Page 43 of The Woman with the Handcuffs

“He’s a long-haul trucker.”

“Who, I imagine, doesn’t work every single day of his life.”

“I mean, mostly he does. He loves it. He loves the road. The people on the CB.”

“Mostly isn’t all. Where is he when he’s not driving?”

“He usually rents a motel for a week or two in an area he wants to check out.”

“So you want me to believe he doesn’t have a home base?”

My eyes narrowed as I watched his profile. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“No one lives on the road all the time.”

“Sure they do. Haven’t you ever heard of van life? They live on the road all the time.”

“That’s social media bullshit. No one actually does that?”

“It’s not bullshit. I’ve met people who live that lifestyle. Most of them aren’t even posting about it on social media.”

“Then how are they making money? I still call bullshit.”

“Remote work! I work remotely. A lot of people do.”

“Not buying it.”

“Then you’re being deliberately obtuse. I mean, how can you say—”

“Caitlin,” he cut me off, silencing me as I tried to ignore the way my belly fluttered.

“What?”

“Look,” he said, nodding out the windshield. “We’re off.”

And we were.

The bridge was in the rearview.

The world had opened up again.

“Wait,” I said, turning back to him. “Did you just… pick a fight with me to distract me?”

“Yeah. I mean, I’m an asshole, but I don’t give a fuck about where people live. Just figured it was a good way to get all that adrenaline focused somewhere else.”

Huh.

I slumped in my seat, amazed to find that I didn’t feel that familiar jittery, fluttery sensation I usually did after I had a panic attack. I guess he was right. I’d directed the adrenaline toward snapping back at him, giving it an outlet, so it wasn’t still sloshing around in my system with nowhere to go.

“He really does live on the road, by the way,” I told him.

“If you say so.”

“Wait. You really don’t believe me?”

“Who the fuck wouldn’t want a home to come back to?”

“I mean, I get that because I love having a home for all my stuff, but there are a lot of people who are just nomadic.”