Highways & Hostages by Jax Abbey

burrito at Billy’s face. “Stella’s engaged to her über-geek fiancé, Derek. Why would she be out on a date with another guy? And how does your friend know who I am?”
    Billy stuffed his face with more burrito. This girl was too damn nosy. Why couldn’t she just drop it? “We saw you two arguing last night; Stella told us you were her sister. And I don’t know anything about a fiancé.”
    Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Billy for a few seconds more, then shrugged. She lowered the burrito, unwrapped it, and took a bite. “I never liked him anyway. What’s next?” she asked with a full mouth.
    Billy nearly let out a sigh of relief. “Wanna get out of here? I’ve got a sweet condo right off the Strip. We could watch a movie or something.”
    Phoebe took another bite of the burrito and swallowed. “‘Or something’ sounds nice.”
    Billy was pretty sure their respective ‘or somethings’ were not the same. She was cute, but not cute enough to warrant jail time; that was Finn’s thing. He wondered if he could get in trouble for just making out with her. Who would be the wiser?
    “C’mon,” he said, walking to a nearby trashcan to toss the burrito wrapper. He turned back to Phoebe and held out a hand. She stared at his outstretched palm, her top teeth worrying her bottom lip.
    “You’ve been hanging out with me all evening. No stranger danger here, remember?” Billy flashed her a wide smile. Phoebe grabbed Billy’s hand, dropping her half-eaten burrito into the trashcan as she passed it.

MONDAY
    ..................

STELLA, 3:46 A.M.
    “Your car is making me claustrophobic,” Finn said for the third time in as many miles. He unbuckled his seatbelt, wiggled around, and then buckled it again.
    “We’ve only been on the road for an hour. Besides, beggars can’t be choosers,” Stella said, keeping her eyes on the road. She still couldn’t believe the circumstances that led her to drive this conman across the Southwest. But the money was too tempting to refuse. Oh, and she needed to get Phoebe back.
    “Are you discounting the plight of the claustrophobic? Because it is a very important issue in this day and age.”
    “You are not claustrophobic. Hush.”
    Finn tried to roll down the window with the hand crank. It didn’t budge.
    “Yeah, that’s broken,” Stella said.
    “What isn’t broken on this damn car?” Finn muttered, staring out the window.
    “I heard that. Remind me again—why aren’t we taking your car?”
    The two sat in uncomfortable silence as they passed strip mall after strip mall and the traffic dwindled. Stella hated awkward silences. And if she was going to be stuck in the car with this guy for who knew how many hours, she’d try and make the best of it. Derek didn’t call her “Stella Sunshine” for nothing. She racked her brain for something to fill the quiet.
    “So…why do people call you Finn if your name is Jacob?”
    “Only my boss and grandparents call me Jacob. Everyone else calls me Finn.”
    “Your parents?”
    “My parents are long gone.” Finn stared straight ahead and the car descended into another awkward silence.
    “My dad—and Phoebe’s dad—left a long time ago.”
    Finn didn’t say anything. Stella sighed and fiddled with the radio. This was going to be a long ride.

    A couple of hours and many more awkward silences later, Finn pointed at a roadside motel with a marquee boasting cheap rates. “Let’s stop there.”
    “That place looks like a dump,” Stella said, wrinkling her nose. She and her mother had stayed in some dubious-looking places when they were taking a break from RV living, but this motel looked like the Department of Health was past due in shutting it down. After the crumbling, dirty stucco, empty pool, and dead trees dotting the property, Stella was surprised to see two cars in the parking lot. She bet they belonged to the motel’s employees.
    “I can’t take another minute in this car. Besides, I’m not exactly rolling in