Drive

He looked at her anxious expression and nodded. She was so much easier to read than Lisa.

The waitress arrived and took their orders.

When she left, Sam looked at Hal in surprise. "Only a salad?"

He snorted. "These aren't exactly the healthiest of salads. If I added the dressing, it might match your chicken tenders and fries for calories."

She looked worried. "Am I overeating?"

"No, that's not what I said or meant. Eat what you like. You seem to take care of your body... very well," Hal insisted awkwardly.

That shy smile returned to her lips as her eyes looked down at his hand on hers. She noticed a scar in the middle of the back of his hand. Her brow furrowed as she turned his hand over to see a corresponding scar on his palm. Something had punched through his hand! She recalled seeing his back was severely scarred as well.

"How did you get all these scars?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I can't talk about them. You shouldn't ask about them." She nodded, but she looked a little nervous. "I just think of them as lessons. I don't get them anymore."

"Inventory Control Manager?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's my civilian job. We won't talk about any other."

She nodded definitively then smiled at him. "What kind of movies do you like?"

He looked at her cautiously. "You'll laugh."

Now she grinned at him delightedly. "I promise I won't! What is it? Musicals?"

He gave her an odd look. "Musicals? No!" He looked around, but they were still alone. "Animation. Anything animated."

Sam's jaw dropped. This wasn't what she'd expected at all! "What was the last one you saw?"

He smiled as he remembered. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. A truly wonderful film!"

"So, you like superhero movies?" she reasoned.

"No, not particularly. The movie I saw before that was My Neighbor Totoro." At her lost expression, he continued. "It's a Japanese animation about a family that moves into the countryside and meets woodland spirits. It was a sweet movie."

She smiled at him. "You are a surprising man!"

He looked at her cautiously. "That's... good?"

"Very good!" she insisted.

Their food arrived, and Sam's look of delight made Hal feel good. He realized she made him feel this way far more often than Lisa ever did. His wife only seemed happy when he was off-balance around her.

He ate his salad while pondering this fact.

When they finished, he paid and asked the waitress where the closest Walmart was. She directed him to a mall instead, just south of the highway.

It didn't take long to get there, and once inside, Hal found a shop to pick up more black t-shirts and running pants.

Sam enjoyed walking through the mall with him, so that's what they did. He saw her eyes lock on a display of gold bangles as they passed a jewelry store. They were on sale.

On impulse, Hal directed their steps into the store as Sam's eyes widened in surprise. He realized he should buy her one as it would be cruel to dangle them before her only to pull her away. He wondered what compelled him to go in.

When they left the shop, Hal's head was spinning from the clever sales pitch, his wallet was four hundred dollars poorer, and Sam was floating on cloud nine with five lovely bangles around her left wrist chiming together happily.

"Oh my god, Hal! I've never worn anything so lovely!" she cooed.

He just nodded and got them outside and into the car. He stopped to fill the gas tank. Then it was back onto the interstate towards St. Charles.

He recalled, for this overnight stop, he had a single hotel room with two beds. The admiring looks he was getting from Sam was making him uncomfortable. He had to get out in front of that.

"Sam, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about the bangles." He saw he had her attention now. "I didn't buy them for you with any expectations on my part. I'm a married man and follow the vows I made. I-I don't know why I bought them, except they made you smile... and you haven't smiled enough recently."

He glanced over, and her lovely doe eyes were all glassy again, and she was biting her lip. "Damn, I've upset you again!"

She vigorously shook her head. "You're a lovely man. Thank you for thinking my smile was important enough to spend too much money on this beautiful gift for me!"

Hal nodded and faced the road again as he went over her response in his mind. It seemed safe enough, so he put it aside.

The scenery continued to be relatively dull, and Sam finally nodded off. Later, Hal woke her so she could witness the crossing of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. She was pleased to be able to say she did.

The hotel was very close to the highway. They drove around the complex it was part of and noticed a movie theatre.

"We have time. Would you like to see a movie? We can get dinner afterward," he suggested.

She grinned and nodded. "You pick the movie, though!" she replied.

