In Pursuit Of ✔

Changing of the Tide

The Las Vegas strip was still warm, even with the sun going down. Henley walked along, happily swinging her arms and enjoying the warmth on her face.

Suddenly, she felt icy hands close around both of her wrists, pinning her arms to her side. Immobilized, she tried to scream, but couldn't.

When Henley gasped awake, morning sunlight already filled her room. It was just a few minutes before six.

Pushing herself up in bed, Henley's breathing began to return slowly back to normal. Having the nightmare this time wasn't as shocking as before, but since she hadn't had one in several days, she had been hoping to have left them behind in Tahoe.

There was a soft tap on the door. She looked up as Nick poked his head in. He was holding his cell phone in one of his hands. "I thought I heard you, is everything okay?"

Henley shrugged. "Same thing, just here in Vegas instead of Berkeley."

Nick nodded. "Let me get changed into regular clothes," he said. Based on his apparel, he was just about to head down to the gym. "And we should go. We've spent enough time in one place."

Henley was grateful for his response and started to get dressed and pack up her things when Nick left her room. With everything back in her suitcase, Henley pulled on her red jacket and went to meet Nick.

Not long after, they were back on the road, both silent, with Jurassic Park music playing in the background.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

No."

"Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?"

"I—have I, what?" Henley had been in a trance, looking out of the window, but Nick's left-field question brought her attention back.

"You know, the Grand Canyon," Nick said.

"Yes, I know what the Grand Canyon is," Henley said. "What's your point?"

"Have you ever been?"

"No."

"Do you want to?"

"You know, given that you keep reminding me that we're not on vacation, this is really beginning to feel like we're on vacation."

"It's just a pit stop," Nick said. "And you'll still have to stay in the hotel for the entire time, but this particular hotel happens to have a view of the Grand Canyon. And like I said in Vegas, we'll blend in with all the tourists."

"Is this because I had another nightmare?"

"I told you before, I know this is hard. I don't want to make it harder on you."

Henley almost believed the explanation. Almost. Nick had hesitated a fraction of a second before answer, and she could see that his hands had slightly tightened their grip on the steering wheel.

"I don't believe you."

Nick glanced over and Henley met him with a hardened stare.

"I thought we agreed that it was best to be honest with each other, Nick," Henley said.

Nick sighed. "It's probably nothing," he said. "But, one of my contacts in C.O.D.E. headquarters in Phoenix reached out to me this morning. They picked something up on their radar. It might be related to you, it might not, but I reached out to the national office in D.C. and got approved to change the route, just for a night, and wait to see what Phoenix finds out in the next day or so."