“So where is this target?” I asked. “I don’t remember you saying.”
 
 “Somewhere up near Denver, Colorado.”
 
 “Oh, my God! You have to ridethat far?” I asked. “Why didn’t you fly?”
 
 “Nah, cheap as fuck in gas on the bikes and saves a lot of hassle keeping our guns with airport security and all,” he said.
 
 “Oh, right. I didn’t think of that,” I said.
 
 He laughed lightly and said, “You think of plenty. You don’t have to think of everything – that’s our job.”
 
 “Hmm,” I hummed and smiled. “I guess I should just be happy you’re just a little bit closer.”
 
 “I know I am,” he said. “But still, so close yet so far away.”
 
 I nodded, realized he couldn’t see it, and said, “Yeah.”
 
 “Don’t sound like that,” he said softly, his voice slightly chiding but still full of understanding.
 
 “Like what?” I asked.
 
 “Like all is lost,” he said. “Because, baby, you’ve only just been found.”
 
 I chuckled. “It’s only been a week and it feels like a year, ah God, how am I supposed to do this?” I asked.
 
 “One step, one day at a time,” he said, and I nodded.
 
 “Yeah. Makes sense.
 
 “It’s getting late,” he said, and I nodded.
 
 “Not as late as where you are,” I told him.
 
 “Right, which is how I know it’s getting late there…”
 
 “You telling me to go to bed?” I asked.
 
 “Yeah,” he answered. “You sound tired, babe and I need you to take care of yourself. No burning the candle at both ends for you anymore.”
 
 “I could say the same about you,” I said.
 
 “I know.” He sighed. “I know, and I’m trying. I promise.”
 
 “I know you are.”
 
 “Get some sleep, baby.”
 
 “I will, I promise. You do the same.”
 
 “Okay.”
 
 “Okay, goodnight.”
 
 “G’night.”
 
 I ended the call and sighed.
 
 My house didn’t feel like a home. It hadn’t since the nights of terror… it felt hollow, and broken, and as I looked around, I realized – I couldn’t stand it here, but I was trapped by debt and my credit score sucked, so here I would stay until I could fix it.