Lot Lizards Read Online Free Page B

night. I wanted to...I just didn't...I don't want her to go before—"  
    "I know, honey." He reached over and squeezed her arm. "But we can only do the best we can. We can't control the weather or traffic."  
    As if on cue, it began to snow again.
    They'd left Sacramento shortly before noon—less than two hours after Adelle had learned that her mother in Grants Pass, Oregon, had suffered a massive stroke—knowing the weather would be bad, but not suspecting that it would get so much worse.  
    Doug continued, trying to sound cheerful: "We'll stop, stretch our legs, have some dinner and find out where we can get some chains that'll fit. Okay?"  
    Adelle was rubbing her eyes with her knuckles; either she hadn't heard him or she was ignoring him.
    He drove on, slowly and carefully, and after a while the traffic began to thin out. As they reached the mountain's summit, the freeway became less crowded and Doug was able to pick up speed a little—not much; he didn't want to push his luck—and the atmosphere in the car seemed to thin just a bit.  
    Below the mountains they'd just scaled, the small town of Yreka was nestled in a hilly valley and Doug felt much safer to be driving on flatter ground. A gentle glow—from the town, Doug supposed—rose above the tall trees up ahead to the left and it was such a welcome sight, so pleasant to look at, that he almost missed the sign to the right of the freeway:  
     
    • • • RELIEF AHEAD • • •
    SIERRA GOLD PAN
    TRUCK STOP
    FAMILY RESTAURANT - HOME COOKING
    VIDEO ARCADE - TRAVEL STORE
    GAS - DIESEL
    FULL SERVICE - TRUCK & AUTO
    • • • NEXT EXIT • • •
     
    Doug relaxed a little; it was exactly what they needed. "Okay, that's where we're going," he said, nodding toward the sign.
    Jon sat forward again: " Aw-right ! I been there! Dad took me once when we—"  
    "Please, Jonathan," Adelle said, teeth clenched, "not in my ear."
    Doug smiled, trying to loosen things up a bit. "Everybody just hang on a few more minutes. We'll all feel better after a...after—"
    A tan Bronco roared past them on the left, its fat tires kicking up slush.
    "Sonofabitch!" Doug growled. "Who the hell do they think they—just because they've got four-wheel drive, they think—I mean, there's still ice all over the damned ro—"
    "Doug!" Adelle slapped her hand on his thigh and dug her fingernails in.
    Jon made a pathetic, frightened sound in the back seat.
    The Bronco swerved in front of them without warning.
    Doug's entire body stiffened and he barely caught in time the urge to slam his foot onto the brake when he saw the Bronco's brake lights glare like angry eyes.  
    The Bronco began to fishtail as Doug feathered the brakes and—
    —the small space between the station wagon and the Bronco was swallowed up in an instant and—
    —Doug's foot pressed down hard and—
    —the Bronco's brake lights winked off as the tan monster began to speed away ahead of them, but—
    —it was too late.
    The whole planet seemed to lurch as if torn from its orbit as the station wagon spun round over the freeway, a long clumsy top hissing over the snow and ice, zigzagging at first, the steering wheel taking on a life all its own, jerking from Doug's hands, which had grown slick with sweat, and—  
    —Adelle screamed, then Cece and Dara, and Doug cried out, too, like a child with a deep voice, as—
    —the car tilted, ploughing through the snow to the right of the freeway as—
    —an overnight bag was launched from the rear of the station wagon, clubbing Doug on the back of the head so hard that his vision vibrated blearily for a moment, until—  
    —the car struck something with a cry of torn metal and something under the hood began to hiss like a provoked snake and, for several minutes after the car had stopped moving, Adelle continued to scream and scream...  
     
     

 
    CHAPTER 2
     
    The Sierra Gold Pan Truck Stop was usually a chaotic mess in the thick of winter, but on this night it