But…the idea of staying put, staying safe, also meant that Emily’s parents would be left to wonder where she was and what had happened to her—a torturous prospect for any parent. I understood why even the people the sheriff had mentioned who owned a home and a business here in this town had left it to get to their daughter. Even before I’d understood the scope of this, I’d planned to get Emily home safely. And as for me personally, safety had never been a strong motivation. I craved purpose.

I held my gaze to Emily’s and paused as I brought my bottom lip between my teeth. She seemed to be waiting for me to say something, as though she knew that I was making a decision about our next move. “Your parents will be panicked when they don’t hear from you, Emily. I bet they’re already panicking.”

She blinked. Nodded. “Yes, my mom is probably climbing the walls.” Her throat moved as she swallowed.

I glanced to my left, out to the horizon. “I think we should stick to our original plan and get on the road.”

“To California?” Emily asked.

California felt like a universe away. So many bad things had happened to me there. I’d made such terrible mistakes within its borders. But I couldn’t help remembering what Mrs. Swanson had said about my mom the last time I’d seen her: We once promised each other that if anything happened to the other, she’d look out for Em and I’d look out for you. My mom wasn’t around anymore to look out for Emily, but I could do what she would have done if she’d been able. Right now, I was the only one who could. Plus, my uncle was there, and I wanted to make sure he was okay too. Not to mention the other people in the neighborhood, two in particular. “Yeah,” I answered.

“Get on the road to California?” Charlie blurted. “Using what?”

“Our feet,” I said. “We have no way to know from here what’s up ahead. I think we should find out. The alternative is do nothing, and I’m not cut out for that.”