Chapter 110 Section Thirteen

Decker worriedly parked the Buick in the brightly lit rental lot next to the Albuquerque airport and walked into the terminal with Beth.They came to the second floor.Near the arrival baggage area, he handed the car keys to the Avis clerk, told him the mileage and the remaining fuel in the car, paid the cash, folded the receipt and put it in his pocket. "Are you going to catch an evening flight?" the clerk asked. "Yes. We want to make the vacation as long as possible." "Welcome to Magic Land again." "We're definitely coming." Decker led Beth out of sight of the people at the Avis counter, and joined the crowd descending from the top floor of the terminal.The last few flights of the night stop on the top floor.He and Beth tried to look like they had just arrived at the airport, and followed the group in the elevator to the ground floor of the terminal building, then out into the parking garage.

"It's starting now," Decker whispered. Sodium arc lights in the parking garage cast an eerie yellow glow.While Decker was sure that none of Renata's gang would risk drawing the attention of the security guards by loitering in and out of the airport's arrival gates, he couldn't say if their surveillance team would be guarding the parking garage. His Cherokee is nearby.Parking garages are not as tightly guarded as airports.Occasionally a patrol car would pass by, but those people would see the patrol car coming first, and they would pretend to be loading something into a car, and as soon as the patrol car was gone, they would come back and continue to monitor.Still, even if there was a surveillance team in the parking garage, they wouldn't necessarily abduct Decker and Beth in such a public place.There is only one exit from the airport.Passengers in the nearby Shangxin will see someone being hijacked, will write down the license plate number, and then report to the security guards, who will call the people in front to block the way out of the airport.No, the hijacking attempt had probably gone wrong, and the surveillance team just wanted to wait for a chance when no one else was around.During this time, they would report to Renata by mobile phone that they saw Decker with a bag that appeared to contain the $1 million.Renata would be tricked into thinking Decker didn't suspect her presence.After all, if he thought he was in immediate danger, he wouldn't be carrying that big bag of money with him, would he?He will hide the money.

The Cherokee was parked at the top of the left steps on the second floor of the garage.Decker unlocked the car, helped Beth into the front seat, threw the bag and her cane behind, got in quickly, locked the door, and put the key in the ignition. He hesitated. "What are you waiting for?" Beth asked. Decker stared at his right hand as he was about to turn the key, sweat beading on his brow. "I don't think Renata planted a bomb in the car, it's time we see if I'm mistaken." "Well, even if you're wrong, we'll never know," said Beth. "To hell with it. We were talking about sincerity. Come on, turn the key."

Decker actually smiled a little as he did so.He waited for the bomb to blow the car to pieces when he heard the roar of the motor. "I was right!" He reversed the car out of the parking lot and drove past the passengers loading their luggage as fast as safety allowed.Each of those people could be his enemy.Half a minute later, he had already driven to the exit of the parking garage.He stopped at a toll booth, paid the attendant, and joined the speeding traffic from the airport.The headlights flickered. He turned a corner toward the Best Western Hotel.Light shines from nearly every window in the 14-storey building.His heart beat violently. "Right now, there's a lot of activity in one of the middle rooms. The needle on their homing-gauge monitor tells them the car is moving." He wanted to speed up, but when he saw the dome lights of a police car ahead , or restrain the impulse.

"I was so nervous my knees were shaking," Beth said. "Focus on controlling your fear." "I can not do it." "You have to." Ahead, the police car turned a corner. Decker opened the small door of the locker between the two front seats.Esperanza took his gun out of the car where they had left it on the plane to New York. "They're out of the room now and running into the hotel parking lot." "How can you keep yourself from being afraid?" "I can not." "But you just said—" "It's controlling fear, not eliminating it. Fear is a survival mechanism. It gives you strength and keeps you on your toes. It can save your life, but only if you can control it. If it controls you , will kill you."

Beth studied him carefully. "Obviously I still have a lot to know about you." "Me too. It's like everything that happened between us before my house was attacked last Friday was our honeymoon, and now the marriage begins." Decker sped up the interstate, turning the car Melt into the chaos of headlights. "They've had plenty of time now to run to the hotel parking lot. They got into the car." "Honeymoon? Marriage? . . . Was what you just said a proposal?" "...Is that such a bad idea?" "I've always let you down. I'll never be that perfect woman for whom you risked your life."

"This way we are equal, and I am by no means the perfect man." "You are very much like the hero I told you about. I used to dream of him when I was a little girl." "Heroes are fools. Heroes always get their own lives." Decker picked up speed to keep up with the traffic, which was doing 65 miles per hour in the 55-mph zone. "Renata and her friends are flying toward the interstate right now. The homing monitor will tell them which way I'm going. I have to stay ahead and not have them walking alongside me, and then I A no-man's place knocked me under the road."

"Do you care about chatting?" "Now?" "Will it distract you? If not, talking will make me less scared." "In that case, let's talk." "What's the worst mistake you've ever made?" "What did you say?" "You've been chasing me all summer, showing me your best side. What's your worst side?" "You tell me your worst side." Decker squinted at the blinding headlights in the rearview mirror, to see if any car was catching up faster than the others. "I asked first." "are you serious?"

"very serious." The speed limit has changed to 65 mph, Decker speaks reluctantly.