Frankie’s Choice

Chapter Ten, Part IV

Frankie and Alberic and Einar spent the night in their stolen vehicle, in a MegaMart parking lot as it would have been too risky to check into a motel. By now, every police car in the area would be looking for two old British men and a young British woman and every hotel and motel would be asked if people matching their description had been seen. With so many people priced out of even cheap apartments, the MegaMart parking lot was the one place they could stop without being conspicuous: just one more American family sleeping in their car because they couldn’t afford anything else.

The three of them slept badly and abandoned the car around first light. If the owner hadn’t noticed its absence already, it would certainly be only a few more hours before that happened. They walked half a mile before finding another car they could “borrow” and with this they drove to within two miles of the rendezvous location before abandoning it as well. Although Alberic was clearly in great pain and unable to walk as briskly as he wanted, they nevertheless covered the remaining distance at a reasonable pace. This gave Frankie some confidence that Alberic would make a good recovery despite the Walter Reed doctor’s skepticism.

By the time they reached the rendezvous, Frankie was wishing they’d stopped somewhere to get something to eat. The sun was…