It nagged at him. That was really what made him come all the way to Orcas Island. He needed to know. How could she leave him to some couple she met in a Kmart parking lot, but keep three other kids?

That was what he needed to know. He wanted to hear what this woman had to say for herself, what had been so wrong with him that she left him behind.

Naturally, he couldn’t admit to himself that he wished she’d welcome him with open arms, tell him she’d made a mistake, and offer him a safe place to hide from the FBI.

That was too unlikely to even fantasize about. Unfortunately for Marty, he’d never realized how difficult it was to hide, especially when all of the people willing to hide him were under surveillance by the FBI.

He packed his tent before hiking out of the park and onto the main road. There was no sidewalk, and though it felt a bit precarious at times, most of the drivers moved relatively slowly. He kept the hood of his jacket up. To any passersby, he looked like another anonymous hiker.

It was too far and too windy to walk all the way to Claire’s cabin, though, so when he got to Eastsound, he rented a kayak and launched it from the bay. It was an easy, peaceful trip out and around the western tip of the island – so peaceful that he almost forgot he was a fugitive for a few minutes.

After finding a suitable beach, he paddled in and dragged the kayak onto shore. From there, he made the trek to the main road, still going unnoticed, and to the address for Claire’s place. He wasn’t positive she was living there, but that was where her DNA results were supposed to go.

Marty may have broken a few rules getting that information from the system, but to be fair, the company’s security was almost nonexistent.

When he got to Claire’s road, he paused. It didn’t seem like anyone was around, and it was starting to get dark. He figured he would take his chances and started to walk through the woods alongside the rocky driveway. When he reached the cabin, he waited for half an hour, looking for any signs of life inside.

There was nothing. No lights, no sounds, no movements. He stood there and debated what to do. His damp clothes clung to his skin and sent a chill through his core.

It didn’t seem like he’d be meeting his birth mom today. However, it seemed like the perfect chance to get a hot shower, and to change into dry clothes.

He approached the cabin slowly, still listening, still hearing nothing. Marty managed to pop open a window in the back and pull himself inside.