He kept asking the same questions, no matter how many times she dodged, and that made him trouble with a capital T. Too bad, because otherwise she might have enjoyed killing a week in bed with him. The man had the hard, rugged look she found irresistible, but in her line of work, she couldn’t afford to hang around people who showed too much interest in what she did or how she did it.

Thankfully, the flickering white fluorescent of a filling station caught her eyes up ahead. She still felt tough, strong, and didn’t doubt she could deal with him, if he forced the issue. Leaving bodies behind would only get the authorities riled up, however, so she hoped it didn’t come to that.

“You ready to stretch your legs?” She hadn’t spoken in miles. “I could go for a convenience store sausage or maybe some burritos and a slushie. What’d you say?”

For a minute, she thought he was asleep, and then he asked, “You buying?”

She could do that, Kyra decided. Flush from her win at the roadhouse outside Eunice, she could afford to feed the man before she cut him loose. They weren’t far from Lake Charles, so he’d do fine with a meal in his belly.

“Yeah.”

Making the turn without flipping on a blinker, Kyra pulled into the parking lot. Two other cars sat alongside the building, but she didn’t see anybody. It was second nature for her to scan her surroundings, take stock before she made up her mind what to do. Being vigilant always paid off, one way or another.

She hopped out and tried to put some gas in the Marquis, but the lazy son of a bitch inside wouldn’t authorize the pumps. The machine said she could use a card to pay, but she didn’t have a bank account.

“I’ve got to go inside,” she called. “They probably require prepay after dark. Do you need to use the restroom?”