Tom checked out of his hotel and hurried to his SUV. He tossed his suitcase in the back and screeched out of the parking lot, thankful for the dry weather. At least he’d make good time. However, a mile outside town the dry weather changed to freezing rain, and traffic slowed to a crawl, so he didn’t reach the western outskirts of Lasoen until the small hours of the morning. Then the weather let up and he was able to drive to the eastern outskirts in another half hour. He soon spotted the all-night store Arrin had mentioned and pulled into a parking space.

He expected Arrin to come out of the restaurant right away, but after ten minutes when he still hadn’t shown, Tom went into the restaurant to look for him. He found the place deserted except for the waitress, manager, and cook....

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