The trip was to take them to the easiest border to negotiate, Tecate, Tijuana being the more direct but busier, with its concerns over drug cartels and the delays caused by a car search. Ever presumed Manita was more than familiar with the route but he felt a nostalgia for the Englishness of Kate on Waze. He programmed the route in, was comforted by her words, always calm and consistent in emotion, or lack of, giving him the feeling of isolation in his own private space that nothing could invade, guiding them on their way. He spoke to her once or twice, bringing no response from his fellow passengers. Whether Manita listened to Kate’s advice was really irrelevant to Ever, he just wanted her to talk to him in an English accent and make him feel that nothing had changed in his world.

That it was all the same.

Simple, it was the only thing that connected him to a place before, where nothing had yet gone wrong. Kate was ignorant of their situation, and he liked that.

A hundred and sixty miles and a two-and-a-half-hour journey. Down the I-5 and then a little kick east to Tecate, avoiding Tijuana, and then Mexico. Ever took over the driving an hour across the border, and felt no tiredness at all. He supposed adrenaline-fuelled anxiety conquered all. They were heading towards their first stop, San Quintín, hoping to get there before midnight.

Was he ever going to tell Lomita he wasn’t carrying a gun?

Chapter Thirty-five

A morning that had started, as all seemed to in Baja, with the rise of the shining sun.

Across the ocean flashing the room with a brightness that could only come from a divine source: Ever was still not recovered from the emotional onslaught of his father’s paintings.

He was now driving with Manita back into San José to the hospital to see how Lomita had fared through the night. Ever needed something to help him calm down, and asked Manita if by any chance she had any medication on her. She said that she didn’t but that wasn’t a problem as they could stop at a pharmacy in San José, where there was a large selection of pharmacies, some generous, some more particular. Ever was confused by Manita’s lack of questioning, he wanted to unload all that had happened, to get a reaction, to disturb her composure, but she just drove and all she had asked, albeit with concern was,

‘How are you today, Señor Ever?’

It was the first time she had directly used his name, he was convinced he had never heard it before, he would have remembered the strange inflection, making it sound circular not direct, and certainly the first time it had been coupled with the dignity of a Señor.

‘Well I feel I need a little something to calm my nerves.’