Little Catherine Dauplaise lagged some thirty feet behind her aunt, lost and forgotten like a stray dog following its last sure meal. She looked scared. Unmoored. The way only a child does whose world has shifted under her feet. His heart went out to her, and then something occurred to him. He stood watching her until she was out of sight, and for some time after he continued staring after her.

Hours before his scheduled acceptance speech, Benjamin Lombard resigned from the office of the vice presidency and removed himself from his party’s ticket. In so doing, he became the first candidate to withdraw from a presidential ticket in the nation’s history. It sent shock waves through American life that wouldn’t subside for years.

Looking beleaguered and exhausted, Lombard spoke for only five minutes in a faltering voice. He disclosed that recent tests had uncovered a previously undetected life-threatening condition. It would be irresponsible to continue his pursuit of the presidency under these circumstances. The American people deserved to feel confident in their president’s health. It was a heartbreaking performance.

Grace Lombard was not by his side.

Gibson watched the press conference with Jenn and Hendricks from their motel room. Initially jubilant simply to be clear of the vice president’s reach, they quickly fell silent as the ramifications of Lombard’s charade became clear. When it was over, Jenn shut off the television.

“It’s a good story,” she said.

“He’s got a future in Hollywood.”

“But will it hold up?” Hendricks asked.

“Of course it will. People will need it to,” Gibson said.

“Why do you think his wife went along with it?” Hendricks asked Gibson as if he were the expert on all things Lombard.

“Maybe to protect Suzanne’s memory?” he said. “Don’t know.”

“Should have protected her life.” It was cold, but neither of them had the words to refute Hendricks’s cruel calculus.

They found that none of them wanted much to talk about what had happened. Gibson had imagined he might feel a sense of triumph. He had dreamed of taking Lombard down since he was a teenager, but there was nothing to celebrate here. In the end, this was about a missing girl who was being systematically excluded from the conversation. It might have saved the three of them, but it had brought no justice for Bear.

They hadn’t won; they’d only survived.

After all they had been through, Gibson still didn’t know what had happened to Bear. But he had an idea now whom to ask. He considered telling Jenn and Hendricks about his epiphany in the hotel lobby, but to them it had only ever been a job. He didn’t resent them for it, but he needed to finish it on his own.

Hendricks cracked another beer and mentioned his encounter with Kirby Tate’s killer. Gibson and Jenn stared at him dumbly.

“Were you going to tell us?”