Moreover, Yacine had a strong appeal going on his Canadian conviction. He’d been succeeding at every stage and could win his freedom within months.

Then he’d vanish.

Fortin finished the file and closed the folder.

Time swept by and the drone of the plane’s engines lulled Yacine to sleep.

Fortin could not rest.

Too much was riding on this assignment. He turned to the window, struggling to understand why in recent weeks, his sins loomed as large as the clouds out there.

He could never bury the images of the night his life had changed but somehow an internal force he could never understand had given him an undefined reason to keep living, as if there was still some mysterious purpose to his life.

-Chapter 36-

Ice Lake, Washington

In her house on Little Timber Road, Ren Carter took note of the rain then collected her pies and tarts, carefully placed them in white cardboard boxes then secured the boxes with string.

Then she set the boxes in plastic shipping tubs so they wouldn’t get wet. Before loading them into her Jeep she put fresh water and some treats into Tipper’s bowls, rubbed his neck and kissed his snout.

“You behave while I’m gone, buster, I won’t be long.”

Driving off to make her deliveries and breathing in the beauty of the forests and mountains, Ren knew that keeping busy was good but she couldn’t stop worrying about Lee. With time running out and the odds against him climbing as high as the snow-crested peaks, she revisited the idea of moving in with him, Eileen and the kids.

I should do more to help them.

She came to Three Rock River and her first stop, Dawna-Ray’s Road House, only now it was the Blue Bonnet Café. She blinked at the memories of working here, the place where she’d met Chet, where he’d proposed. New people owned it now, good, kind people, who’d come up from Salem, Oregon. Old hippies who were regular customers, taking six pies every week: two apple, two blueberry, a lemon, and a pecan.

After finishing at the Blue Bonnet, Ren drove for several miles and as her wipers swept at the rain she returned to her thoughts about Lee, chastising herself for not realizing the obvious.

Dear Lord, my son is sick and I’m being selfish staying here in Ice Lake. No mother would do what I’m doing. What have I been thinking?

Gravel crunched under her truck’s wheels as she came to Cougar Creek and Angie’s Country Kitchen, where she dropped off six more pies. When she’d climbed back into her Jeep she could feel a sense of duty forming in her gut.

I should be with them.