Driving With the Top Down by Beth Harbison Page A

break in,” the woman said. “I left the keys in it. You know, only because I was coming in here for just a moment, and who ever stole a car or anything else around here?”
    “But, honey, you can’t expect to leave anything unlocked these days without risking losing it. Come on.”
    “It’s not like that where I come from.”
    “You come from here.”
    The woman straightened her brittle-looking spine and argued, “No, I don’t, I come from Winnington, North Carolina, where people are civilized and don’t just help themselves to others’ property, whether it seems easy or not.”
    At that, Colleen all but put her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, got it. But that still leaves you with a problem.”
    Tamara could see the irritation cross Colleen’s face. Wilhelmina could argue all she wanted, but evidence supported the fact that Colleen was obviously right. If the question was Should you leave your keys in the car? then the answer was Obviously the hell not.
    “I know it does.” Wilhelmina looked less defensive and more upset again. God, was she always pitiful like this? She’d practically begged to get ripped off; it was unbelievable that she was so stunned by it.
    “Will Lew come and get you?” Colleen asked.
    The woman scoffed and then straightened up. “No. Lew’s … out of town. So I was … taking my own little vacation. Headed for a spa or something to take a few days to myself.”
    Wow, Tamara thought with a raised eyebrow, she was a terrible liar. Not that the truth could possibly be that interesting, because the lies sure weren’t. But society ladies like this would probably say anything just to protect their reputation, whatever it was. If she had a stain on her skirt, she’d probably claim it was the work of a fancy new designer.
    Tamara had no patience for liars.
    Fortunately Colleen didn’t seemed fooled. Points for her. “You were just driving off aimlessly for a vacation with no destination?”
    The woman’s face colored. “Yes,” she insisted. “If he can go off and do … his own thing, then why on earth shouldn’t I? If he wants to hang with the boys, let him.” She looked down.
    Maybe her husband was having an affair with a younger woman. That happened. It was certainly the kind of thing a person would lie about.
    “So you just took off by yourself? No girlfriends or anything to keep you company?”
    “Oh, no. Not this time. I really just wanted some time alone to get my head together.” She gave a dry laugh. “Guess I didn’t do a very good job, though, given that I was so absentminded, I got myself robbed.”
    Colleen’s face softened. “Well, all isn’t lost. Just a few hours. You can still salvage your trip, especially since you’re flexible about it.”
    “Yes.” Firm nod. “I’m going to finish what I started. I just need to find another way.”
    “Hm. Maybe we can give you a ride to the next big town or airport or something, so you can rent a car,” Colleen suggested. “I doubt there’s a place here, and if there is, it’s probably not open right now. Which way were you headed? You must have some idea where you wanted to go, right?”
    “South,” the woman answered, though it sounded like she was talking more to herself than to Colleen or, obviously, Tamara. “To … Florida. Though I was open to anything interesting along the way.” Again, it sounded like a bullshit answer without serious planning behind it, but if she was pissed off at her husband and his blond floozy mistress and showing him two could play at his game, then maybe it didn’t matter to her where she went, as long as he was left wondering. That was kind of understandable, actually.
    “No kidding! We’re going to Florida!” It was obvious that the words flew out of Colleen’s mouth before she’d really had a chance to stop and think. By then it was obviously too late, and the words just kept coming: “Why don’t you just hitch a ride with us? The police have your