Dark Rivers of the Heart

black knit suit with a white silk blouse.
        After identifying himself, Roy introduced her to Agent Olmeyer"Pleased to meet you, Doctor." -and Agent Tarkenton.
        "Doctor."
        She invited them all to sit down.
        "No, thank you, Doctor," said Olmeyer, and took up a position to the right of the door that connected the inner and outer offices.
        "No, thank you, Doctor," said Tarkenton, and took up a position to the left of the same door.
        Roy proceeded to one of three exquisite chairs in front of Dr.
        Palilia',s desk as she circled to the plash leather throne behind it.
        She sat in a cascade of indirect, amber light that made her pale skin glow as if with timer fire.
        "I'm here on a matter of the utmost importance," Roy told her in as gracious a tone as he could command. "We believe-no, we are certain-that the son of one of your inmates is currently stalking the President of the United States and intends to assassinate him."
        When she heard the name of the would-be assassin and knew the identity of his father, Sabrina Palma raised her eyebrows. After she examined the documents that Roy withdrew from the white envelope and after she learned what he expected of her, she excused herself and went to the outer office to make several urgent telephone calls.
        Roy waited in his chair.
        Beyond the three narrow windows, spread out across the night below the prison, the lights of Denver gleamed and glittered.
        He looked at his watch. By now, on the far side of the Rockies, Duvall and his twelve men ought to have settled inconspicuously into the creeping night. They wanted to be ready, in case the travelers arrived far earlier than anticipated.
        The hood of night had fully covered the face of twilight by the time they reached the outskirts of Grand Junction.
        With a population of over thirty-five thousand, the city was big enough to delay them. But Ellie had a penlight and the map that she had taken from the helicopter, and she found the simplest route.
        Two-thirds of the way around the city, at a multiplex cinema, they stopped to go shopping for a new vehicle. Apparently, none of the shows was either letting out or about to begin, for no moviegoers were arriving or leaving. The sprawling parking lot was full of cars but devoid of people.
        "Get an Explorer or a Jeep if you can," she said as he opened the door of the Bronco, letting in a frigid draft. "Something like that.
        It's more convenient."
        "Thieves can't be choosers," he said.
        "They have to be." As he got out, she shifted over behind the steering wheel. "Hey, if you're not choosy, then you're not a thief, you're a trash collector."
        While Ellie drifted along one aisle, pacing him, Spencer moved boldly from vehicle to vehicle, trying the doors. Each time that he found one unlocked, he leaned inside long enough to check for keys in the ignition, behind the sun visor, and under the driver's seat.
        Watching his master through the side windows of the Bronco, Rocky "Dangerous, yes," Ellie said. "I can't lie to the dog. But not half as dangerous as driving through the front of a supermarket with helicopters full of thugs on your tail. You've just got to keep this in perspective."
        The fourteenth set of wheels that Spencer tried was a big black Chevy pick-up with an extended cab that provided both front and back seats. He climbed into it, pulled the door shut, started the engine, and reversed out of the parking slot.
        Ellie parked the Bronco in the space that the Chevy had vacated.
        They needed only fifteen seconds to transfer the guns, the duffel bag, and the dog to the pickup. Then they were on their way again.
        On the east side of the city, they started looking for any motel that appeared to have been recently constructed. The rooms in most older establishments were not computer friendly.
        At a self-described "motor lodge" that looked new enough to have held its ribbon-cutting ceremony just hours ago, Ellie left Spencer and Rocky in the pickup while she went into the front office to ask the desk clerk if their accommodations would allow her to use her modern.
        "I have a report due at my office in Cleveland by morning." In fact, all rooms were properly wired for her needs. Using her Bess Baer ID for the first time, she took a double with a queen-size bed and paid cash