I shoved the pedal down and the car picked up speed. It was no use asking her questions when she was like this. Something bad must have happened to have got her so scared. I headed the car out of town. I sat holding the wheel, looking at the two bright pools of light thrown by the headlights ahead of me, and wondering what it was all about. I could feel Mardi shivering against me, but I didn't look at her. I thought the best thing was to let her calm down before I fussed her.
It wasn't until I had left the town some miles back, and got on to the desert road, that she began to relax. I could feel the tenseness going out of her body, and her shivering gradually stopped. I put out a hand and found one of hers and squeezed it. She was cold, but she gripped my hand hard, so I knew it was all right between us.
I said, “Suppose we stop an' have a little talk, baby. We can't go on like this all night.”
She said, “Don't stop, Nick—we've got to go further than this. Please go on.”
She leant against me and I put my arm around her.
I said, “We'll go on, if you want to.”
And on we went. After a little while, Mardi fell asleep. I could feel her breathing softly on my hand. When I was sure she was sleeping heavily, I slackened speed. I didn't know where we were heading, and I didn't want to get landed somewhere without any gas. I'd got enough for some way yet, but I wanted to have a talk with her before we went much further.
The desert road runs for about a couple of hundred miles through sand and shrub, it links up with a small town called Plattsville, and then starts all over again to the Pacific. Just a long ribbon of road, straight, flat and monotonous, linking up small hick towns, like a string of badly spaced beads.
I checked the time. It was just after two o'clock. I reckoned that in about an hour I should run into Plattsville. I made up my mind, I wouldn't go further than Plattsville without finding out what was scaring Mardi. Maybe, after a sleep, she'd get a grip on herself.
I pushed the car along at a faster rate. At this time in the morning the wind nips off the desert, and I was beginning to feel cold. I was not only wanting a drink bad, but I was beginning to feel sleepy. I told myself that I'd stop at Plattsville whatever happened.
My guess that it would be about an hour's run was near enough. The hands of the dashboard clock stood at three-fifteen when I spotted the few street lights of Plattsville. I shoved the clutch out and ran the car to a stop by the side of the road. The little jerk woke Mardi, who sat up nervously.
“It's all right, baby,” I said quickly. “We're running into a town. I thought maybe you'd like to talk things over with me before we go any further.”
She peered out of the window, then she turned round to me and put her hands on my arm. “Oh, Nick, it's good to have you,” she said. Her voice was quite steady, and I knew she'd got her nerve back.
I lit a cigarette and gave her one. “We've come a mighty long way,” I said. “So you don't have to get scared any more.”
She shook her head. “No, I'm all right now. I was so frightened, Nick. I wanted to get away. I don't want to go back. Promise me you'll not go back any more.”
I patted her arm. “It's all right now. We've washed them up. You don't have to worry your head any more. We've turned the whole business over to the Federal Bureau to deal with——”
She clutched my arm. “The whole business?” Once more her voice trembled. “Do you have to be in it?”
“Now take it easy,” I said. “I'm out. Ackie's doin' it all. You an' me are out of this.”
She drew a deep breath. “I see,” she said.
I said, “I must know what happened at the lodge.”
She turned her head and looked at me. “Happened? Why, what do you mean? Happened?”
I shifted a little in my seat. “Where were you? I got back to the lodge and you weren't there.”
She shivered. “No—I got scared and ran away.”
“What scared you, honey? Where did you go to?”
“I don't want to talk about it, Nick. Can't we drive on now?”
I took her in my arms and pulled her round so she faced me. “I'm sorry, baby, but this is serious,” I said. “When I got back to the lodge I found you gone and Blondie dead.”
I felt her body stiffen. “Dead? You mean someone killed her?”
I said, “Yes... someone killed her.”
Mardi began to cry softly. “Oh, Nick, and she came to warn me. She came and told me that they were coming for me. I was so scared that I ran out of the place into the woods and left her there. She said that Katz had told her that Spencer wanted us out of the way. He thought we knew too much and Katz was on his way to the lodge.”
I said, “But Spencer didn't know we were at the lodge.”
She hid her head. “He knows everything—I tell you he knows everything.”
I drew her to me. “Well, it ain't goin' to do him much good now,” I said. “When the Feds, get on his tail that guy's going to have a bad time. Listen, baby, suppose we put up at this town until the gang's smashed up, then we can go back and get started again.”
