In an instant I was back in the Stan, driving a Humvee down a rubble-strewn street. Hyperalert. No panic. I tightened my grip on the wheel; I maintained my speed. Pay no attention to me, just out for a drive. I watched the doorways and the windows. Glanced at the rooftops. Checked the cars in front and behind Van, vehicles coming toward us. At any instant I was ready to slam down on the accelerator and hasta la vista, amigo. “What happened?”

She was already putting new data into the iPad. “Make the next turn. Right or left, just get off the street.”

I made the next right, then the next left onto a parallel street. No one was trailing us. “What’d you see?”

She twisted to face me, leaning back against the door. Her voice now riddled with uncertainty, she said, “There was supposed to be a sign in the window, three slices for two, if it was good to go. It wasn’t there.”

I ran my tongue across my suddenly dry lips. “Now what?”

She wiped her palm across her brow and bit down on the nail of her pinkie, probably trying to clear away the confusion. “I don’t know.” She tried to calm herself with a deep breath; then she slammed the heel of her hand against the dash. “This fucking iPad won’t take this address. God, I hate these fucking things.” She slammed it a second time, then pushed back in her seat and folded her arms in frustration, looking like a petulant child.

I looked at her and smiled.

“What?”

I held up my hand defensively. “Nothing. Honest. In the movies this is where I say, ‘Now I’m stuck with you for a few more hours,’ and you stick out your tongue at me.”

“This isn’t a joke, Rollie. This is…”

“No kidding. Wow. And here I thought we were having such a good time together.” A blue-and-white police car, sirens screeching and emergency lights in full “watch out, here I come” mode raced by going in the opposite direction, followed by an old-fashioned army jeep failing to keep up. “Why don’t you grab us both some water, please.”

She ducked her head and climbed into the back, returning seconds later with two bottles of sparkling water and her composure. “Sorry.”

I nodded my acceptance. “It happens.” Then, after a beat, “Look, all of this, nobody believed it was possible. Soldiers patrolling the streets, people getting arrested for criticizing the government? That’s not supposed to happen here, not in America. That’s…” There were too many examples to choose one. “But it is happening here and so now we’ve got to deal with it. Being pissed off is what we should have been five years ago, when fucking Trump was selling out our values. It’s too late to waste time on what we should have done. Right now we’ve got to focus on what we can do.” I turned my head and looked right at her. “And that means getting me to Canada.”