Bandit let out a sharp, furious noise.
My stomach answered with a growl.
I glanced over. He glared. I glared back.
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.”
Another growl rolled through the cab, lower this time. Mine. Apparently, my organs had joined the conversation. I rubbed a hand over my face and checked the clock on the dash. A few more hours until Santa Fe. I could almost see it—my new apartment, my new job, my new life, and hopefully a shower with water pressure strong enough to remove the top layer of my personality.
The truck coughed hard enough to jolt me forward.
The temperature gauge climbed another inch.
I stared at it. “You better not.”
Bandit sneezed.
“Traitor.”
At the next stop sign, I popped open the glove box, searching for napkins because my hands felt like I’d been dusted in flour and motor oil. My fingers hit folded paper instead. I pulled it out and found a twenty-dollar bill tucked behind the owner’s manual, folded so many times it looked ancient.
Emergency money.
I laughed, short and dry. “This qualifies.”
Bandit blinked at me.
“Food,” I clarified.
His ears twitched.
That got his attention.
I checked my phone. Weak signal. Battery lower than I liked because apparently my charger had developed commitment issues somewhere outside Amarillo. A burger place popped up on the map eight minutes away. Not ideal, but food. Grease. Salt.A bathroom sink. A place to refill Bandit’s water and make sure my truck wasn’t actively dying under me.
Perfect.
Then the GPS rerouted.
Turn left.
Onto a dirt road.
I frowned as the pavement disappeared beneath my tires like a magic trick performed by someone with a grudge. Cactus lined both sides of the road, mixed with tall weeds, pale dust, and dry brush that looked one cigarette away from disaster. My truck bounced hard enough to rattle my teeth. The tarps in the back snapped in the wind. Bandit slammed himself against the crate and made a noise like a haunted accordion.
“This can’t be right,” I muttered.
The road narrowed.
The truck coughed again.
Then I saw it.
Lights.
Neon.
Music.
