Sarah and Kevin 4

They ended up spending the night at an oasis along the highway. No one bothered them since they looked as broke as the rest of the panhandlers who were staying there.
At about 8:00, they began driving to their new residence. Kevin and Tom were in the van with the equipment and Scott and Peter were in Scott's little Escort. By 8:45 they were on the country road that Sarah's house was supposed to be on. There was a police roadblock up ahead. When they reached it, they stopped. Kevin rolled down the window of the van when the officer walked up.

"Step out of the vehicle, please. Both of you." said the officer. Kevin knew better than to say anything. He opened the door and surrendered his license to the cop. Tom did the same. Kevin looked over and saw that Peter and Scott were also standing outside their car, handing over their licenses. In the meantime, another police car had pulled up behind them and a cop with a red buzz cut got out of the car and walked toward them. He motioned for them to come together.

"Where are you boys headed? asked the redhead. Scott gave him Sarah's address. The cop nodded as if he knew who they were. The cop who had originally taken their licenses came back.

"They're all clean, Mark." he told Red. Mark took the licenses and returned them, looking each of them in the eye. Before he left, he told them, "I don't expect to be hearing much from you boys at all. Do you understand?" They all nodded. The the cops got into their cars and drove away.

"What was that all about?" wondered Scott.

"Assholes" Peter said with a yawn and a stretch.

"I don't know. Let's just go." Kevin said and got back into the van.

When they arrived at the house, they pulled around behind it as they had been instructed. There was a one car garage with the door open. It was empty.

They got out of their vehicles and stood looking at the house for a moment. It wasn't very big. The siding was white and the fake shutters were painted black. The curtains were all closed on this side of the house. Kevin took a deep breath and began walking up the sidewalk. There was a note on the door.

"Welcome! Please let yourselves in. Coffee's fresh and breakfast is on the table."

Kevin opened the door and they walked in. There was a tiny foyer with stairs that led down to the basement. To their left was another door. Kevin opened it and the smell of cinnamon and coffee invited them into the kitchen. Everything was yellow and white. On the yellow and white checked table cloth was a large basket with a yellow and white gingham napkin. Kevin felt like he was inside a daisy. There were cinnamon rolls beneath the napkin.

"They're warm," Peter said, grabbing one.

There were four coffee mugs on the counter next to the coffee machine. Bowls of creamer and sugar with spoons stood beside the coffee maker. Kevin walked over and poured himself a cup.

"Anyone else want some?" he asked.

"Yeah." they all said. Kevin poured the coffee and brought the mugs, creamer and sugar bowl over to the table. There were five heavy wooden chairs around the table. Kevin was very conscious of the empty chair.

"Do ya think these are homemade?" Peter asked. "I wonder what she looks like."

Kevin looked at him sharply.

"What?" asked Peter. "You know you're wondering the same thing."

Kevin looked into his coffee. He was wondering the same thing, but he wasn't about to admit it out loud.

"These remind me of my grandma." said Scott as he bit into his second roll. "Maybe she's a blue hair."

"She didn't have a grandma voice," said Kevin. He smiled briefly as he remembered the sound of her voice over the speaker phone last night.

"Yeah, but none of the chicks I know can cook like this." said Peter.

"That's because the chicks you know are only good for one thing." said Tom, making everyone laugh.