Justin had named the dog—Shady—as soon as he awoke. They had given him a bath in the motel tub and then old Shady leapt into the Jeep and curled up on the back seat like Asher and Justin had been his family as long as he could remember.

There was a sort of contentment that had settled between the three of them. Perhaps for Justin it was only resignation; Asher could tell that his son was going through all kinds of feelings about being on the run like this. He wished that he could take all of that from him, but no amount of talking about it would make it any easier.

So for hours and hours there was nothing but the road. They tried listening to the radio for a while but there was only static or gospel stations. Holy Roller programs and screaming preachers. Somehow those programs always had the best reception. Asher found it hard to believe he had once been one of those hacking preachers himself. This other life didn’t seem possible to him. This other world.

He drove down the long finger of Florida with nothing to keep him from thinking about what he was going to do.

By the time they reached Key Largo, his back ached, his neck ached, his arms ached. Even his fingers were sore from gripping the steering wheel. But he had to keep driving. The sudden thought of finally arriving in Key West and not driving anymore filled him with a stark fear. What would it be like to be on an island where the road simply ended? The more Asher thought about it, the more it sounded like a trap waiting to swallow them.

The sky lightened in the east, a graying of the blackness way out over the ocean. They waited at stoplights although the roads were empty. There was nothing more lonesome than an empty, dark intersection. Even the billboards seemed lonely.

crocodile crossing just ahead

see the christ of the deep

glass bottom boat ride on the key largo princess!

Behind this last sign a state trooper had hidden to watch for speeders. Asher felt a cold sweat on his upper lip and his heart drummed in his chest.

The air—warm even before daylight—smelled like salt water and fish and overripe watermelons.

Somewhere outside Tavernier Justin announced that he had to pee and Asher wheeled into a Tom Thumb gas station.

The cashier was a mountain of a woman with a big, brown mole and sweet, green eyes. “Good morning, darlins,” she said when they entered and as they left she asked: “Are you going to the very end, then?” Asher didn’t understand. “Key West,” she said.

He nodded.

“Good luck, darlin,” she cooed.