Where was Cody?

I checked my watch. There was no way I was going to make that plane to Los Angeles. The door opened and out came Jake carrying a small suitcase with backpack over one shoulder and Opal on his arm. Hudson stood at the door like a worried mom. I hope nothing ugly happened to him. How involved was he?

Jake opened the back door, threw in the suitcase and backpack and helped Opal in. He had managed to find a jean jacket to ward off the chill of the night. He slid into the front passenger seat, and I drove off before he closed the door. As we sailed through the gate another vehicle turned into the other end of the semi-circular drive. Busy night tonight at the Lodge estate.

“Cody must be having another party,” said Opal. “He’s been entertaining a lot lately. I didn’t know he had so many friends in the area. I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye.”

“You’ll be seeing him soon enough,” I said. “You’ll have a lovely drive across country in the meantime.”

As we pulled onto the roadway, I noticed the other car hadn’t stopped and was coming up behind us.

“Jake, that car is following us.”

I sped up going down the road and told him about the men leaving with boxes.

“I don’t want to look back,” he said. “What kind of car is it?”

“Black.”

“That’s a help.”

My cell phone rang, and I fished around in my purse. “Jake, can you look for my cell phone. I can’t seem to find it.”

He took over the search and rescue operation. “Here it is.”

I opened it up and before I could get a word out, someone said, “You two have a lot of nerve coming back. What do you think you are doing?”

“Cody?” I looked at Jake.

Jake said, “Don’t tell him anything.”

I nodded and wished I weren’t driving.

Cody said, “Who do you have in the back seat? I think you better pull over. We need to talk.”

I held the phone to my chest. “He wants to talk,” I whispered to Jake, hoping Opal wasn’t following what was transpiring.

“No way,” said Jake. “Floor it.”

I closed the cell phone and did as directed. The Legend responded beautifully. We tore down the street as if pursued by banshees. I kept checking the rear view mirror. “I can’t tell if he’s behind us.”

I headed onto I-66 West, racking my brain for the nearest car rental agency. There were a million lights in the mirror, and I couldn’t tell one car from another. If Cody was behind us, he was being discreet.

Jake took my cell phone. “How do you check caller ID on here. I want to see his number.”

“Press the red phone icon and it should show last caller.”

“Oops, I pressed redial.”

“Close the phone, close the phone. We don’t want to talk to him again.”

“Calm down, Fiona. Calm down.”

“Me? Calm down? This is not how normal life is lived, fleeing from criminals.”

“It’s not my fault. I’m an innocent bystander like you. I was just helping out Opal, and I still am.”

“Good, you keep helping her. I’m going in a different direction. Where do you want me to drop you?”

“You should go with us.”

“No way. I want out. I’m history. I’m going to Australia where people drink beer and sit on the beach and don’t get involved with spooks and criminals. I’m going to Dulles Airport to get my flight. You can get a rental car there easy.”

“You don’t have a passport.”

“True. I have other plans.”

“What other plans?”

“I’m not telling you. If you are caught and tortured, you might tell these criminals where I’ve gone and they might find me and then where will I be? No, I’m disappearing, never to be heard from again.”

“Fiona, you are being unreasonable.”

“I’m being unreasonable? You’re the one who has been absolutely no help at all. You didn’t tell me what a nut case the Lodge family is.”

“Quiet. Opal will hear you.”

I checked the rearview mirror. Opal was head down, fast asleep. “She’s out. You two get the rental car as planned and head out I-70 toward Ohio.”

“Got a map on you?”

“No, they have them at the rental car place.”

We headed out the Dulles toll road toward the airport. I still couldn’t tell if the car was pursuing us. This was nerve wracking. The phone rang.

“Who is it?” I said.

“ID says Olympia.”

“Here, give it to me. I want to talk to a sane person.”

“Olympia?”

“Hi, Fiona. Where are you? Did you forget we were having dinner together this evening?”

“I did. I’m so sorry. Where are you?”

“At my house still waiting for you and about half looped drinking your cocktail and mine. Where are you?”

“I’m on my way to Dulles Airport”

“Really? Why?”

“I’m catching a flight to Australia. It’s a long story.”

“I wish you’d told me. I want to go.”

