Forget to Remember

resulted in false alarms, but Audrey said she could tell the seriousness of the situation by the intensity of his barking. Carol was satisfied that with the guard service, Audrey, and Butch, Mrs. Horton would be safe. Safe from a sane person, that is. Michael’s actions had shown he was a few bricks shy of a full load. She would worry about her grandmother until Michael was behind bars.
    ***
    Carol drove to Virginia on Sunday in Mrs. Horton’s Toyota Camry. In spite of being fifteen years old, the car had only eighty thousand miles on it. Mrs. Horton hadn’t driven it in several years, but Audrey told Carol she drove it for shopping trips and to take Mrs. Horton to the doctor, and had it serviced on a regular basis.
    The trees in the countryside Carol passed through on her drive north had started to change color in a few places but were still predominantly green. The traffic became heavier and slower as she approached the Washington, D.C., area on I-95. Families were returning home after weekend trips.
    The weather was warm and dry, and the drive was easy for Carol, who, according to her English friend, Janet, had driven under far worse conditions when she was teaching there. Carol, or Aiko as she had been known in England, had a reputation for clicking outside mirrors with parked cars on the narrow roads.
    Carol went over the same territory for the umpteenth time, trying to determine whether they were doing the right thing. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Michael was dead. That should give her an advantage in looking for him. He would feel secure in his anonymity. Perhaps he’d even convinced himself she hadn’t recognized him with his red hair. After all, she had amnesia.
    If they wanted to talk to the police, who would they talk to? The Chapel Hill police? It was almost certain Michael wasn’t in Chapel Hill. The FBI, because multiple states were involved? Wouldn’t someone leak word to the media, alerting Michael to the fact he’d been outed? The situation could get very complicated and take an enormous amount of her time, and there would be no assurance any law enforcement group could find Michael, even if Carol’s story were believed.
    She checked into a motel in Fairfax County where she’d reserved a room by phone. It was part of the economy chain of the motel she’d stayed at in North Carolina and looked like it. This gave her a moment of anxiety, but she rationalized there was no way Michael could know she was here. The security leak had been stopped, and she hadn’t told anyone where she was going to stay, not even Mrs. Horton. Nevertheless, she asked for a second floor room and took the stairs up and down, eschewing the elevator.
    Carol ate dinner in a small restaurant and strolled through the large mall at Tysons Corner. She’d read Fairfax was among the most affluent counties in the country on a per capita basis, but she’d seen the same upscale stores in Los Angeles. There must be a lot of government money here because of its proximity to Washington. Where else would government employees be likely to live? That meant taxes were paying for the affluence. Since she was about to become wealthy, she’d have to start worrying about things like taxes. She wondered if the money was worth the stress.
    She went back to the motel and walked up the stairs, making sure nobody was on the landing above her. Once inside her room she locked all the locks and watched a two-star movie on HBO until she became sleepy.

    CHAPTER 35
    Carol drove to the Weatherford Foundation. It was a suite in a small office building. She got there early and parked in the parking lot with her car facing the entrance. Even though the car was considerably older than the average model here, it blended in well with the others and was not particularly noticeable, although the North Carolina license plates might be. That prompted her to change parking places, so there was a row of cars between her and the entrance.
    She could still see everyone who went into and out of the building. She had a vague plan of watching to see if Michael showed up. As the workday started, a number of people went into the building and a few came out. No Michael. She was sure she’d spot him, especially with his long red hair, unless he’d changed it because she’d seen him. Her success in finding him depended on him not having been alarmed.
    She had no idea what Katherine Simpson looked like. About nine fifteen she decided it was time