And she felt guilty that her father was essentially the ringleader in all this mess. She seriously wanted to beat the man over the head with a blunt object for what he was putting them all through. She wondered if he called Nicole and Lily’s mother and how that `therapy’ session actually came about but decided that it was a moot point and it was useless to dwell on it now. She brushed some unruly brown hair away from Sam’s sleeping face and sighed, catching Nicole’s attention.

"You’re awful quiet back there," Nic pointed out looking over her shoulder at the blonde in the backseat. Brooke gave her a wane smile.

"Just thinking," Brooke responded.

"Dangerous habit," Nic warned dryly. Brooke laughed humorlessly.

"I know. Can’t be helped though." Nic nodded.

"I know. She sleeps like the dead," she said indicating Sam. Brooke smiled and lovingly stroked the side of Sam’s face.

"Not usually. She’s a light sleeper in most cases. I think the car ride is wearing her out," Brooke said. Lily looked at her in the mirror.

"It’s getting kind of late. Think we should stop for the night?" she asked. Brooke nodded and so did Nicole.

"Yeah, find a nice place with a vacancy or two and we’ll put up stakes for the night. Anyone have a clue as to where we are?" Nicole wondered outloud. Brooke shook her head as she stared out the window at the rapidly approaching darkness.

"Not a one," she answered. "Not California, I know that. Halfway across Nevada maybe?"

"I think we need to discuss where it is we’re going," Lily said simply. "We can’t just keep driving aimlessly like some sort of band of teenage gypsies."

"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves," Sam murmured sleepily. Brooke giggled.

"Go back to sleep, Sammy," she whispered. Sam yawned.

"’kay," Sam whispered back before falling asleep again. Brooke thought a minute.

"I’ve got an aunt in Austin. We could stop there for a while. Figure things out," she suggested. Nicole looked at her dubiously.

"You sure she won’t sell us out to your Dad?" she asked. Brooke shook her head.

"She’s my Mom’s sister, not my Dad’s. They HATE each other. She’d welcome the chance to get one in on him, I think. We can call Jane from here before we go to check up on her and be long gone before anyone catches us." Nicole shook her head vehemently.