In the spring Richard and
Jill drove the Cougar to Merida for Marta's wedding. Their own wedding was a small civil ceremony. Richard got
his life back, with the caveat that a law enforcement career was precluded by his pardon for felony homicide. He also
got the woman he loved. Jill got the man she loved too---for better or worse. That summer they left Cartier to
hasten the waning of their unwanted celebrity. Jill transferred to a university in Missouri ironically near where Mic
had been raised. Richard found a job. So they began their journey together with more of a direction than a clear
destination. It was an unknown road, but which of us really knows what lies around the next curve? He was beside
her and she beside him, and they were free at last---except for their ghosts and themselves. Because, you know, we are
all everything that has happened to us, and there is no escaping that.
