SHE WAS SAFELY home. From his parking spot down the street, Simon watched her go inside. He'd been waiting here since that trucker had spotted him watching her. The trucker couldn't have gotten a good look at him, not with the hood of his heavy shearling coat pulled up, but he'd moved on anyway.
He'd kept an eye on Drea-she went by Andie now-since she'd left the hospital. He'd done what he could, paying all of her medical bills, and for a while he'd stayed close by in case she needed help with anything, but only dire circumstances would have forced him to step in. She was too scared of him; he couldn't predict what she'd do if she saw him.
When she left Denver, he'd trailed her. When she made contact with someone to get a new ID, he'd smoothed the way for her-first, because that way he had inside information on her new name and Social Security number, and, second, because he didn't like the looks of the bastard she'd contacted. He made sure she wasn't ripped off and that the guy knew she wasn't without protection.
She had gotten a new cell phone, too, and the one real chance he'd taken, as soon as she was settled, was to break into her duplex apartment and install a GPS locator in the phone. He also had one on the Explorer, but she would probably hang on to the phone even if she traded in the Explorer.
After that, he pretty much left her alone. He checked on her about once a month, just to make sure she was okay, and he kept his ear to the ground to make sure Salinas hadn't somehow gotten word she was still alive, but that was it.
He started the car and pulled away from the curb, not hurrying. If she heard the engine start, enough time had passed that she wouldn't think anyone had been sitting in a car at the curb when she pulled into her driveway.
She looked good, he reflected, much better than she had even a couple of months ago. When she'd first been released from the hospital she'd been so frail he had been tempted to snatch her off the street, just to keep her from driving. She'd been cadaverously thin and ghostly pale. At first she'd been able to drive maybe half an hour before tiring out and being forced to stop at the nearest motel. Sometimes more than a day passed before she ventured out again, which made him afraid she was doing without food all that time.
Several times he'd considered having a pizza delivered to her room, but that would seriously spook her. He'd hung back and watched, hoping she got to where she was going and got settled before her strength gave out completely.
She'd made it to Kansas City; he didn't know if that was her intended destination all along, or if she got that far and decided to rest for a while, then made the decision to stay. When she rented that ratty little duplex, he'd heaved an inner sigh of relief.
The weight she'd put on looked good; she was heavier now than she had been even in New York, but she'd been too thin anyway and all the weight she'd lost after the accident had been a loss she couldn't afford. He'd watched her work, knew the pace was nonstop, but she was getting enough to eat and her arms showed the muscle she'd gained from lifting heavy trays all day long.
She had two million bucks sitting in the bank in Grissom, and she lived in a neighborhood that was just an inch from qualifying as a slum, while she worked as a waitress in a truck stop. The irony was, he didn't wonder why; he knew why she wasn't using the money.
Salinas had contacted him again, so he figured it was time for the next hit in whatever scheme Salinas had going. He hadn't answered the summons. He hadn't taken a job in the past seven months, though sometimes he wondered idly if there wasn't one more hit on the books for him, because it pissed him off that Salinas was still breathing.
He'd have to think about that. In the meantime, everything was okay in Kansas City.
Chapter Twenty-four
"IS DOG FOOD BAD FOR KIDS?"
Andie stopped in her tracks and stared at the two women in the booth. They were both youngish women, clad in jeans and sweaters, hair pulled back in ponytails, and with almost identical harried expressions. They looked nothing alike, but they were the same in their situations: young mothers, multiple children, impossible schedules. That they were here in Glenn's at three p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon suggested they were grabbing some time for themselves while the kids were either at day care or grandma's.
"Don't mind me," she said, shamelessly eavesdropping. Waitresses overheard a lot of interesting conversational tidbits, but this one made her want to laugh.
The woman picked up a fry and swabbed it in ketchup before heaving a sigh. "My youngest is a year old. Since he started walking, every time I feed the dog he comes running and tries to eat the dog's food. I keep him away when I can, but if I turn my back he's right back in the dog's food bowl. He really likes Iams," she finished helplessly.
"At least it's not a cheap brand," the other woman said, shrugging. "My kids eat dirt. Count your blessings."
Laughing, Andie continued to the counter with her loaded tray of dirty plates and cutlery. The television mounted on the wall was muted, but as she passed by one of the truckers seated at the long counter said, "Hey, turn up the TV. That's a weather bulletin."
Shifting the weight of the heavy tray to her hip, Andie picked up the remote and hit the volume button. Immediately the voice of one of the local meteorologists filled the room, and the din of conversation died down as everyone turned to look at the screen.
"-Weather Service has issued a tornado watch until nine p.m. for the following counties in east Kansas. This watch does include the Kansas City area. The dynamics of this storm have been impressive-"
She took the tray on to the pass-through where the waitresses left the dirty dishes to be collected by the kitchen staff. She hadn't dealt with any tornado watches when she'd been living in New York, but now that she was back in the Midwest the whole drill had quickly become as familiar as if she'd never left. Spring was welcome, with its longer days and warm relief from the bitter cold and blowing snow, but spring weather was volatile: warm one day, cold the next, with warring air masses chasing each other back and forth. Just last week they'd had another three inches of snow. Now the weather was warm and humid, and giant thunderheads were building high into the sky.