now all he could see in front of him were winking red brake lights. He counted

ahead to where he thought the van was located.

 

Soon he went through the Hampton Roads tunnel. It was lighted inside and he

thought he could see the van far ahead.

 

By the time he came out of the tunnel and the overhead lights vanished, all he

could see were taillights. And there was a white van right in front of him and

one next to him. Neither was the van, because they both had stenciling on the

sides and rear. One was a plumber, the other an electrician.

 

Puller looked up ahead. There were exits and the van could take any one of them,

or none at all and keep going.

 

He decided to stay on the road.

 

He had driven many more miles, and traffic had gotten heavier as more and more

cars piled onto the interstate. Finally, he gave it up and exited. He reversed

course and headed west. He drove back to the hotel where he had stayed before

and got a room.

 

He got out his camera and checked the pictures. He zoomed in on the shots of the

van. He could just make out a license plate.

 

He wrote it down. It was a West Virginia plate. If he’d still been with CID,