“Here.” Spud held out the pillow with the dinosaur pillowcase.

“Everything goes into the river,” Reed said.

“You said he needs it to sleep.”

Reed rolled his eyes, a gesture lost in the darkness, and took the pillow. “Put the car in neutral.”

Reed took the pillow back to the Tahoe and threw it in the backseat next to Pip. Then he climbed into the driver’s seat and maneuvered the Tahoe behind Sandy’s SUV, the headlights of both vehicles off. There was a slight thump as his bumper nudged hers. Reed dropped into his lowest gear and slowly pushed the SUV forward, over the edge of the bluff, the sound of small trees breaking against the metal of the car lifting out of the valley.

Reed joined Spud at the precipice, the moon lighting the path that the SUV had taken into the river. It left no debris trail and sank quickly. Again, Reed felt like puffing his chest. His plan was working like a dream.

The next part was, again, a waiting game. Deposit Spud and Pip in the cabin they had secured in the woods north of Grand Rapids, a hiding spot rented with cash and a fake name. They had the cabin for six months. Reed figured that that would be enough time for the dust to settle. He would go back to his life tending bar in Grand Rapids, play the distraught father. How could she have run off the way she did? All the while, Spud and Pip would be waiting in the woods.

Yes, Reed was good at waiting, but he had no faith in his partner. Three years ago, Spud had simply been in the right place at the right time. He had been easily manipulated by Reed’s sad story. Reed had listened to Spud go on and on about his messed-up childhood before sculpting the version of Sandy and Pip that Reed knew would feed his partner’s maternal resentment. And with the right story, Spud had become a malleable and useful recruit.

But Spud was also impulsive; that would be a problem. One would think that murder and kidnapping would be the most difficult part of the plan, but Reed knew otherwise. The following days, and weeks, and months would be the challenge.

As they both climbed back into the Tahoe, Reed looked at Spud. How long would his partner last before he forced Reed to execute the final step of the plan—the step that Reed kept to himself?

CHAPTER 10

Five days passed before Max dreamed of the child again. He’d been holding Jenni’s hand as they walked through a park when he felt tiny fingers press against his other palm. Max tried to see the child’s face, but it was like staring into the sun. He wanted more than anything to know him or her, but he awoke with a deep emptiness in his chest, an emptiness that he carried out to the fire pit along with his morning coffee.