“One moment, sir. We may have found something,” one agent told him. “West Sky Canadian, the new airline, had a cancellation. A seat is available. It leaves later today, departing Winnipeg in five hours arriving about midnight Los Angeles time. It’s direct but the ticket is quite expensive, sir.”

“I don’t care. Book it now. Thanks.”

Ben wasted no time getting back to his motel, checking out, then beginning the long drive to Winnipeg.

His world had been knocked off its axis.

I’m an idiot. I’m a fool.

Taking a deep breath as he drove, he clenched the wheel and his mind went into overload.

Kayla was right all along. I was so blind. How could I have been so stupid? I missed every sign.

The relentless prairie rolled by, empty, eternal and without answers.

He had to craft a strategy. Think. Stay calm. Be rational.

The Emma he knew, the Emma he loved, was a good person. She had a good heart. She was kind to his daughter, loving and devoted to him. She saved a boy’s life.

But why did she hide her past from us?

Ben dragged a hand over his face.

It’s obvious. If she’d told me about her past, would I have married her?

Ben rubbed his face hard—she participated in killing four people, two of them children.

She did her time. She paid for her crime. She left her past behind. But do people really change?

Ben screamed a curse.

Right now he just had to get Kayla away from Emma so he could figure out how to deal with this.

He tried calling Kayla’s phone. No answer.

He dictated and sent a text:

Are you there, honey?

Miles, make that kilometers, went by, with no response. Ben tried again, dictating another text. Nothing. He tried an email. Nothing. Then he tried calling his home phone, the landline. It rang through to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message.

He thought for a moment, then tried calling Emma’s phone. It rang and rang with no answer.

He dictated a text to Emma:

Are you free to talk?

Nothing.

What was going on?

Thinking about Emma, he saw his phone display her older text, sent to him when he was leaving Los Angeles.

I want you to know that whatever happens I love you and Kayla with all my heart.

Ben went numb.

Her message was clear to him now. She knew I was going to find the truth.

Ben arrived at the airport without having received a single response.

He dropped off the car, checked in and passed through security. In preboarding he continued charging his phone and resumed trying to reach Kayla and Emma without success. His heart hammering, he looked at the other passengers biding their time and envied their boredom. When the gate agents began with boarding calls for his flight, he thought of another possibility.