Ray called his black ops company as he drove. It was picked up by Sue Ellen McCloskey, one of the analysts. She was Southern girl, a lean, rangy, former marine, striking rather than pretty, and tough as nails. She regularly broke the "no sex with clients" rule with Ray and had a soft spot for him.
"What's up, honeybunch?" she asked in her rounded Georgia drawl.
"Wish I was with you," Ray said.
"Liar. Tell me about the babe you're with right now."
"I'm alone in a rental car, I swear."
"What's on your mind?"
"I have a driver's license. Can you get me the cell number and any other details you can find? Send it all to my secure phone."
"Send me a picture of the license."
"I just did."
"Oh, here it is, just popped up. Alex Walsh. Cute gal. You fucked her yet?"
"Yes."
"Any good?"
"Smokin'. Almost as good as you."
"Lying again, Ray? It's gettin' to be a habit with you, I see." He could hear her fingers tapping on her keyboard. "She must be a hot number if you want to go another bout with her. Well, I've uploaded her cell into your online address book, you can call her any time you want. I'll have all the other data in your cloud account before tomorrow morning."
"Thanks, Sue. You're a doll."
"Take care of yourself, Ray."
"I'll try."
"Petrov's upped the price on your head. That sort of money will bring out all sorts of scum crawling out of the woodwork. We can't ID them all, many don't fit the standard hitman profile. Do you trust this Alex? It would be real easy to put a bullet between your eyes when you're sleeping."
"I fucked her. I don't plan to sleep with her."
"Stay alive, Ray. There are still things I want to do with you."
"That's a strong incentive, Sue. What about your boyfriend?"
"He's sweet, but he can't fuck me like you do. If he asks me to marry him, I'll tell him about us. Till that time, he can love me, and you can fuck me."
* * * * *
Ray called Alex as soon as he hung up with Sue Ellen. It rang and rang before going to voicemail. "This is Alex," came her voice, metallic on the answering system. "Leave a message."
"Alex, this is Ray. I have your purse. Call me back."
She called him back within five minutes.
"Fuck!" she said. "I can't believe I forgot my purse. I should have put it back in my backpack after I paid for the shower."
"Where are you now?"
"Just a couple miles from Elko."
"Give me a moment."
Ray had synced his phone with the Mercedes dash screen. He did a quick search as he drove and found his online reservation.
"Alex, you still there?"
"Yes."
"I've got a suite booked at the Best Western in Winnemucca, I've copied you on it. I'll meet you there."
"I can't stop, Ray! I've got to get to Reno before morning or it's going to cost me two hundred dollars."
"You need your purse."
"Well, okay. I'll meet you there in Winnemucca. I should be there in two hours. I'll just get my purse and leave."
Ray accelerated and the speedometer needle of the Mercedes swung upward. Each time he blew by a big rig, he wondered if it was her.
He pulled into the Best Western, checked in and took his small carry-on up to the suite. He didn't have to wait long. There was a knock on the door just ten minutes later. He opened the door and they stood looking at each other for a moment.
"You must have driven fast," he said. "I was doing over ninety all the way here."
"I always drive fast," she said. "The faster I drive, the more money I make." She hesitated. "I never expected to see you again."
"I'm sure you didn't. But come in for a moment. Now that I know your name isn't Kendall.'
She laughed, but acquiesced and came in. He handed the purse to her. She was about to put it in her backpack, when he said, "Don't you want to make sure I haven't stolen anything? There was a fair bit of cash in there."
She looked at him, trying to read the look on his face. Then she took her purse out of the backpack. She took out the cash and counted it.
"There's five hundred dollars more than I had here."
"I wonder how that happened," said Ray. "Are you sure you know how much you had?"
"I'm careful with my money, mister. I know how much I have to the last penny."
"Well, even the best of us makes mistakes. But now that you have more than you thought, you won't miss that on-time bonus as much."
"You put that money in here, didn't you? I don't want it. I don't fuck for money. I'm not a hooker."
"Don't make it tawdry," said Ray. "You've got more money than you thought you had, why don't we leave it at that? You're not far from Reno now, you can spend a few hours in bed and still make it there by morning."
She stood still and kept him waiting for a long moment. Finally, she put her backpack down.
"Okay. A couple hours. But then I've got to get back on the road. I always make it on time, I won't be late. It's not just money, it's my reputation."
"Come on," said Ray, putting his arms around her. "Let me hold you in bed for a while."