Chapter 169

• The Journey Begins
• I exhale and almost cry with relief and turn to pull my hands from Carmen, who no longer has reason to hold me back.
• “Are you coming?” I ask her warily, legs shaking from adrenalin and weakening with relief as she nods. Gesturing back to a hold-all on the steps she must have thrown together before hyper-speeding down here. She retrieves it, and we head for the truck's passenger door, her climbing in first with me last, to sit on the double seat side by side.