Stranded

such an obvious pattern. He wanted her to find him so he could share his handiwork with her. Challenge her. See what she was made of. Poke and prod and prepare her for what he had planned. He hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him.
    He saw Lily crossing the parking lot, her hair still a tangled mess, her handbag making her slouch as she walked. What a pathetic creature. She had knocked on almost all of the truckers’cabs, even daring to knock on one that had a sign posted on the windshield: NO LOT LIZARDS ! She was headed back to the main building of the truck plaza.
    He started his engine. He’d offer her a ride. She’d recognize him from the farm and not give it a second thought. If she didn’t want a ride, he’d offer her twenty bucks to get in, though he didn’t want her touching him. Her sunken cheeks and rat-nest hair disgusted him. Already he was thinking it wouldn’t be much of a challenge to kill her. That’s why he didn’t bother with women like her. He didn’t imagine she was capable of putting up a good fight, let alone the psychological interplay he so enjoyed. She’d probably welcome death. He hated that kind of attitude. But he needed to look at this as a necessity.
    He grabbed the ball cap he had taken from the bar and grill. He sniffed the inside, filling his lungs with the scent of Maggie’s hair. He slipped it on and immediately liked how close it made him feel to her.
    Then he pulled up next to the lot lizard and rolled down his window.

CHAPTER 19

    Maggie had gotten used to the interstate hotels and motels. Most of them offered the basics, some added free Internet service. Maggie didn’t care as long as the room was clean. Tully’s eyes lit up—despite not being hungry enough to finish his burger—when he saw a sign in the lobby for a free continental breakfast that the Super 8 Hotel called the SuperStart.
    Tully hadn’t been able to reserve two rooms close to each other. And from the looks of the back parking lot it was no wonder. It was already packed with trucks and buses, a variety of sizes from eighteen-wheelers to cargo vans and service panel trucks. Earlier at the bar and grill their friendly lesson from the truckers who had joined them included a list of what truckers hauled. Maggie saw that this hotel parking lot displayed just some of those goods, from timber to automobiles. And obviously many truckers didn’t sleep in their trucks back at the truck plaza.
    Tully gave her the room on the third floor and took the one on the first. He hadn’t been feeling good, so she was surprised to have him knocking on her door less than twenty minutes after she had gotten to her room. She had already peeled off her muddy clothes and was wearing only a nightshirt and panties. She opened thedoor a crack, hoping he’d just forgotten to tell her something—until she saw his face. He looked worried.
    “Is Gwen okay?” she asked.
    “I haven’t talked to her tonight, but I’m sure she’s fine. Were you already in bed?” His eyes fell to her bare legs as if he hadn’t considered that possibility.
    “Not yet, but close. Hold on a minute.”
    She closed the door and went to her overnight case where she had left it on the second double bed. She dug out a pair of jeans and pulled them on. Skipped socks and shoes. She started for the door again and stopped, contemplating a bra. The nightshirt was mid-thigh length and baggy, a Packers jersey. Nothing revealing or suggestive. Besides, it was Tully. She opened the door.
    This time he came in without hesitating. He had his cell phone in one hand and a notepad in the other. A quick glance and she could see that it was a Super 8 notepad. He’d already been on the phone. The results weren’t just noteworthy, they had Tully wired.
    “You found something out?”
    “Janet, the CSU tech, is starting to process the contents of the garbage bag.”
    He paced to the other side of the room, pulled the curtain enough to peek out. Maggie had already checked out the back parking lot below. Tully wasn’t interested in anything out the window. His nervous energy had him on edge and the room was too small. Maggie sat on the corner of the bed farthest away.
    “He left the woman’s driver’s license inside the bag,” Tully said. “The body’s mutilated, not to mention decapitated, but the son of a bitch left the victim’s driver’s license for us.”
    “That is weird. He already left us the orange socks and the receipt.”
    “Oh, that’s not