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“You just sat down and it collapsed?” he asked skeptically.

“Yes,” we said in unison.

“Beds don’t just collapse from people sitting on them.”

“This one did,” I said firmly. “So we’d better not be charged for it. That bed frame is older than I am.”

After that very uncomfortable conversation with the hotel clerk, we headed to the nearest gas station. Jenny filled up the car while I headed inside for snacks, emerging with a burner phone in my pocket and a packet of Twizzlers in my hand.

Jenny was concerned about me. I could tell by the way she didn’t make any jokes about me eating candy for breakfast.

“How far is it to the Corn Palace?” I asked.

“About an hour. We can make the call after that stop once we get farther away from town.”

I’d filled her in on my conversation with Katy, except for the part where my bestie suggested that I sleep with my driver. I was super annoyed with my parents but not surprised. I had no doubt they’d pulled strings to get the FBI involved. I hadn’t been away that long, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t contacted them. Unless they’d lied about that.

We’d been driving for about ten minutes when Jenny exited the highway and pulled into a Walmart parking lot.

“What are we doing? This isn’t the Corn Palace.”

She put the car in park and turned to face me. “I think we should dye your hair. They’ll probably get an approximate location from your call no matter how fast you are. And if the FBI has issued a bulletin or something, it would be good if you weren’t as recognizable.”

“Ooh, I always wanted to be a redhead,” I said excitedly.

Jenny closed her eyes and took a breath, like she was searching for patience.

“They probably have some temporary dye we can buy, it goes on quickly and washes out in a few days.”

Temporary hair dye was a whole new world for me. I picked out several cans in a variety of colors, then we stopped at another gas station so I could color my hair. The dye sprayed on from the can like hairspray, so while it made a bit of a mess, it was pretty easy to use. It took a while, but eventually I was able to color all of my hair and get the color even. I ruined my shirt though.

When I emerged from the grungy bathroom with bright pink locks Jenny looked so shocked I started laughing.

“What happened?” she asked. “Your hair is pink.”

“Nothing happened. I wanted to try pink hair.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she shook her head. “That’s kind of the opposite of not attracting attention, but okay.”

I moved closer and placed my hand on her arm. Jenny had seemed stressed out ever since I heard from Katy.

“It’s going to be fine,” I said. “We’ve had a great trip so far, and it will be even greater once we get some of those famous Corn Palace Popcorn Balls.”

“How’d you become a driver?” I asked a little while later as Jenny expertly dodged an animal that was darting across the highway. I didn’t know what it was exactly. A wolf? A dog? Whatever it was, it moved fast.

“I started working at the car service in high school,” she explained. “I helped with scheduling, cleaning out the vehicles, stuff like that. When I graduated college I couldn’t find a job in my field, so I got my commercial license, intending to work there until I got a new job. That was like twelve or thirteen years ago.”

“What’s your degree in?” I asked curiously.

“Art history.”

I blinked in surprise, not only because it was an unusual major but because I’d expected Jenny to have majored in business or something more practical.

“I know, it turns out there are very few ways to make a living in art history,” she said drily. “Who would have imagined that? Pops warned me repeatedly, but I wanted to study something that interested me.”

“Well that explains why you’ve been so fascinated with artwork and sculpture along this trip.”

“Yeah. I like all kinds of art.”