“I might not be going because I can’t find my passport.”

“Did you look in the freezer? That where you said your new safe hiding place is.”

“You’re right. Olympia, you are fantastic and the perfect friend. Listen, I’m sorry about dinner. I’ll call you when I get to Australia, okay? Plan to come in a few days. Pack and book a flight to Sydney. I’ll call later.”

“We have to go back to my condo,” I said to Jake. “My passport is in the freezer.”

“We’re driving all over Virginia tonight.”

“Look at it as a diversion for those kooks who are following us. I’ll drop you at the rental car level at the airport since I’ve got to go to the airport to return to the city. This is an airport access only highway.”

“Fine.”

Traffic was heavy into the airport, and we got caught in a slow lane. As I tried to change to a faster moving lane, I looked to the left and who should I see but Cody waving at us from the passenger side of the black limo. I couldn’t see who was driving.

“Uh-oh, Jake. Look who’s beside us.”

“Guess we didn’t lose them.”

“Damnation, now what are we going to do?”

“Keep moving.”

“Uh-oh, look. He’s got the window down. Should I roll mine down?”

“Only if you’re curious.”

I was. I pressed the auto electric button and down the window went.

“You having dinner at Dulles Airport?” Cody yelled at me.

“Sure, there’s lots of good restaurants on B concourse.”

“We have to talk. You don’t understand. We have to talk. You need to help me.”

Yet another member of the Lodge family in need of help.

“Not me. Jake, do you want to help him?”

Cars were honking. Cody’s car bumped into my side of the car.

“Cut it out,” I said.

We were in the far right lane. I had to move onto the skirt of the road to avoid being banged again, and the car jerked and jumped.

“Watch it,” called Jake. “There’s construction over here.”

“I can’t help it. This guy is trying to run me off the road.”

Jake wasn’t much help. It wasn’t like he could drive. Opal woke up in the back seat with all the bumping and swerving.

“What is it?” she said.

“We’re having a little problem,” Jake said. “Nothing to worry about.”

We were back in the slow lane. Our lane of traffic started to move faster, and Cody’s car dropped behind.

“Jake, this is crazy.”

“Yup. Is there anywhere we can exit?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Let’s give it a try. Maybe we can lose them on a back road. Does that exist in this area?”

“There are plenty of scenic back roads, but do we want to go down a lonely back road with them in pursuit? Maybe it’s better to stay on busy four lane highways. We could lose them easier.”

“Who are we trying to lose?” asked Opal. She had moved forward and stuck her head between us. “My-oh-my, I must have fallen asleep. My head feels dizzy. It must be my medication. Where are we?”

The colossal wings of the Dulles terminal loomed before us. The bright lights on the building and the dark night made the structure look surreal, like science fiction. I wished it were a spaceport, and we could get a shuttle to Mars.

“We are on the way to the airport,” said Jake “We’re trying to lose Cody. He’s in a black limo that is trying to run us off the road.”

“That’s not very nice. What’s gotten into Cody?” she said.

“He’s been trying to drug you, and he seems to be involved in a weapons smuggling scheme. Albert was, too.”

I glanced at Jake. What a time for true confessions. I guess he was trying to be kind to Opal. She didn’t respond. I was busy trying to drive and figure out at the same time where Cody’s car was.

“Are they still following us?” said Jake.

“I can’t tell.”

I was now dodging traffic on the airport departure level, as cars pulled over to the right to let passengers out. I stayed to the left in the through traffic lane. Jake was pivoting about like a whirligig, trying to see what was going on around us.

“I won’t to be able to stop long enough to let you and Opal out at the car rental place,” I said.

“Keep moving. There has to be a million car rental places down the road.”

We passed the terminal and were on the way to the airport exit when the car behind zoomed up close and banged our rear fender. This was annoying. I did not appreciate having my beautiful car abused.

“Speed up,” said Jake.

“I’m trying but there’s this small problem of the cars in front of us.”

“I believe someone hit us,” said Opal.

“It’s Cody. He’s doing it on purpose,” said Jake.

I glanced at Jake. He was on truth serum this evening.

“Why is Cody trying to hit us?” asked Opal.

“He says he wants to talk.”