Page 20 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

"So, I mapped out the best route to Pasadena," she said.

"Pasadena?"

"Yeah. Well, I know I said Californ

ia, which was rather vague since it's such a huge state. And really you can just drop me off anywhere. Pasadena is where I eventually need to end up though. But if you..."

"I can take you to Pasadena." It was only a few hours away from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. Thinking about it gave me a pit in my stomach. I knew I was doing the right thing. But it didn't mean I wasn't terrified.

She looked relieved. "Great. I got this map from downstairs." She opened it up and spread it across the bed. "I really wouldn't mind seeing the Grand Canyon. I know I was just joking around about hitchhiking when we first met. But here I am. I'm officially a hitchhiker. I might as well see the Grand Canyon while I'm at it. It's kind of on the way." She pointed at a dot on the map.

"Yeah, sure."

"And if we start going south now, kind of cut through Missouri and then head west, I think that's probably the fastest route. We basically just follow Route 66, so we don't even need a GPS, because I know you hate those."

I picked up the map. "Ever been to Vegas?"

She laughed. "No. I've actually never even left Indiana before."

"Seriously?"

She shrugged.

"You do realize that we're in Illinois right now? You've officially left your home state."

"I know." She smiled. "It's pretty exhilarating. Is Vegas on the way too?"

"Kind of. Just like the Grand Canyon is kind of on the way."

"I guess we'll see if we're sick of each other by then."

I knew she was in a rush to get to Pasadena for some reason. I looked back down at the map. I had more than half a country to figure out why. "Mhm."

"Are you hungry?" she asked. "It's your turn to buy breakfast."

"Yeah, just let me go brush my teeth." I quickly freshened up. When I walked back out, the TV was on. Hails was watching a news reporter outside of a hospital. An image flashed across the screen with the caption "Mr. and Mrs. Hunter moments before the shooting." She was in a wedding dress and he was in a tux. They looked so happy. I swallowed down the lump in my throat.

Hails turned around to look at me. "They just had an exclusive with one of the doctors from the hospital where James Hunter is. They said that each day that goes by he gets less and less likely to wake up. It's not looking good. I can't even imagine what his family is going through. And his new wife? It's heartbreaking."

"It really is." Heartbreaking. I couldn't think of any other way to describe it. I looked away from the image and grabbed my bags and her duffel. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." She turned off the TV. "I can carry that, you know."

"I got it."

"Do you want me to take a turn driving today?"

"Nope."

"Oh, come on," she protested as she followed me out of the room.

***

"I thought Kansas would be more...magical," Hailey said.

I laughed. "Why did you think that?"

"Well, because of Wizard of Oz and everything. But really it's almost exactly the same as Indiana."

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