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the rest of the building went up in flames. There would be a firewall between each of the rooms and that would give them a couple of minutes if they were lucky, maybe.
    Parked behind the office that held the night man’s desk sat an old beat-up Chevy truck, probably a seventyish model. He considered it commandeering a vehicle when he eased Lea into the cab and turned the key that had been left in the ignition switch. Thank God for small favors. He hated hot-wiring vehicles.
    The engine roared to life and with it Gabe left his old self behind. Firemen would find the attendant and two assailants, and after they ran the tag, if it was still recognizable, would assume he had died in the explosion. It would take time to obtain dental records and make a positive identification. By that time he and Lea would be so far gone, no one would ever find them.
    * * * *
    Ashton Smythe watched the evening news from his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee with a growing sense of anger. Outside the burning mass of timber and concrete that had once been a seedy motel off the interstate were the almost unrecognizable forms of a black midsize sedan and the agent’s yellow Jeep.
    Damn Gabriel Spiller straight to the devil’s own flaming hell. He’d stolen a year of his life. A year spent locked behind bars in a maximum security facility with rapists, thugs and thieves. He would make the bastard pay. Leannan O’Neil was another matter. He wasn’t entirely sure what she knew, or if she’d found the diamonds, but they weren’t in her house when his men had torn it apart.
    He had to get those stones back.
    The newscaster’s voice caught his attention. “At this time, four bodies have been found among the rubble of the still smoldering Sunshine Motel. One is believed to be Sam Crowe, attendant of the establishment. Dental records will be used to identify the other three. The whereabouts of the green 1976 model Chevrolet truck habitually driven by Mr. Crowe is still unknown at this time.” The blonde reporter ran up to a cop. “Officer, can you give us a statement? Was the fire electrical or do you suspect arson? Can you explain the disappearance of the attendant’s vehicle?”
    “The fire is under investigation, but otherwise we have no comment at this time.” She was cut off and the camera panned back over the smoldering ruins of the motel. Missing truck? Someone made it out alive, but who? His men were dead. It was the only reason their SUV was still parked in front of the last room. It would have been too much of a risk to leave it. Spiller and possibly O’Neil were alive. Obviously, they had escaped in the stolen vehicle. He just had to find them.
    He picked up his cellphone and made a call to his contact in the Department of Motor Vehicles.
    * * * *
    Lea stared straight ahead into the dark, tears rolling down her cheeks. No matter what he said to her, Gabe could get no reaction except tears. Lea was going into shock. She needed warmth, food, and rest, possibly medical attention, but nothing was going to change the fact she had taken a life. Gabe could only assume in her world there was no way to justify that sin. Not unless it was to save someone she loved, and she didn’t love him. Oh, she was definitely attracted to him, but love was another story.
    Gabe pounded the dashboard again in an effort to get the heat in the old truck working, but it continued to blow out cold air. He finally just gave up on it, wishing for the jacket he’d left behind in the Jeep now destroyed outside the motel. At least he’d had the sense to keep the diamonds in his jeans pocket, or those would have been lost as well. Lea’s coat wasn’t much better. Only a thin windbreaker, it provided little respite from the cold. Their possessions were limited to the clothes on their back, whatever surprises the truck held–which appeared to be nothing from the inside of the cab–and the contents of Lea’s huge bag.
    “Leannan.”
    She looked over at him, her