Snippet #2549685

Bill crossed to the van in three quick strides, glowering as mightily as he could manage. He wasn't sure if the blame should rest entirely on the people in the van, however...it had been year's since they'd touched up the road, and the line dividing the two lanes was almost invisible most of the time. Complain to the state all he wanted, they were never going to do anything about it.

With horror, Kim noticed the cop approaching them was limping. Barely registering Charlie's comment, she said, "Oh God, I think we hurt him! Crap, I need my I.D..."

She reached at once for her book bag, which was wedged down beneath the seat, next to a duffel bag full of extra lens caps.

Bill was not surprised to find that the passengers of the vehicle were all kids... well, young people who might as well have been kids. No apparent injuries were visible, so that was good.

"Ma'am, is this your car?" he addressed the woman in the driver's seat, who was currently rifling through a bag at her feet.

"Oh! Um..." Kim looked around frantically, "Yes. Um...well, actually it's on loan from my...from our school..." she beamed at the cop and gestured to her friends, "We're coming down here for a school project. College," she added the last word quickly, lest he think they were high school teenagers who'd stolen a car or something, "College project. University."

Bill looked at each of the passengers individually, "I'll need to see some I.D." He was ready to believe there wasn't any.

"I.D!" gasped Kim, "Yes, of course..." she looked urgently at Charlie and whispered, "Distract him. I think my wallet got stuck under the brake pedal." Which would explain an awful lot.

"I'll be just a second!" she hastily told the cop before digging back into her bag.