Page 18 of The Last Grift
“No. Thanks for the offer though. Let’s get out of this fucking weather. I’ll walk you back to your truck.”
He’d crash for a night at the state park or at one of the boat launches he’d passed by that day. His back twinged at the thought of sleeping in the Honda again. But even if he hadn’ttossed his credit cards back in Seattle, he wasn’t paying to rent a room. No fucking way.
“Don’t need to worry about me, son. The bogeyman gave up a long time ago and my legs still work fine, I’m just a bit slow.”
“I’m going the same direction,” Gabriel pointed out. The last lingering shred of Gabe’s decency refused to let the old man walk back to his truck in the dark.
Elton didn’t offer another objection, but he did raise grumpy eyebrows. Together, they turned and trudged away from the pier toward Gabriel’s car and Elton’s old Ford pickup. The gate to the dock slammed shut behind them and Elton turned to tug on it, making sure it had locked.
Gabriel had followed Elton the few miles from his mobile home to the marina. The drive had taken them less than five minutes, and Gabe had spent the entirety of it not allowing his hopes to rise. Thank fuck too, because if he’d had more than the one, he might have seriously considered jumping into the cold waters of the bay.
Elton stopped by his truck and side-eyed him. “I wouldn’t recommend sleeping on theTicketuntil you’ve cleaned it up some. Can’t guarantee there’s no water inside. Saw a bit of mold the last time I was on board.” Elton dug into a pocket and brought out a silver chain with a tarnished key dangling from it. “But here’s the key to the gate. You’ll need to have a copy made for yourself.”
Gabriel held his hand out and Elton dropped the key onto his palm. Closing his fingers around the metal, Gabe carefully tucked it into the inside pocket of his jacket. “Thanks.”
Could the day be any more miserable? Gabriel shouldn’t be testing his so-called luck by thinking the question.
On the drive to the marina, they’d passed a couple of signs directing visitors to a state park located on the island. There’dbeen a tent icon on one of them and a Closed For The Season notice, too.
Bah. Rules were meant to be broken.
Who would care if he crashed there for a night? No one, that’s who. The later the day got, the colder the temperatures dropped, and he was anxious to be somewhere protected and possibly warm. The rain that had started up again a few hours ago showed no intention of stopping.
“Could know someone who’d be willing to help you out with the cleaning,” Elton mentioned. “Likes boats and stuff, and he’s always looking for extra work. Had a bit of bad luck recently, might keep him out of trouble.” Those last words seemed to be an afterthought.
“It’s fine,” Gabriel said dismissively. He didn’t need some stranger hanging around, an eyewitness to the fact he had no idea what he was doing. Elton was enough of a stranger.
Elton shot him a skeptical look but didn’t argue. He unlocked his truck and climbed inside. The old man could barely see over the steering wheel as far as Gabe could tell.
Gabe popped the Honda’s trunk and began rearranging the few boxes inside while he waited for Elton to shut his door and leave. The man just sat and watched while Gabe came around the side of the Honda and grabbed one of his duffel bags from the back seat.
“I’ve got some cleaning supplies you can use. You’re going to need them,” Elton finally said. Gabe could tell he wanted to say more but was holding his tongue.
Gabriel looked up at the man whom his mother had possibly considered a friend. Or at least someone she’d trusted, which was even weirder for Heidi Karne. “Thanks for the offer, Elton. I’ll stop over tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll have coffee on. You know where to find me,” he said. Pulling the truck’s door shut with a bang, Eltonraised one hand in a casual farewell. The engine rumbled and Elton backed out of the parking lot, pointing his truck back down the road they’d come in on.
Gabe set his go-bag back on the back seat. The fucking bags weren’t going to fit in the trunk, and he’d known that before screwing around with the boxes that had already been in there. He was fairly sure Elton knew it too. Elton was right, there was no way he could sleep onThe Golden Ticket. Not until there was less chance of him freezing to death in his sleep. Or catching hantavirus. Gabriel was desperate, but he wasn’t going to risk his actual life.
“Camping it is.”
With his groceries on the passenger seat and the prospect of a cold hand pie for dinner, Gabriel slipped behind the wheel.
“I just need to think of this as an adventure.”
Why hadn’t he just kept driving south? Stayed on I-5 until he reached the border?
Curiosity killed the cat, Chance.
TEN
GABRIEL
Tuesday
The state park,Fort Hood, was deserted except for a few other campers like him. Although it had been pitch-dark by the time he’d arrived, so there could have been more than he thought. The access road was mostly straight and quite long, an easy drive. After about a mile, he’d found the turn for the camp area, which led him past a closed check-in kiosk. The gate blocking the road had been easy enough to drive around in his compact not-meant-for-camping vehicle.
Yay for small victories.
