Roanoke, Virginia Matthew Fox was confident that he had not been seen. What could have been a disaster had, in fact, turned into yet another victory. The only unfortunate aspect of the whole incident was that Ronda's friend got away. Maybe he remembered what Matthew looked like, and maybe he did not. Either way, it did not matter to Matthew. It was all history now, and in the hands of God.
The snappy little café in the heart of Roanoke was starting to charm him. The town, or as much as he had seen of it so far, was beautiful. It was warm and neat and homey. At the same time though, it did not have the backward country feel that most small towns in the area did. It was the kind of small town that he could very easily hide out in for a few days. But, as always, time was a factor. He had to honor the self-appointed schedule. The layover would only be long enough to grab a bite to eat and put together a plan of attack for Christopher Gilbert-the last man standing.
The young waitress still watched as he ate. She had either seen his face before - maybe on a police department flyer - or she was interested. He wished he had allowed time for sex. The ultimate power that now lived in his veins, that of being able to knock off each and every one of his opponents so easily, had started to take over his reasoning. Add incredible sex to that all natural high and he would be unstoppable. No time, he told himself again, firmly this time. He avoided further eye contact with the young lady, paid his bill, and returned to the truck.
He used his cell phone to call Spencer. It had been a while since he talked to his friend, and he could not afford to have the man worried to death about him. He would simply shoot the breeze for a few minutes, tell his assistant that he was doing a bang up job holding down the fort in his absence, and then be on his way.
"I haven't seen him in almost a week," Rosa, one of the housekeepers, said when Matthew asked to speak to Spencer. The shakiness in her voice showed her nervousness.
"Everything is all right, Rosa. I just need to talk to him." He was calm and casual.
"I don't know what to tell you, Mr. Fox. I haven't seen him in some time," she reiterated.
"All right. Well, if you do talk to him, tell him to call me."
She started to respond, but was cut short when Matthew pushed the "End" button on the phone.
