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And the back wheels stuck. She felt them bunny hop a foot or two, and then they juddered sideways. The movement nearly threw her off the bottom of the truck. Gritting her teeth, she clung on.

The truck driver tried again, harder this time, wheels digging in and spinning, the engine roaring around her. Loose gravel sprayed from under the wheels.

The driver behind blasted his horn. The truck driver put all his effort in and she heard the wheels squealing against the parking brake, moving a yard despite her death grip on it.

Then, with an impatient roar of his engine, the driver of the car behind the truck swerved out, pulling alongside, blasting his horn once more in an angry, long blare of sound and yelling something angry and incoherent before speeding away with a squeal of rubber.

She'd done it.

Cora let go of the cable, her arms shaking, and dropped down to the blacktop, lying as still and flat as she could, hoping there were no other oncoming cars behind her.

With a scream of the engine, the truck departed at full speed, leaving rubber on the road, and a nauseating belch of exhaust fumes in its wake.

When it was some distance from her, Cora stood up, brushing pebbles and dirt off her clothes. She ran to the side of the road and removed the Army jacket and the pants. She was going to leave them behind, dump them in the ditch, but she decided against it. Who knew? Her stolen clothing might prove useful if she had to get on base again. So instead, she rolled it tightly up and shoved it under her arm.

Then, glad to be down to one layer of comfortable civilian clothing once more, and extremely relieved to be on her own two feet again, she jogged back to the motel, ready to meet Gabe. She hoped that he'd made some progress in the meantime, because so far, this murderer was proving as elusive as smoke.

***

Fifteen minutes later, she tapped on the motel room door.

"Cora?" a voice called out. Gabe was always cautious. "You okay?"

"I'm alone and okay," she said.

The door was flung open. Gabe stood there, his expression a mix of worry and relief.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen out there,” he said. “I wanted to call, but didn’t want to blow your cover if you were hiding away.”

“It got blown,” she admitted.

She hustled inside and he closed and locked the door.

She dumped the army gear beside the bed and saw him look at it inquiringly. It was warm; the heater was on. She sat on the bed and stretched out her aching arms and legs. Gabe had bought pepperoni pizza. Its meaty, rich smell filled the room and got her salivating.

“Junk food, I know,” he said apologetically.

Cora nodded. “I do try to eat healthy. But on a night like this, it’s not what we need.”

“I agree,” Gabe said.

He poured her a cup of coffee. Passed her the pizza box. He’d waited for her. The pie was whole. They each took a big, cheesy slice. Cora devoured hers in a couple of bites, practically inhaling it. She was starving. It had been a long day, and she’d burned a lot of calories, fighting with bullies and bottom-feeders, and getting nowhere.

"What happened?" he asked.

Cora took another slice of pizza. So did Gabe. She gulped down some scalding coffee and attacked the second slice.

Only when she was on the third one, did she tell him what she knew. "The officer I got to, Garrett, thought the deaths were suicides. They're on a recruitment drive. They don't want anything hampering it. He was following orders, but he genuinely didn't know any information. He took what he'd been told at face value. He thought they were suicides, unsuitable people who should never have signed up, and it made him feel justified in suppressing it, so that suitable people wouldn’t be put off and could join."

"And you got out of there okay?"

Quickly, Cora recounted her escape from the Army base. She left out a few of the details. She didn't want to worry Gabe, who was sitting beside her on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his fourth slice uneaten and his face serious as he took in every word.

She had a feeling that this case was going to get even more complicated before it was solved. But then, Gabe surprised her.

"I got a potential lead," he said.

"What's that?" she asked.

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