Page 44 of The Hitchhikers

Simon stood back up and jogged around the counter.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Alice somehow got her feet moving and followed him to the door.

He looked around. “Go!” They sprinted down the road.

They were at the RV steps, Simon was yanking the door open, pushing her in front of him to climb up the stairs. She was moving so fast she tripped on the top step and would’ve fallen if Simon hadn’t grabbed her at the waist. The familiar gesture seemed so at odds with the man who’d just threatened a woman’s life—who threatenedherlife. She nearly burst into tears, but somehow, she was still moving, putting one foot in front of the other.

She collapsed into the driver’s seat, pulled off the gloves, and tugged the bandana down so she could suck in big gasps of air. Simon was at her shoulder, untying the bandana, snatching the baseball cap off her head, the glasses off her face. The strange yellow tinge was gone.

“Just drive. You can change your clothes later.”

She turned the key in the ignition, pressed her foot on the gas. The road was pitch-black on either side. Their headlights made the center line glow. Her legs were shaking. She needed to go to the bathroom. She traveled the route Simon had decided on earlier, taking them through a neighborhood. He thought it would look like the RV belonged to someone who lived there.

“Keep your speed normal.”

She glanced at him in the rearview mirror. She could onlysee the shape of him in the faint dashboard light. He was in the middle of the RV, legs braced like a sailor, undoing the straps of his overalls. It looked like he’d already removed his cowboy hat.

“Did it go okay?” Jenny said from the table.

“It was easy,” Simon said. “So easy.”

CHAPTER 17JENNY

Jenny knelt in the center aisle of the RV and yanked open the storage area under the bench seats, shoving the full pillowcases deep inside, while Simon stripped down to his shorts and tank top.

He handed her his overalls, the checkered bandanas, their gloves, and costume glasses, as well as Alice’s baseball cap. Jenny was careful not to crush Simon’s cowboy hat.

When she got to her feet, he pulled her close for a quick, salty kiss. His bare legs and arms were hot against hers, his heart beating so fast she could feel it. He sat at the dinette, behind Alice, and Jenny sat across from him. He swiveled his head toward Alice.

“Stay on this road. It should connect to the highway.” Simon turned back around to face Jenny. His hair was dark with sweat, the front pieces flopping over his forehead.

“One of those pillowcases is full of things we can sell—cigarettes, film. I got us snacks too. We’ll count out the money later. It looked like a lot, though.”

Jenny chewed on her nails. “That’s good, right?”

“Yeah, but…” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “We’re going to need more.”

More? They couldn’t go back to the gas station. That didn’tmake sense. He was looking at her intensely, like he was waiting for her to understand. And then she did.

“That’s crazy. You can’t rob another place tonight!”

“Not tonight, but, babe, you know how hard I worked at the marina. I busted my ass ten hours a day, did whatever my dad wanted, and I could still barely afford our crappy apartment.”

Jenny thought of the cramped attic above the marina. Even though it always smelled faintly of ocean and seaweed, she’d felt safe there. What she hadn’t liked was seeing Simon leave at the crack of dawn and return at night with exhausted eyes and slumped shoulders.

“The gas station took maybe ten minutes,” he said.

It had felt longer for Jenny, staring out the windshield, watching every shadow. Tom, in the back, had never said a word to her. She’d decided that if Simon and Alice didn’t return, she would take her backpack, leave Tom and the RV, and walk into the night.

“Weren’t you scared?”

“No, my blood was pumping so fast. I didn’t have time to think.”

Her mind was all over the place. She understood what he was saying, but it didn’t feel right. They weren’t robbers.

“Are we going to keep staying at campgrounds?”