barely make out the name of the state.
    He straightened with a soft grunt. They were Oregon plates.
    He went quickly back to his room and slipped inside. As he closed the door behind him, he said quickly, “It’s me.” Denise was hiding somewhere in their darkened cabin.
    He locked the door and reached for the light. He heard her then as she moved from a position by the front window. She caught his arm. “Leave it dark for a while.”
    She moved again, pressing herself against him. Mallory set the briefcase down and held her. He stroked her hair with one hand as he tried to quiet the trembling that shook her body.
    He said, “No one followed you. Their car has