No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

How?
Your computer’s missing.
In the end, he’d simply liked Fat Kenny too much. He was
too much fun. And he was genuinely decent to four-year-old
Lars, too — letting him carry tools in the workshop, teaching
him how to shoot crows with a BB gun. So, bottom line,
whatever those truckers were doing with the woman in the
bunker ultimately didn’t matter to Ashley. He’d just filed it
away in a dark corner of his brain.
That was seventeen years ago.
And now, at the Wanapani rest area in Colorado, on the
frigid night of December 23, these roles were shuffled, like a
classic TV show returning with a cast of new actors. Ashley
himself was the new Fat Kenny, scrambling to protect a
damaging secret. And Darby was the accidental witness.
History doesn’t quite repeat itself, but damn, it sure can
rhyme.
Ed reached behind the chattering security grate, testing the
hot water dispenser, and then separated two bags of coffee
grounds. “I’ve got a dark French Roast, and a light.”
“Either’s fine,” said Sandi.
“Dark roast, please,” Ashley said. “As dark as it gets.”
He didn’t actually have a preference; he just liked how
dark roast sounded. His taste buds were more or less dead, so
all coffee tasted the same to him. But hell, if there was ever a
night for jet-black coffee, this would be it. He stuffed Darby’s
brown napkin into his jeans pocket, noticing it was smeared
with a crescent thumbprint of her blood.
He realized he’d lost sight of her.
Quickly, he scanned the room. Ed was there by the locked
coffee stand, Sandi was seated like a fat yellow bumblebee,
Lars was guarding the front door — but yes, Darby was gone.
She’d vanished. She’d taken advantage of his inattention and
made a move.