Chapter Thirteen: Find Another Way

Rollins already had the fingerprints and likenesses from an ident-a-kit and he wanted; now he just needed names. Poppy Anne confirmed the likenesses matched her recollection of who she had seen that night at the Silver Crown.

Now Rollins just needed a name. He ran over the state's car registration list of every red Pontiac GTO in the state of New York on. He scrolled past dozens and dozens of names, staring blankly at his screen, even unknowingly going past Jo's name.

He yawned tiredly. One of these names has to be the one, he thought as he scrolled determinedly.

"You know, I don't see what harm it would've done to just give somebody a ride, Jo," Blair complained as the the two women continued their drive.

Jo groaned and rolled her eyes in annoyance. It's been twenty minutes of this shit. Can't she give it a rest? She thought, scowling.

"I mean, did you see his butt?" Blair gushed, barreling on. "Casey doesn't have a cute butt like that guy did. You could bounce quarters off that ass of his."

Jo grimaced. Ew. "Blair, look, I'm sorry but I'm not in the mood for company right now. Ya wanna make yaself useful?" She reached upwards toward her sun visor and pulled out a map. "Here, take this map. I need ya to find all the secondary roads to Mexico to Oklahoma City. I think we need to stay off the interstates; we're too conspicuous."

At least that'll get her mind off the pretty boy bonehead anyway.

Blair took the map, studying it closely. "Well, it looks like we can get on towards this road called road 81 that heads toward Dallas then cut on over to_"

"No," Jo interrupted abruptly. "I don't wanna go that way. Find somewhere else."

Blair was flummoxed. "Somewhere else? What are you talking about?"

"Find a way where we don't have to go through Texas, Blair! I don't wanna go through Texas!"

Blair frowned in confusion. "So wait a minute…let me see if I have this right…so you want to go to Mexico from Oklahoma and you don't want to go through Texas? Is that right?"

"You know how I feel about Texas, Blair! We're not going that way!" Jo said adamantly.

"I know that, Jo, but we're running for our lives here! You don't think we can make just a tiny, little, itty-bitty exception here just this once? I mean, look at this map! The only thing between Oklahoma and Mexico is Texas!"

Jo glared at Blair. "Blair, I'm not gonna talk about this! Either ya find another way or I'll stop this fuckin' car, take that map and do it myself! Ya understand?"

Blair pursed her lips crossly. "No, I don't understand," she said. "How come you never said what happened?"

Jo ignored her, only scowling deeply and continuing to drive. Blair only gave her a puzzling look.

She's acting really strange, Blair thought, giving Jo a concerned look. But I'll drop the subject. For now.

Jo then sighed loudly and began talking, her voice almost straining. "I…just…I just don't think it's the place I wanna get caught doin' somethin'…like…if ya blow a guy's head off with his pants off. Believe me, Texas is the last place ya wanna get caught! Trust me! Now, I don't wanna talk about this anymore!"

Hope she bought that, Jo thought nervously.

Blair watched as Jo's eyes darted back and forth nervously and she gripped the steering wheel tightly, making her knuckles turn white.

Something happened to her and I'm determined to find out exactly what it is, Blair thought. I certainly hope she doesn't expect me to believe that nonsense!

"Fine," Blair said, throwing her hands up in surrender. "We'll go around Texas to get to Mexico. This is nuts." She then sighed.

As they continued driving, Blair smiled. The same man she had met at the store had passed them on the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He spotted them and waved as he went by. Blair blushed and waved back enthusiastically, smiling.

"That man is too cute for words," Blair muttered. "So good-looking."

Exactly how many times do I have to hear about this bozo before I actually puke? Jo thought crossly. She rolled her eyes. Blair sure knows how to pick 'em, she then thought sarcastically. She honestly could do way better.

She grabbed a cassette tape from her sun visor and put it in her car cassette player, allowing Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" fill the car.

Now that's better.