They parked and walked up to the entrance to read the listings. "Is there anything you don't want to see?" Hal asked as he wasn't familiar with any of the films showing.

"I don't like horror at all. Are you okay with comedies?" Sam asked, pointing to a movie poster.

He nodded, so he bought the tickets, popcorn, and drinks. The theatre was pretty empty, so they had good seats.

Most of the movie's humor was lost on Hal, but he delighted in hearing the husky purr of Sam's laughter, so he enjoyed the movie vicariously through her.

Afterward, when Sam learned that he'd never eaten there before, she directed him to the nearby P. F. Chang's. He saw Sam subtly showing off her bangles, and the hostess complimented her on them. She glowed with happiness, and Hal acknowledged it was an excellent investment. He also thought they looked very attractive on her wrist.

Sam made Hal try some items from the menu, and he found most were quite good. He didn't mention the time he'd spent in mainland China. This food was nothing like what he'd had there.

When they were done, they drove to the hotel and checked in with their suitcases and Sam's backpack. They went up to their room, which was another first for Sam, while to Hal, it was just another hotel room.

"I'll take the bed closest to the door. Again, call out if you need to get up. Don't approach my bed without speaking with me first. I need to verbally respond before it's safe."

Sam watched him with a serious expression and nodded.

"If you want to use the washroom first, go ahead. I do a workout before bed."

"Really? I heard exercising before bed made it harder to sleep," she said in surprise.

"Not for me," he said with a small shrug. "Feel free to watch TV or a movie. I can tune that out."

He opened his suitcase and took out his shorts. He realized he wouldn't be able to exercise nude. That meant he'd have to keep his underwear on. He didn't like to change his routine, but circumstances demanded it.

He undressed down to his skivvies and set today's clothes aside to pack away later. He paused when he saw Sam was watching him intently. "What's wrong?"

Her eyes were taking in all the damage. "Lessons, huh. Were you a slow learner?"

He smiled self-consciously. "Actually, faster than most." He couldn't tell her that most of the other agents in the program didn't survive past their seventh field mission. At her skeptical expression, he felt compelled to explain but couldn't give her details. "Just... really unforgiving teachers." He nodded and moved to the far end of the room by the windows. He pushed the chair, footstool, and lamp aside to give himself space to exercise.

He looked at Sam. "Avoid this area." When she nodded, he began. Today, it was fighting techniques. Having set himself within a safe zone, he started with punches and blocks and cycled through multiple disciplines until he progressed to kicks and leg sweeps. These were particularly tricky as he didn't have any margin for error. Kicking the wall, bed, chair, or air conditioning unit would result in a broken bone. Maintaining his position throughout the practice session was critical, so he forced all distractions from his mind.

When he reached the end of the exercise and was moving on to focus on muscle groups, he noticed Sam was watching him from the bathroom door. She was biting her bottom lip, and her face was flushed.

He paused, breathing hard, sweat running down his skin. "Something... wrong?"

She ducked into the bathroom and closed the door with a definitive click.

Hal wondered what that was about. He pushed it from his mind and went back to his exercises.

He was finishing up when Sam returned from the bathroom. She was once more wearing the black t-shirt, but he noticed she had another one in her hand. He looked over to the pile of clothes he wore today, and his shirt was missing. He stopped and pointed to the spot where his shirt had been as he looked to her.

"I'm wearing it," she said quietly. "It helps me relax."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he picked up his shorts and walked into the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he returned, he saw Sam leaning back against the headboard of her bed, reading a paperback she'd taken from her open backpack. She looked over at his body.

"Do you have any body fat?" she asked.

He looked down at his body and poked his belly and sides, finding none. He shrugged then put his dirty clothes in the plastic laundry bag in his suitcase. He set out clothes for tomorrow, then closed the case.

He opened his other suitcase and took out his knife and tools. He took these into the bathroom and properly cleaned and honed the blade.

The kit went back into the suitcase, which he locked. The knife he placed on the nightstand.

He pulled off the bedspread and put it in the hall before he recalled this might trip Sam in the night. Instead, he hung two hangers off the doorknob as an early warning system.

