Page 109 of The Hitchhikers

She sat up. “Six?”

“Yeah, he just staggered out of his car to his room.”

How could he sound so happy? Like stealing a car was going to befun. He wasn’t worried at all. Simon stepped away from the bed and flicked on the light. She squinted at him.

“We should do this fast,” he said, “before he passes out, or leaves again.”

“What if he has a gun?”

“He won’t have time to use it. Come on.” He clapped his hands together.

She got up, used the bathroom, and dressed in jean shorts and her yellow baby-doll blouse. Simon let Alice use the bathroom, then tied her to the chair again. He clipped the knife sheath to Jenny’s waistband, under her blouse, and showed her how to unsnap it quickly.

“I’ll walk behind the teepees and cut in between. Don’t knock until I give a signal.”

She nodded, took a breath, and left their room. She wouldn’t think about anything other than how they needed a car. That was all that mattered. She felt Simon behind her for a moment, then he disappeared into the gap between their teepee and the one beside them.

The sun was up, slanting through the buildings, and stretching long fingers across the pavement. The air was already warm and scented like summer. Grass, flowers, pine trees. Nice smells. Peaceful. Horror movies were wrong. They always made bad things happen in the dark.

She slowed as she neared the man’s teepee, waiting until she saw Simon sneaking through the gap. He was now standing at the side of the teepee. He gave her a thumbs-up.

She knocked lightly. No answer. Simon made a gesture. She rapped harder.

A groan, some loud muttering, and the door opened. The man blinked at her and rubbed his scruffy chin. His orange silkbutton-down was open to his belt buckle, revealing his gold link chain, which rested against his hairy chest. He gave her a creepy smile.

“Hello, sweetheart. Change your mind?”

Her mind blanked. She was supposed to say something.Think.

“Can I get a ride?”

He lifted his brows, and hooked his thumb into his belt, inadvertently dragging Jenny’s gaze lower. She jerked her eyes back up to his face, but he was already smirking.

“In your car,” she added. “To the store.” She grabbed at a thought. “For cigarettes.”

“Got cigarettes in here, sweetheart. Don’t waste your money.” He was stepping backward into the room, inviting her inside. Where was Simon? She looked to the side.

A mistake. The man’s expression was changing.

He sensed the danger. He was reaching for the door. He was going to close it. She stuck her shoe inside the doorframe. He looked down.

An arm was coming over Jenny’s shoulder from behind, hitting the door open, then pushing past her. Simon barreled into the man before he could react.

A hard cracking sound. Metal on bone.

Jenny pressed her hands to her ears. Simon hit the man with the gun until he fell to his knees, then slumped forward, face down. He was still.

Simon looked at her. “Get out of the doorway!”

She stepped inside and closed the door. Simon was astride the man, pulling his arms back and bending his legs, then tying his wrists and ankles together with twine like he was a cow.

“Is he… is he alive?”

“Think so.”

Simon tugged the man’s wallet out of his pocket, flippedthrough it, and removed the cash, shoving it into his own pocket. He looked at the man’s driver’s license.

“You should be more careful who you let in your room, Bruce. Didn’t your mom teach you not to trust strangers?” He snorted and flicked the license across the room like it was a bottle cap. Then he dropped the man’s wallet and kicked it under the bed.