Ahead in the distance, I can hear the Big River, engorged from the storm and running fast. I point us that way, directing the light through the underbrush, while behind me Hector’s breath comes with effort, his steps falling heavily. I don’t hear Cameron at all after a while. Maybe she’s unconscious, or maybe she trusts she is safe in Hector’s arms. To her, he’s only one of her rescuers, a man strong enough to hold her body weight. That she doesn’t know he’s her brother somehow makes the thing twice as beautiful.

(sixty-five)

We rush Cameron to the hospital in Fort Bragg, where Emily and Troy are already waiting in their car. I’ve told Will no media, but the networks have somehow gotten wind of the rescue anyway. The parking lot beyond the ambulance bay is clogged with vans and mobile floodlights and video stands. Emily has to pass through them to get to the room in the emergency wing where Cameron is being treated, but she does it.

“I know you want to see your daughter right away,” I explain after I’ve led them to a private room for debriefing. “And you will see her. But right now we need to let the doctors do their job. And then we’ll need a statement from her. She’s safe and alive, though. That’s the main thing.”

“That monster who took her is still out there somewhere,” Troy says with force, as if he hasn’t heard me at all. “You let him get away. What kind of incompetence is that?”

“Listen, our sheriff is on this, and the FBI, too. An all-points bulletin has already gone far and wide, north and south, across state lines, to the moon if necessary. We’ll find him.”

Troy’s face has turned lavender as he builds up steam. I can see he needs to blame someone, but I’ve had enough. “If you can’t pull your shit together, you’ll have to stay outside. I’m not kidding. Your daughter’s been through hell. Do you get that?”

His eyes flash pure disdain. “How dare you.”

“Troy.” Emily’s voice is unexpectedly firm.

His jaw flexes, full of knots that might never fully release. His guilt unaddressed. All the things he’s done but won’t ever ask forgiveness for. But finally, grudgingly, he steps backward, dropping the argument.

—

When it’s time for me to begin my initial interview with Cameron, I leave the Curtises with one of Will’s deputies, who can answer any questions they might still have, and head toward Cameron’s room. On the way, I see Hector arguing with a nurse, trying to get information about his sister. His boots are still caked with mud, and his face is terrible to see, gripped with every emotion.

“It’s fine,” I tell the nurse, to let her know I’ve got this.