Done, he went back to his bed and stretched out on top.

"You don't get under the sheets?" she asked.

"No. I don't like the sensation of being held down. Also, it's too easy to get tangled." He slipped his knife under his pillow.

Hal rested back on the pillow and felt his mind settling down. He was surprised by how quickly it was happening as he expected Sam's presence would be a distraction. Instead, he felt... comfortable.

That strange new sensation followed him down into the deepest sleep he'd had since...

Chapter 5

In the morning, they had breakfast in the hotel's small restaurant, brushed their teeth, packed up, and headed down to the car. Hal put their luggage and her bag in the back and did a quick check of the vehicle before opening the door to let Sam inside. She looked at him curiously, but he just smiled and shook his head. He didn't mention the visible handprint on the trunk hood.

As they pulled onto the interstate, he scanned the vehicles in his rear-view mirror to see if any of them matched the cars he'd scanned the day before. Nothing jumped out at him: too many similar makes and models.

He'd keep up the habit of watching. If someone was following them, they'd make a mistake sooner or later. Then they were his.

He felt the monster stir in anticipation.

-=-

The drive to Oklahoma City from St Charles was a long one, and both of them were grateful for the hotel bed at the end of the day.

They'd gotten into a road trip rhythm and found they were enjoying each other's company.

Hal had once more grabbed an image in his mind of the cars following him off the highway and was narrowing down the potential vehicles that might be following them. The fact that they weren't being confronted meant their tail might be someone his handler arranged to ensure their asset was behaving.

It also might be someone else, waiting for the right moment to strike. He remained alert for the second possibility.

The next morning Sam decided the weather suited one of her new dresses, and he let her know how lovely she looked in it.

While her chest was bigger than the dress might have been designed to support, it wasn't blatantly displaying her cleavage, so Hal did his best to refrain from staring... too much.

It also showed off her long legs to their best advantage. It became clear to Sam that Hal thought she was a knockout. Her shy smiles showed she appreciated how the outfit drew his eyes.

Her backpack didn't suit the outfit, so it stayed in the trunk.

Their mileage for the day would be less than the day before, and their target was the much smaller town of Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Hal had a motel room booked, and he confirmed it had two beds.

The landscape was changing, and as it did, Sam noticed Hal's mood was changing with it. While he wasn't a big talker, he became quieter as his eyes scanned across the scrub.

When they finally reached their destination and took the off-ramp to leave the Interstate, she noted his intense interest in the rear-view mirror. There was very little traffic following them.

"Gotcha," Hal muttered quietly.

Sam looked at him then glanced back, but she saw nothing special about the three cars coming down the ramp.

"Is someone following us?" she asked nervously.

He nodded as he pulled onto Route 66 to drive up a hill for a short distance before turning into the parking lot of their motel. Hal stopped the car before the office and stepped out to watch a dark sedan signal to turn into the gas station across the street then change their mind to drive onwards.

Sam stepped out of the car to look over at Hal nervously.

"They're blown. We'll see if they give up or continue," Hal said, memorizing every detail of what he'd seen.

"Are they going to attack us?" Sam asked with a tremble in her voice.

That brought Hal's attention back to Sam, and he saw how nervous she was. He shook his head. "I don't believe so. My impression is that this is an observation team. They're keeping an eye on us and where we're going. If I'm wrong about that please don't worry. I can deal with them. I won't let them touch you."

Sam smiled at him across the hood of the car, but he could tell she was still nervous.

The monster whispered to him that it needed to kill the men stealing her peace of mind. He was a little concerned about the possessive behavior it was displaying, but he agreed with the dark presence for once. He pushed that aside as he needed to take care of Sam first.

He went into the office with his hand on her back, which seemed to calm her. He registered and paid for the room but got an odd look from the clerk when he confirmed once more that there were two beds. The clerk's eyes were otherwise locked onto Sam's generous bosom.

They drove the short distance to the room, and he backed the car into the spot before their unit on the ground floor. They brought their luggage inside, minus Sam's backpack, and took a look around. It was sufficient, if not as updated as the other motels/hotels they'd been in.

