Janine gave me a sad look, and there was a weird kind of awkward silence that didn't last long, because Hunter changed the subject.

"I know that you guys are trying to rescue someone from this place that’s doing things to her head, and you apparently can't go to the cops because the company’s somehow tied up with them, and that's cool. But I just met you a few hours ago, and already I feel like I’ve been sucked into this in a way that I’m not even sure I’m comfortable with!" There was a twinkle in his eyes as he said it, like he was almost to the point of crying, and I wasn't sure if he was upset or overjoyed, but perhaps it was a bit of both.

"What are the odds?" Hunter said, under his breath. I looked at his free hand to see that he was clacking some dice against each other nervously. He continued to shovel bites of food into his mouth, as if he were afraid that it was the last meal that he would ever eat.

"This is all my fault," Janine said, pushing her plate away from her. She put her hands over her face and made a weird screaming sound of frustration. "I should have been hanging out with her on the day that she disappeared, but instead I cancelled our plans for some ‘alone time’ that, in retrospect, I didn’t even really need."