She took a step closer, and in the sunlight, Max could see the wrinkles around her eyes and the light streaks of gray in her hair, the desperation in the taut lines around her jaw. “Do you think my daughter’s alive?”

“I hope so.”

“Don’t patronize me, Mr. Rupert. Do you think she’s alive?”

“I honestly don’t know. But if she is, I’ll do my damnedest to find her.”

“I know she is. She’s out there, Mr. Rupert. Maybe she’s hurt or maybe she just needs time to come to her senses, but she’s out there.”

Max let his eyes drop. “You’re probably right, ma’am.”

Meredith reached out and touched Max’s arm as if she could make Max understand. “Promise me something.”

“If I can.”

“Bring my family back to me. I won’t survive without them. Promise you’ll find my family and bring them home.”

A nod was the best Max could offer. Then he said, “I’ll do everything I can.”

CHAPTER 14

Pip was a quiet child, not only in his refusal to speak, but in his movement around the shack. On that first morning after Reed moved into Pip’s room, Pip had awakened and crept into the living room without making a sound. Spud had been in the kitchen sweeping up the pine needles that Reed had tracked in the night before. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Spud turned to find Pip sitting on the couch, watching him.

Spud smiled and summoned Pip to the kitchen with a twitch of a finger. “Pancakes?”

Pip smiled back and nodded.

They had eaten pancakes every morning since arriving at the shack. Spud remembered making them with his father, and it was the one meal he could whip up with confidence.

The door to the room where Reed slept was closed, and somehow both Spud and Pip knew to stay quiet. A sleeping Reed—like a bear in his den—was best left alone. Spud mixed the batter in a plastic bowl, whispering as he asked Pip, “Did you sleep all right?”

Pip looked away and didn’t respond. How could he have, with all the noise Reed made when he came home from the bar? Spud handed the bowl and wooden spoon to Pip to let him stir, something that the boy seemed to enjoy.

They ate the pancakes with syrup and a glass of milk, and Spud asked Pip to tell him about something he liked. Spud learned that Pip liked dinosaurs and some cartoon about a monkey with a tool belt. They kept their conversation low so as not to wake the sleeping bear, but when breakfast was done and Pip scooted his chair back, one of the legs caught on a tear in the linoleum. The chair flipped backwards, falling to the floor with a bang.

Reed shouted through the closed door. “Goddammit! I’m trying to sleep.”

The color drained from Pip’s face.

“My fault,” Spud called back. “Knocked a chair over.”

The door opened and Reed leaned against the jamb in a pair of blue boxers, his face creased, his eyes hard and cold. “I need sleep. I don’t have the luxury of going to bed whenever I want.”