Royal Opposites by Lori Crawford Page A

windshield. “Take the second exit.”
    He nodded at the direction then asked, “So what do you do for fun? Where do you go? How do you treat yourself?”
    “Then you’ll turn right at the stop sign. My treat is seeing my debt go away. That and couponing. It’s like a game for me. See how much stuff I can buy while paying the smallest amount out of pocket possible.” She bit her lip and debated telling him the next part. She felt him look at her.
    “And? I’m sensing there’s more to the story. I’ve told you all my deep, dark secrets. No fair you holding out on me.”
    The teasing note in his tone convinced her to go on. Why not? “The icing on the cake is helping people out, though. Not everyone has the patience to shop like I do so they pay a lot more for things. I keep a stockpile on hand. My friends know they’re always welcome to take what they need. I also keep a women’s shelter stocked. The last few months, they’ve been oversupplied, so I plan to add another shelter to my list.
    “Once that’s done, I’ll order pizza or go to a restaurant once a month or something. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” She leaned forward to watch their progress. “The hotel will be the third driveway on the left.”

    ****
    While Joan was watching in front of them, Tom was keeping an eye on the car behind them. Granted, they were on a major, well-‐-traveled interstate, but something about it just made him uneasy. For the last hour, he’d sped up, slowed down and still the car maintained the exact same distance behind them no matter what. They never got too close so he couldn’t confirm it was the guards. Not that it was likely. They’d done a good job of ditching them in Phoenix. How had they managed to catch up with them again already?
    Tom watched the car take the same exit Joan had directed him to and his instincts went on full alert. No way was it a coincidence. He took in the bustling truck stop on the right and the gas stations on either side of the street. Okay. It could be a coincidence. Still, he didn’t think so. He pulled into the Burger King parking lot next to the truck stop and headed toward the drive thru. Joan turned to him with a disbelieving look on her face.
    “You cannot be serious. You want to get more food when we have all that in the back seat?”
    He didn’t want to alarm her so he gave her a one shouldered shrug and a lopsided grin. Still, he kept his eyes on the street. He relaxed a bit when he saw the car drive past the fast food place.
    “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking.”
    He headed toward the exit and waited for a big rig to chug past. He checked the progress of the other car. It had pulled a U-‐-
    turn and was heading back toward them. Unwilling to let them trap them in the drive thru, Tom floored the accelerator and shot out of the parking lot.
    “What are you doing?” Joan gripped at the dashboard.
    “It’s probably foolish and I’ll feel like a big idiot in a moment, but I think our friends are back.”
    “What?” Joan spun around to look at the car bearing down on them. His eyes flicked to the rear view mirror to see it fast closing in.
    In a perfect world, Tom would’ve liked to get back on the highway, but the big rig was just beginning its laborious turn onto the on ramp. They were going way too fast for him to make the left onto the freeway to head back the way they’d come so Tom pushed the car as fast as it would go and stayed on the road that became tiny and country when they left the interstate behind. The other car stayed on their tail, leaving no doubt that somehow the guards had tracked them down.
    “Can you find me a route back to the freeway? I think we need to get out of here.”
    Joan was already a step ahead of him except she was shaking her head. “There’s nothing. Only this road. And it goes forever. We’d have to do a U-‐-turn.”
    Tom checked the rearview after they thumped across a narrow bridge. The other car was gaining