A small frown at her rudeness - not even a thank you - interrupted his moment of pride. Nathaniel's brows furrowed in an annoyed manner as he got back in and started up the car. The safety lights turned off when he pulled back into traffic and resumed his trek to his new hotel.
The atmosphere was quiet for the first few minutes and regularly Essex could handle that, but other mitigating factors (the weather, the girl, the pregnant silence) inclined him to switch on the radio. It was kept at a low volume, enough that he could hear any traffic announcements that might be pertinent, but not high enough to drown out conversation.
It had been some time since he last saw the girl. She looked worse for the wear. And far more obviously emotionally damaged that she had been before... to be expected if the gunshots he heard were related to her. But that would be a poor way to start off any chatter...
"Could you buckle your seat belt, please?" Casual, not accusatory, just a sensible sounding request in a sensible voice.