He shifted in the front passenger seat, slowly awakening to the low purring of the car’s engine. Through half opened eyes he could see the dashboard lights and also that it was still dark out.
“Where are we?” he asked sleepily.
She reached over and ruffled his hair.
“Southern Utah somewhere, same place as last night when we stopped,” she answered, her voice amused.
Dark out but already morning. He reached for his phone to check the time and then remembered it was back in New Jersey, at the bottom of some river or stream.
“How much further?”
“We’ll be in Idaho by this afternoon.”
The glow of the dashboard lit her face a brilliant orange, allowing him a clear view of her curved lips but obscuring the expression in her eyes. She’d been answering these two incessant questions with good humor the whole trip. Then again this whole situation was her fault, so it was sort of the least she could do.
$26,302 in cash, but no knowing how long it would have to last them. A zig-zagging route using back roads and no GPS. No stopping at large chain gas stations with proper CCTV set-ups. No friendly chats with strangers. He had the what down pat by now, but the why was still nebulous.
“How exactly did you meet this guy you were working for?”
Her jaw stiffened. She stared straight ahead for a long moment.
“Let’s not talk about it right now. Why don’t you get some more sleep and we’ll switch places when we stop for breakfast.”
He had half a mind to press the question, but he was still pretty tired. Anyway hadn’t he agreed just yesterday to look at this like an adventure? The fun road trip they’d always talked about taking? He let his eyes close again.
“All right, babe.”
Written for the #365daysofwriting challenge from the Day 226 photo prompt.