Max had looked at that frame the night before. He had run the footage back and forth and watched the shadow move across the face of the tinted window, a reflection that came from outside of the vehicle. But to Meredith, he said, “It could be. It’s just too dark to say for sure.”

“Meredith…” Lyle took hold of his wife’s hand. “Who’s driving the car? If Sandy’s in back… who’s behind the wheel?”

“I… I don’t know, but… if she’s in the back with Pip, at least we know they’re okay, right?” There was a desperate hope in the way she spoke.

Lyle nodded and whispered, “Absolutely.” Whether he was saying that for Meredith’s benefit or because he truly believed it, Max couldn’t tell.

“Maybe Bolger was right,” Meredith said. “Maybe there was someone else. We don’t know. How do we… There’s got to be a way to find out?”

Lyle said, “We have a pretty good idea how they got to Minneapolis. Maybe he stopped for food at a McDonald’s or at a convenience store; they all have videos nowadays. We could canvas every inch of their route.”

Max frowned. “People don’t just give surveillance footage to random guys like us. I had to call in a big favor to get this. We’re civilians, Lyle. Besides, do you have any idea how many potential stops there are along that highway? We’d need manpower for something like that. We need to call in the cavalry.”

“What cavalry would that be?”

“Like it or not, we have to take this to Bolger, give him a chance to step up.”

“Bolger’s gonna see what he wants to see.” Lyle pointed at the computer screen. “There’s no way he’s gonna get off his ass for this. He’ll say this proves his theory, and that’s it.”

“I don’t disagree, but without his help, we’re kind of at a dead end.”

“We’ll talk to David Haas,” Lyle said. “If there was another man, David would have to have seen something.”

Max thought about it. It might not do any good, but then again, it would be better to muster all of their evidence before meeting with Bolger again. This might be their best hope, maybe their only hope, to get Bolger off his ass.

CHAPTER 21

Reed woke up in a foul mood. Spud had kept Pip out in the woods too long—at least that was the reason Reed gave. Yet had Spud brought Pip back any earlier, Reed would have been mad that they woke him up. There was no pleasing him. Was that the reason Pip kept his distance from his father?

Their walk that morning had been a good one. They saw a deer and a fox, getting close enough to both animals for eye contact, which made Pip squeal with delight. Spud held Pip’s hand when the woods were thin enough to allow it, Pip’s tiny fingers wrapping tightly around two of Spud’s. He told Pip another story, this one a take on Hercules slaying the Hydra, a little boy battling a multiheaded boa constrictor in the jungles of Brazil.