Anna watched the sun begin to sink into the horizon, creating a mosaic of soft pinks, violent oranges, and deep purple hues shot through with delicate wisps of clouds. She wondered if Braxton was on that same road somewhere. Heading toward San Francisco to get a good night’s sleep in some motel before the rally tomorrow. She wondered if Prescott would tell him about their visit, or if Braxton would take the stage tomorrow blissfully unaware of intentions lurking somewhere in the crowd. Silently, she wondered which was better. “We need gas,” Dade said, breaking into her thoughts as he pulled off the freeway. Farmland flanked the road on either side here, a small service station and an all-night diner planted at the end of the off-ramp the only buildings in sight. Dade pulled down the ramp to the one main road crossing the freeway and into the service station, coming to a stop at the first pump. As he went inside to pay, Anna got out and stretched her legs. She clipped Lenny’s leash on and walked him as far as the patch of grass at the road holding a sign touting the lowest gas prices in the county.
