“Sebastian Kane,” Bace said.

Ava turned away from the window, saw Bace looking at her in the rearview.

“He’s one of the people you visited to help raise money for the ransom, correct?”

“Yes,” Ava said. “Why?”

“He was in Ojai. With your daughter.”

Our daughter, Ava added privately. “What was he doing there?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping you could shed some light on that.”

She hated the circuitous way cops spoke, asking questions around the questions they really wanted to ask. She had grown tired of it. “Why don’t you ask him?”

“I’m afraid that’s not an option.”

His tone told her everything she needed to know. She straightened in her seat. “What happened?”

“That’s the million-dollar question at the moment. What little we know came through your daughter. She said he was shot multiple times, and—”

“Grace saw him—”

“No,” Bace said quickly. “No, she didn’t see him get shot. But she did see his body.”

“He’s dead?”

Bace nodded somberly. In her mind’s eye she saw flashes of the boy she’d once known and loved—Sebastian winning her the world’s ugliest stuffed bear at a carnival and Sebastian bringing a bouquet of carnations to her mother. Sebastian always attentive and listening and gentle, always gentle with her.

“I’m sorry,” Bace said. “I understand you two were once close.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“Well, I wanted to prepare you for it. I should also tell you it’s going to take some time to get an official medical ruling on how he died. His body . . . He collapsed near the site of a wildfire that is still raging.”

Ava nodded, somewhat surprised at the sudden loss she felt.

The night that changed their lives forever, Sebastian had been only trying to protect her. But that hadn’t stopped the police from arresting him and then sending him to jail, and with the baby growing inside her, Ava had come face-to-face with the cruelty and coldness of parenthood—her life and her choices had belonged to someone else. Her new life had involved forever being consumed by making thousands of daily decisions to protect and nurture someone who didn’t have the capacity to make decisions.

It had all been up to her.

Every. Single. Thing.

Ava had always been pragmatic. She knew she had to let go of her old life and form a new one, without Sebastian. She had to cut off all ties and reinvent herself, give her child (and herself, too) a clean slate. A life where her child would grow up never knowing he or she had a father serving life in prison. Once she made that decision, she never looked back. It hurt like hell, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was for the best.

“I don’t know much in the way of details other than the Ojai police found your daughter and that she’s okay,” Bace said. “They’re still at the scene, still gathering stuff, but they promised to fill me in on everything they have so far when we arrive. I promise I’ll share everything with you when I know more.”