No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

meeting Beavis and Butthead in person, all the way out here?
In a remote rest stop, two states away?
She watched the snowy highway unfurl, feeling the blood
return to her extremities, bracing against the frigid air blowing
through the windows. Only now did she start to see the
gallows humor of the whole mess, in her own misfortune and
poor judgment. She’d unwittingly trusted a kidnapper for the
second time tonight. That carafe of scalding water she’d
planned to use as a weapon? Jaybird had dumped it over her
over face, which still tingled with first-degree burns. Nothing
had gone according to plan. She couldn’t help it, her teeth
chattering: “I swear to God, Jay, next time you think you
recognize someone else here … like, if the first Colorado cop
we see looks like your orthodontist back in San Diego, please
tell me, okay?”
“My orthodontist lives in LA, actually.”
“Los Angeles?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you take an airplane to see your orthodontist?”
Jay winced, embarrassed. “Sometimes.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s … my parents really like him—”
“No shit. Did your parents invent Google or something?”
“You’re teasing me.”
Darby grinned. “Is it too late to ransom you myself?”
“Maybe not.” Jay grinned back. “You’re the one driving a
stolen tru—”
Brain-jarring halt.
The entire world seemed to drop anchor. The truck nosedove
into a rise of deep snow, headlights burrowing and going
dark, two tons of moving parts slamming into a hard stop. An
empty Gatorade bottle flew out of the console. Loose glass