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Where’s our stuff?

“Oh, God,” I hiccup, the tears I was trying to hold back finally spilling onto my cheeks.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay. You’re both okay,” Miles says, rushing to my side.

“Everything is messed up now,” I sob.

He wraps his arms around me gently. “It’ll be all right. You’re both alive.”

“My car. Our stuff,” I say through my tears.

“Your car was towed.”

“It’s totaled.”

“I know.” He sighs. “We’ll get your things. We can find you a new car.”

“It won’t matter. We can’t afford it. Our plan…” I trail off as I realize our plan of moving to Los Angeles just went up in smoke.

“We’ll figure it out,” Miles reassures me.

I look up at him and frown. “Why are you being so nice to me?”

“It’s… a long story.”

“What does that mean?”

“I just…I think you could use a friend right now.”

My frown deepens. “That’s not what you were going to say.”

He smiles wryly. “No, but you need to rest right now. I’ll explain later.”

“Why not now? I have nothing else to do,” I point out.

“I—”

The door opens, and I turn to see two policemen entering the room.

“Hey, is now a good time to ask a few questions?” one of the officers asks.

“Sure. Mabel, this is Crew and Tucker. They found your car and were the first on the scene,” Miles says, introducing me to the cops.

“Nice to meet you,” Crew says.

“You too.”

Tucker moves to stand at the foot of the bed. “Can you tell us what happened?”

“We were planning to stop in town for gas and to stretch our legs,” I start, swallowing as memories bombard me.

Miles takes my hand, offering his silent support. It helps more than he could know.

“Where were you coming from?” Tucker asks.

“Idaho.”

“Long way from home.”