She shook her head. “No, that’s just wasting money. Um…a room with two beds?”
Well, it would have been nice to hope for more, but he’d take that. Anyway, this was a quick fact-finding trip, not a romantic getaway. “Sounds good.” He selected the room, entered his information, and pushed the button to finalize the transaction. “We’re probably lucky we were able to find someplace at such late notice.” A glance at his watch told him it was almost three o’clock. Since the room was guaranteed on his credit card, a late check-in wouldn’t be a problem, but they still needed to get going. “How soon can you be packed?”
“I’m already packed,” she replied, and seemed amused by his surprise at her answer. “I mean, I’ve been living out of suitcases anyway. I just went and got a few things together, and then closed everything up while you were on the phone with your mother. Took me just a couple of minutes.”
Maybe he should have said something about presuming too much, but really, her efficiency was only a benefit here. “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be that fast, but I’ll do what I can. Why don’t you go back out to the family room while I get my own stuff packed?”
“Sure.” Her entire aspect seemed brighter now, less weighed down by those troubling visions. Alex guessed it was simply knowing that they were taking the next step in finding her friends, rather than sitting around and waiting for another vision to come to her.
It did feel good to be doing something. Whether it would end up being constructive, well…they’d just have to see what happened. A lot of things could be waiting for them in California, and he had to hope they could handle whatever they might encounter out there.
13
They drove west into the bright afternoon sun. Caitlin squinted and wished she’d thought to pick up a pair of sunglasses at Nordstrom Rack. She had her new purse with her new wallet and I.D. tucked into it, and she supposed if it got really bad, they could pull off at a gas station where she could buy some cheap glasses.
In the meantime, though, it just felt good to be on the road, to watch the desert landscape flash past as they left Tucson and headed toward Phoenix. She’d known in her heart that this was the right thing to be doing, and yet she’d still had the thought in the back of her mind that Luz would try to dissuade them, tell them that going to California was a terrible idea. According to Alex, though, she had caved pretty quickly.
They hit the Phoenix sprawl just as rush hour was starting, but for the first part of it, the traffic wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t until they got to the other side of downtown and were caught with everyone else trying to get to the western suburbs, to Goodyear and Glendale and Avondale, that Alex had to slow to a crawl.
It was excruciating, to say the least, but Caitlin knew there was no point in complaining about the time they were wasting. They couldn’t change the traffic patterns — although she thought that would be a handy talent for an urban witch to have — and eventually they did come out on the other side, leaving the suburbs and their planned communities behind them as they headed into the open desert.
The sun blared right into her face and she raised a hand to block it, as it was now low enough that the visor wasn’t doing much good to protect her. Alex glanced over and asked, “You managing okay?”
“It’s a little bright. But I’ll live.”
“There’s a spare pair of sunglasses in the glove compartment. One of the arms is a little loose, but it’s better than going blind.”
She opened the glovebox, and, sure enough, there was a pair of somewhat wobbly Ray-Bans in there. “Thanks,” she said gratefully as she settled them on her nose. They were heavier than the cheap drugstore sunglasses she usually wore, but they’d do.
Alex nodded. “I probably should’ve thought of them sooner. Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” He had enough on his mind; he shouldn’t have to worry about babysitting her. And really, she had been all right until the sun dropped just low enough to be a problem.
Seemingly abandoning that topic, he said, “We should be getting into Blythe right around dinnertime. You want to stop there and get something to eat?”
Part of her didn’t, just because she wanted to get to Pasadena as soon as they could. But that was silly, because they wouldn’t be able to see Simón Santiago until the following morning anyway. They’d grabbed some tacos at a hole-in-the-wall place not too far from the motor vehicle office, but that had been hours ago. By the time seven o’clock rolled around, she knew she’d be starving. “Sounds good. Any ideas?”