Driving wasn’t so bad. The rental wasn’t a manual, so Ian never had to worry about his sore ankle. Lucas spent the majority of his non-driving time asleep, leaving Ian plenty of opportunities to think. He liked being able to ponder the intricacies of their situation, a new puzzle to fathom out. Part of him liked to imagine this was what Lucas went through. Another part recognized he was romanticizing the entire situation far too much.
He ignored that latter part. Most of the time. He had enough he was being forced to deal with rationally. This one thing, he wanted to be utterly reckless about.
Each stop was another piece to add to the mystery of Lucas Arpini. The first was not in Phoenix proper, but out in the desert, on a barren stretch of orange rock and sand. The sun was just starting
