:::MA: Did you make it okay?
:::ES: Yep. Got to the motel! Better than the last place I stayed. Thank you again. And please tell Skye thank you.
:::MA: I will! Sleep well!
:::ES: You too.
#
:::MA: You doing okay?
:::ES: Yep thanks.
:::ES: You already saved my life Mary-Anne, know you don’t have to check in on me…
:::MA: Would you prefer I didn’t?
:::ES: No…
:::ES: It’s nice.
:::ES: But I don’t want you to feel obligated.
:::ES: I’m a big girl.
:::MA: Hah. You’re hardly big.
:::MA: You looked real thin. You getting enough to eat?
:::ES: I am right this moment eating a delicious gas station hot dog. And I’ve got a twinkie too.
:::MA: Come back here. I need to cook you a real dinner.
:::ES: Hotdish?
:::MA: I can make other things!
#
:::MA: How was today?
:::ES: 427 miles… And it’s still cool. 103F outside. Tell Skye thank you again.
:::MA: I’ve already thanked her for the past 3 days sweetheart. But sure.
:::ES: I can’t thank the woman who got me a car with functioning AC enough. There are no words. I might send her flowers.
:::MA: Send her a nice wrench, she’ll appreciate it more.
#
:::ES: I’m missing the city.
:::MA: We have cities!
:::ES: I’m missing cities that aren’t cities because they have both a bar and a diner.
:::MA: Long day?
:::ES: Yeah. The backroads are a pita.
:::MA: pita? like flatbread?
:::ES: Pain In The Ass
:::MA: Ha! Oh I’m going to use that one.
:::ES: LOL
:::MA: I know what that means, I’m old not dead.
:::ES: Actual lol
#
:::MA: Better drive today?
:::ES: Yep. Much better!
:::ES: I made a discovery
:::MA: Yeah, honey? What is it?
:::ES: Driving on big highways is quicker than all these jank ass back roads.
:::MA: I think we knew that already sweetheart.
:::ES: Well rats. Better cancel my talk show tour then.
:::ES: Still better tho. I should be done driving tomorrow I hope.
#
:::ES: Made it!
:::MA: You got there ok?
:::ES: Yeah. No more run-ins with cops. One day I’ll tell you where I am, I promise.
:::ES: I owe you so much, I wanna pay you back
:::MA: Come visit at Christmas then.
:::MA: Doesn’t have to be this one. I think you and Sam would get along.
:::ES: And I still owe Skye a wrench set.
:::MA: I just said a wrench.
:::ES: She almost gave me a car. I looked up how much she shoulda charged me. I should get her like an entire workshop.
:::MA: She’s good people.
:::ES: You’re both good people.
:::MA: Oh geez, you should meet Jen. She’s good people. Me and Skye were just doing what anyone would do.
:::MA: Talking of Jen, she told me Deputy Saint James has gone AWOL.
:::ES: Should we talk about that??
:::MA: We didn’t do anything. You left days before the last time he was seen anyhow.
:::MA: Jen heard he got canned.
:::MA: She filed a report. Sent the video of the assault as soon as she got signal.
:::ES: Shit. She did what?
:::MA: Sorry sweetheart. She’d already done it and I didn’t think it would come to anything. You can’t really see your face in it.
:::ES: Well, I guess not much to do about it.
:::MA: Sorry.
:::MA: It took a while for them to do anything. Then they suspended him.
:::MA: Couple days later he went out. Aunt Peter said he looked like shit. Told everyone to keep away from him, said he was f**ked, got raging drunk, tore up The Tavern then drove on out of town.
:::MA: They declared him missing today. Was on the local news.
:::MA: He didn’t show up for some internal investigation interview with his boss.
:::ES: Huh. I wonder if there’s more going on? You did say he had done tons of stuff, maybe it finally caught up with him.
:::MA: Getting blackout drunk when he’s pissed is pretty normal for him. Disappearing off is new.
:::MA: Anyway – you got a new place yet?
:::ES: Yeah! Got an apartment. [Image attached]
:::MA: Oh that’s real cute.
:::ES: Not a great part of town tho.
:::ES: Start my new job next week tho
:::MA: Am I cleared to know what it is?
:::ES: Um. I work in a lab.
:::MA: Oh – somehow not what I expected.
:::MA: So you’re lab tech or something?
:::ES: Something like that.