“True boondocks,” Adam said from the driver’s seat, echoing her thoughts. “Reminds me of Washington state. Old growth and no people.”
“Kind of a change from New York,” Clare said, grateful for the conversation. Her nerves were tightened like overtuned guitar strings, and the darkness between the trees wasn’t helping.
“I love it and can’t stand it at the same time. Would’ve helped if I grew up there, but upstate is a long way from the city, even if it’s only a two-hour drive.”
“At least you can take in the fresh country air on your vacation.” Adam snorted in reply and she glanced into the side mirror. The sheriff’s van carrying Hughes’s team followed a few car lengths back while ahead the sheriff himself led the caravan, his SUV kicking up twin rooster tails of dust.
Clare shifted in her seat and surveyed Shanna. She’d assisted her with a quick shower before they’d left the hotel and her hair was still dark and damp. It had hurt her heart when Shanna flinched after turning on the water, and it took them several minutes of adjusting the temperature before Clare could get her to step beneath the spray. She recalled the sickening lurch that had gone through her at the sight of the ugly, sutured wounds on Shanna’s back while rinsing her sister’s hair. Shanna had chosen a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt to wear afterward. Clare could tell the clothes would take some getting used to by the way Shanna kept picking at them and readjusting the beltline of the pants. “Doing okay?”
“Not as sick now.”
“That’s good.”
“The world’s so big. It just keeps going on and on.”
Clare imagined bringing her to the ocean and dismissed it. If a Wal-Mart amazed her, the Pacific would be terrifying. “We’ll take it slow. After this it’ll be small steps going forward.” Shanna nodded, then stiffened as she looked past Clare out the windshield.
“Think we’re here,” Adam said. Hughes had pulled onto the side of the road near a lone, leaning mailbox. A driveway jutted off into a growth of poplar, curving enough to hide the residence at its end.
“I remember this place,” Shanna whispered.
Adam drew alongside the sheriff’s vehicle and stopped as Clare lowered her window.
“This is where she was found,” Hughes said. “Any direction she can point us in is helpful.”
“We’ll take the lead and stop if and when she notices anything,” Adam said. Hughes scowled but nodded. Adam rolled forward as Clare put up the window. “I think we’re going to be BFFs.”
“I think he doesn’t care for federal input whether it’s official or not,” Clare said.
“I’m on vacation.”
Clare turned in her seat again. “Tell us if you see anything that looks familiar, okay?”
Shanna was staring out the window, taking in the road and voluminous barrier of trees. “It’s going too fast. I can’t tell.”
“Slow down,” Clare said to Adam, but he’d already pulled his foot from the accelerator. They coasted to a crawl. Gravel crackled noisily under the tires. Clare searched the growth lining the road—for what, she wasn’t sure. Every so often she threw a look back at her sister.
“I . . . I need to get out,” Shanna said finally.
“Get out?” Adam asked.
“Yes. It’s too fast. Can’t remember.”
Adam braked, placing the SUV in park. The sheriff and the van behind him mimicked them. Shanna struggled with the door for a moment, then stepped out onto the county road. She walked past the front of the vehicle and kept going, her arms crossed in front of her, hands clasping her elbows. Clare unbuckled, meaning to get out as well, but Adam put a hand on her forearm.
“Let her be for a minute.”
“Why?”
“Cop-sense is tingling.”
She didn’t want to stay in the car, but let go of the door handle. Not so much to humor Adam’s intuition, but because she thought maybe Shanna needed a moment or two alone. She’d been in the company of others, pestered by questions and prodded by doctors, the entire time since she’d been found. A few minutes of solace, even if it was retracing the path of her escape, might be beneficial.
“You’re sure about her?” Adam said as they crept along behind Shanna.
“Yes.”
“And you’ve considered Stockholm syndrome?”
“I have. But what would she be gaining by going along with Rainier all this time? Wouldn’t they have just skipped the state? Moved on and started another sect somewhere no one knew them?”
“Maybe.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, you know. I’ve been watching for signs and symptoms, gone over everything she’s said and done so far. I was skeptical as hell at first, but now . . .”
Adam fell quiet for several minutes before glancing at her. “I’m not questioning your expertise. I’m worried about you.”
“I appreciate it, but I’m fine.” The lie came out all too easily. Adam knew about her anxiety, her compulsions and panic attacks, but she worried what he’d say if she told him about the hallucinations. Worried he’d make the same assumptions she already had. He would probably suggest she distance herself somewhat, at least until Rainier was apprehended and this was all resolved, and she couldn’t do that.
They’d gone another mile down the lonesome road when Shanna stopped.
Clare was out of the SUV and jogging to her side immediately. “What is it?” she asked, coming even with her sister. Shanna’s face was ashen. She looked as if she were in the grips of motion sickness again.
Slowly she pointed toward a towering white pine fifty paces off the road. The tree was misshapen, its northern side sheared and scorched from a lightning strike. “I saw that tree the night I ran,” Shanna said. Her voice was low and monotone, as if she were half asleep. “I ran toward it and found the road.”
Clare put an arm around her shoulders and looked back, nodding once at Hughes, who pulled even with them and climbed out. “Do you know how far it was?” Clare asked. “Do you know how long you ran?” Shanna shook her head. She was trembling now, her body a tuning fork inside Clare’s embrace.
“What do we have?” Hughes asked, stopping beside them.
“She remembers seeing this tree before finding the road,” Clare said.
Hughes eyed the pine, then made a quick motion to the van. The driver pulled to the side of the road and six deputies wearing ballistic vests piled out. They all carried AR-15s and wore the look of men both keenly on edge and excited at the same time. She didn’t care for the combination.
“Okay,” Hughes said, addressing his men. “We go in and spread out to a fifty-yard sweep. We go slow and careful. No sound. First one who spots a structure, call it out on the radio. We good?” Nods all around. Hughes turned back to them. “Two deputies will wait here with you until we’ve secured the area.”
Clare led Shanna back to Adam’s SUV. Deputy Wilt and another officer she hadn’t met sat in the van across the road. The wind gusted, leaves clicking together in a sound like thousands of voices whispering lies. When Shanna was safely inside the vehicle Clare watched the sheriff’s team cross the low ditch and spread out along the tree line.