"I'll take the bed closest to the door," he said. "Same rules as the hotel. Okay?"

Sam nodded and smiled as the previous night had been smooth. She'd had to get up once, and he'd responded immediately when she called out to let him know she needed to use the bathroom. She could have sworn he was deep asleep from the soft breathing she'd heard, but he must be as light a sleeper as he claimed.

"Let's see what culinary delights await us in Santa Rosa!" Hal said with a smile as he opened up the map application on his cell.

They reviewed their options and decided to try out Joseph's Bar & Grill as they had some Mexican favorites of Hal's.

The drive was short, and they managed to get a booth when they were seated. Hal convinced Sam to try the Chicken Quesadillas while he had the Tamales.

Hal surprised Sam when he spoke to the waitress in Spanish to place their order. The young woman took their order with a wide smile.

"Aren't you just full of surprises! How many other languages do you know?" Sam teased.

Hal smiled self-consciously. "A few."

Sam's eyes widened as she realized he was serious. "The Mysterious Mr. Demmon," she sighed as she assumed this might be something else he couldn't explain. She couldn't suppress her curiosity. "What ones?" she asked, hopefully.

Hal thought about it and realized he didn't have to answer why he learned the languages.

"Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Hindi, and English, of course. I'm not an expert in all of them, but I can make myself understood, and I understand enough to get by."

"To my ear, you speak Spanish like a native!" she exclaimed.

He looked out the window, and his mind took him back to his fragmented memories of his childhood. "I-I think I spent some of my earlier years in a similar town. It's bringing back memories. Not all of them are good."

Sam gave him a sad look. "You don't remember where you grew up?"

He shook his head and shrugged as he forced a smile onto his lips. "It doesn't matter. That was then, and I live in the now," he recited. He couldn't explain to her that much was lost when the doctors started manipulating his brain. All he knew was the memories that remained weren't happy, but he could function in society now.

She nodded, but her eyes never left his.

"How about you? Ever have an urge to learn another language?" he asked to direct the attention away from himself.

She blushed. "I don't think I could learn another language! Besides, isn't English spoken around the world?"

He chuckled. "It is spoken in a lot of places, but not everywhere. Get away from the major cities' urban centers where global business is conducted, and the local languages dominate. Move further into the countryside, and local dialects take over. To them, the US might as well be Mars. The world doesn't revolve around the US. That's one of the most important lessons I've learned... in my travels."

"I'd like to travel one day. This trip has been eye-opening already. I'm seeing so much of the country!" Sam said with a grin.

Hal found he was beginning to crave those smiles! He loved those crazy fangs of hers and how they widened her grins, adding a touch of hilarity to her smile. His... need to see her smile worried him. He wasn't sure of their—his future. Everything hinged upon what would happen in Los Angeles.

"What's wrong? You were smiling, and then it suddenly looked like you might cry," she said gently.

"Cry? No, I haven't done that since... it's been a very long time." His mind recalled the hard days after the trial when he was a teen. When he was first separated from Lisa and sent off to the Military hospital. There'd been tears then and more emotions he didn't want to acknowledge. The process to create who he was now had been brutal and painful, not something he wanted to dwell on.

The waitress saved him from the abyss of his memories when she arrived with their plates. He switched back to Spanish to thank her. He also complimented her and the restaurant staff for their excellent and prompt service. The young woman bounced happily on her toes as she thanked him in return before fleeing back to the kitchen.

"I think you enjoy that very much," Sam said with a knowing smile.

"It's true," he said in acceptance.

Hal proceeded to instruct her on how to eat her Quesadillas.

After her first bite, she beamed him a delighted smile. "Oh my god! This is my new favorite meal!" she cooed.

Chuckling, Hal tucked into his meal. It was delicious, and he nodded in appreciation.

They didn't waste time talking when there was food this good to occupy their mouths.

When they finished the main course, they ordered dessert. Sam went with the coconut cream pie while Hal selected apple pie ala mode.

They both agreed that they had overeaten when they leaned back against the bench cushions, but they were happy.