But after watching and listening to local gossip for a couple of days, doubt crept in that he’d found his target. He’d heard no chatter about her at all, and that bugged him. There would be a wisp of a trail if she were hidden somewhere here—and a sign of federal presence, he was sure—but there was nothing but local hicks and tourist traffic.

Still, his gut instincts told him he was on the right track. And with no other locations popping up on his radar, no other whispers about where the girl was, and Cyrus’s sources completely dried up because of the indictment, he wanted to be thorough. In any event, he knew it would be easy to blend in for a week or so. Especially when he saw the ad for temporary help needed at a town not too far down the road on the other side of the river.

He found Rogue’s Hollow without any trouble. They were hiring anyone breathing to help with cleanup after a big fire that had destroyed a lot of forest. He showed up in town and applied. And was hired almost immediately. He decided to smile a lot, work hard, and listen.

14

Oliver felt as though he’d never get the smell of burnt wood and houses out of his nostrils. All four families who lost their houses wanted to rebuild. The work crews had just begun and were doing a good job so far, clearing debris and filling and placing sandbags. Arthur Goding’s place, first on the list, was now ready for the rain. Whenever he had time, Oliver assisted. Now, with storm clouds forecast to bring a lot of rain, he’d just finished helping on the Coopers’ lot.

The Coopers were problematic. They had only minimal insurance on their hundred-year-old house and barely enough money to make it day to day. Oliver and his board of elders had agreed to let them stay in a mobile home the church owned in Blackberry Hollow, Rogue’s Hollow’s trailer park, and used for just such emergencies. But it wasn’t a long-term solution. Part of the problem was Garrett and his inability to hold a steady job. While Garrett did watch their three children and that saved on child care, he’d never worked regularly for the entire time Oliver had known the couple. And Janie’s job as a cashier at Walmart wasn’t quite enough to support the family. Oliver had known Janie’s mother well and been at her bedside the day she died. She’d worried then that Garrett would never be a good breadwinner and she feared for Janie.

Her last words were a request that Oliver look after Janie. Oliver had promised he would do his best. The promise weighed on him. He’d meant it, but now, four years later, he feared he was failing.