After he put Pip to bed, Max talked to the stars so that the boy would know that Max remained nearby. The sky that night was extraordinary, the stars as thick as sand on a beach, the canopy almost silver against the dark shadows of the trees. He wondered if the sky had been that beautiful the night before. It can be astonishing how the noise in one’s own head can alter the way the world looks.

Max wanted Pip to know that he was still nearby, so he continued talking to Pip in a low, soothing voice, the kind of voice he would have used with his own child, prattling on about constellations and Greek myths until he was certain that Pip had fallen into a deep sleep.

Then Max unclipped a roll of cord from Lyle’s backpack and slipped away from their camp, heading back to the rapids.

At the river, Max stripped naked again and rolled his clothing and paracord into a bundle to carry across the river. He felt numb with exhaustion, but he had a lot of work ahead. Again he stepped into the frozen water and again it stabbed at his skin like a thousand small knives. “Jesus… Christ!” He cussed quietly to himself as the shock of the cold took his breath away. “God… damn!”

He climbed into Canada and put his clothes back on, fingers and toes throbbing. The temperature had to be in the twenties. One more job to do, then he could sleep. He picked up the paracord and headed up the hill to find Reed.

Reed hadn’t moved from the tree. Not that he had a choice, with a belt strapped around his neck, yet he looked a great deal weaker now. His head slumped on his shoulders like he was asleep but his eyes were open. His body lay at a strange angle, probably the result of a struggle to get free. And his shoulders sagged like a beast who had given up his fight.

“I can’t breathe,” Reed said, his voice wheezy and cracked. “Help me. I’m freezing.”

Max paid no attention and went to work checking the knots.

“Who are you?”

Who am I? Max considered. I’m the man who deals with monsters like you.

“You’re the one who put the phone in the toy car,” Reed said. “You broke into Peter’s house, didn’t you?”

Max ignored Reed and started unraveling the cord he’d brought.

“That’s burglary, you know.”

Max wrapped a second layer of bondage around Reed’s legs. He would bind the man tighter than a mummy for the ride back to Minnesota.

“And what you’re doing now is kidnapping. You’re willing to go to prison for this.”

You have no fucking idea what I’m willing to do, Max thought. He unbuckled the belt and threw Reed to the ground, shoving his face down into the dirt, then sat on his back.

“Jesus Christ! My wrist! You’re breaking my fucking wrist. Get off me.”

Max tied a second section of cord to Reed’s elbows, insurance that he wouldn’t wiggle free on the long walk.