McCrea smiled as his vision clouded. “I promise,” he said. “Now, please.”

“Okay, I–I’m going to trust you.”

“Eyes closed,” he said softly.

As Robin pressed her eyes closed, McCrea stood, his pistol already in his right hand. Moving with startling speed, he brought the muzzle within an inch of her temple and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Emma looked confused. “So you just hang out on a mountaintop for an hour?”

“First Monday of the month at noon,” Adam explained. “You can stick around for longer, if you’d like, but if we miss each other, we try again the next month. And then again. I admit it’s a long game.”

“What happens if no one shows?”

“We never talked it through that far. There comes a point when you have to embrace the possibility that they’re . . . that they’re not . . .”

“I get it,” Emma said. “Do you know the way?” She started the engine.

“Forty-four north,” he replied, referring to the state highway. “We’ll have to feel our way from there. It’ll be a couple hundred miles, I think.”

“Well, we’ve got three weeks to get there.”

“Take it slow,” Adam said. “We don’t want to catch up with the fire, anyway. How much gas do you have?”

“The tank is full, and I’ve got a five-gallon jerry can in the back.”

“Is that enough?”

“I guess we’re about to find out.” Emma executed a giant U-turn, presenting one last departing view of the devastation. “My God, what a horrible way to die.”

Adam couldn’t think of a worse way. “What about your folks?” he asked. “I don’t think we’ve ever talked about them.”

She took her time answering, her eyes locked ahead the whole time. “Last time I checked, they were in Europe someplace. I know they were in Paris in April. Haven’t heard from them since.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Yeah, whatever.”

He waited for more, but when she didn’t offer it, he didn’t pursue it. She turned out onto the road and headed back toward the crossroads, again passing the ruined forest. As they reentered what was left of the city center, Adam pointed off to the right. “Pull in over there. In front of Palmer’s Hardware.”

“Why? What’s in there? The place is gutted.”

“We need weapons,” Adam said. He reached into his pocket, retrieved his headlamp and centered it back on his forehead. “If there’s any one thing that was driven into my head by my mom, it was that when the shit hit the fan, you needed to be well armed. I believe this qualifies.”

“But the place is burned out.” She stopped the Bronco in front of Palmer’s.

“Want to come along?”

“What are we doing?”

Adam opened his door and climbed out. Emma followed, but stopped at the threshold of the store. “The place is about to fall down, Adam.”