Night Edge by Jessica Hawkins

visiting a major hotel in Memphis. He held his Entrepreneurs in Tech conference in Los Angeles every year, but it’d occurred to him sometime over the last couple days that he and his partner had been focused on California too long. There was talent everywhere—even Tennessee. An entire nation waited to be discovered.
    That didn’t mean, for even a moment, Lola was far from his mind. Beau kept his eyes up all the time, wondering if he might turn the corner and run right into her.
    Beau held up a finger to the hotel’s sales manager when he saw Detective Bragg’s name on the screen of his cell phone. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”
    “Louisiana,” Bragg said into the phone before Beau’d even spoken.
    Beau put his hand on his hip. “She’s there?”
    “I woke up to a pending charge at a gas station in New Orleans. Called around the immediate area and found a motel with a Lola Winters staying there—you might have to write a check for that info.”
    “I might or I will?”
    “What’s a few hundred more bucks?”
    Nothing to him. But he’d developed this strange habit, this rapid reach for his wallet. Beau valued his fortune, having been without it most of his life, but the look people got when they had a chance at easy money—it was seductive.
    The lights in the conference center got brighter, or so it felt. He blinked a few times, already moving in the direction of the exit. He pulled the phone away briefly to tell the woman showing him the space, “My assistant will be in touch.”
    Bragg coughed into the phone. “I’ll e-mail the details right now.”
    “How far is New Orleans from me?”
    “Six hours in the car, four in the air, minus boarding.”
    “I’m getting on the road now.”
    “I got a feeling today’s the day, want to know why?”
    Satisfaction tinged Bragg’s voice, something Beau’d been waiting on for a while. “Why?”
    “Every day since we got her real name, I’ve been hunting car salesmen, trying to find one who worked with a Melody Winters. Those guys love their cash upfront. Well, goddamn if I didn’t put a bullet in one’s ass this morning. She’s driving a red Lotus Evora. Got the plates too. How’s that for you? She may be flying under the radar, but in a car like that, doesn’t exactly seem like she wants to stay hidden.”
    For the third time in two days, Beau tasted victory. It was even sweeter now that he knew how she was traveling and what to look for. He would’ve guessed black for her, but he liked the red. A lot. “Good work, Bragg.” Beau hesitated. “But you didn’t really shoot anyone, did you?”
    The detective guffawed into the phone. Beau was afraid it’d devolve into another coughing fit, but Bragg just said, “Not today, kid,” and hung up.
    Beau decided to drive to Louisiana. Behind the wheel, at least he’d have some control. Airports were too sluggish, even when they were fast-paced, the stale air like sludge for hurried travelers.
    Why had she chosen to go south now? It was an unusual move, and to keep going across country, she’d have to come up again eventually. Unless she went west, and that would put her back toward Los Angeles. Home. He wanted to get to her before then. He fantasized about catching Lola in the act, making eye contact with her amidst the Bourbon Street crowd, sending a Sazerac to her table as he watched from the bar, standing inches behind her as she took in a sunset behind the three-steepled St. Louis Cathedral. As if her reaching L.A. before he’d caught her meant she’d be able to deny this’d ever happened.
    In the car, his assistant called. “They’re ready to finalize the VenTech acquisition,” she said. “I can arrange a meeting first thing in the morning.”
    They’d had to move quickly to prepare an offer for VenTech’s founder while its future was bleak, and before anyone else could. Beau had known this was coming, and even though he was the only one who really cared about the buyout, he