Noah emptied every other thought from his mind until it was as wide open as the flat nighttime fields bordering the highway. Then he concentrated on sending his sister a message. I’m coming to you, Lis.
He didn’t expect an answer.
The rural roads around him were deserted. The night was pure black, with only his headlights to illuminate the highway ahead of him. Snow chased from one side to the other like a ghost. Up here, Canada inhaled and then blew its icy breath across the northern plains. Noah pushed the accelerator down, driving faster. The car was silent. No radio. Nothing to distract him. He needed to hear, to listen, to let Lisa in.
Where was she? What was she going to do?
One thing he knew about his sister. She would always sacrifice herself for someone else, no matter the cost. Noah remembered the last drive he’d taken with Danny, when they drove five hours to the Minneapolis airport for his flight to California. He knew Lisa wanted Danny to stay, but he also knew she wouldn’t say a thing to change his mind. She had the power. She could have made him stay with two words, but she put his needs ahead of her own.
In the car, he’d asked Danny, “What if Lisa told you, ‘Don’t go’?”
Danny didn’t hesitate. “I’d stay.”
But Lisa didn’t ask. Noah could have made him stay, too. He could have turned the car around and taken Danny home, and everything would have been different. Later, he wished he had, but it wasn’t his place to say anything. Later, when they were crying together after the news came, he’d asked his sister, “Why didn’t you make him stay?”
She said, “Because he needed to go.”
That was what he felt from Lisa right now. She needed to go. Wherever she was heading, it was a dangerous place, and he was afraid that Lisa would end up just like Danny. Never coming home.
Ahead of him, Noah saw the next crossroad.
It was nothing special, two lonely roads meeting in a lonely place. He turned, feeling the tires skid. There was a road sign just ahead of him, counting off the distance to the next major town.
Thief River Falls.
Twenty-five miles.
36
Lisa stood near the riverbank behind Denis Farrell’s house.
From where she was, she saw no lights or movement inside, but she knew Purdue was here. It was like a mother’s sixth sense, part of the connection between them. She knew he was still alive. They hadn’t killed him yet. She could feel his presence in the air and feel his consciousness in her heart.
She reached out to him: I’m here for you, my sweet. I’m going to rescue you.
Lisa bent down and picked up a heavy rock from the garden. Cocking her arm, she hurled it into the very center of the floor-to-ceiling window that faced the water. The tall pane of glass shattered. She stepped forward and punched out the remaining shards until the hole was big enough for her to climb through. Inside, she stood in the center of the living room carpet, with the fire hissing as white snowflakes drifted through the broken window.
All these years, and the house had changed very little. She’d been here only the one time as a teenager, when she swore at Denis in his office. Denis had never invited her again, and she’d had no interest in going. This was the enemy camp.
The chambered walnut door to Denis’s office opened immediately. The man himself came through and closed the door behind him. The noise of the breaking glass had alerted him that she was here, but he didn’t look alarmed. He said nothing to her as he came into the room, assisted by his cane. He was dressed in a suit and tie, as he always was, but he’d grown bent and old. She wasn’t sure he’d ever been young, but the ravages of his life wore badly on him, especially those half moons under his eyes. A map of wrinkles was carved into his face. His wavy, pushed-back hair had grayed and thinned. Only his blue eyes were as alert as ever. Danny’s eyes. That was the only thing the two of them had in common.
“Hello, Lisa,” Denis said. He surveyed the wreckage of his patio window with a sour frown. “You could have just knocked, you know.”
“Don’t be cute. You know why I’m here.”
“You’re right. Laurel—Dr. March—already called and told me you might come.”
Lisa shook her head. “Of course she did. You control her, too. Is there anyone other than me in this town that you don’t control? I trusted Laurel, but that was a mistake. I told her everything. I opened my whole heart to her. Has she fed you all of my secrets for the past two years?”
“Not at all. Actually, she’s much more loyal to you than you give her credit for.”
“I suppose that’s why she sent her husband as a spy to deliver me right into your hands.”
“Why don’t I call Laurel and ask her to join us?” Denis said. “She can explain everything to you, much better than I can.”
“Don’t bother. I already saw her at the hospital. I know she sent the police to my house. Do you think that’s the end of it? Do you think I’m going to walk away and let you win? I won’t do that.”
Denis said nothing for a while. He just stared at her, as if he were looking for a way to get inside her head. Then he went over to a wet bar on the other side of the room. “Would you like a drink, Lisa?”
“No.”
“I’m afraid I need one,” he said, then removed a bottle of bourbon and poured a large quantity into a lowball glass. He retrieved ice cubes from the freezer, which he plinked one by one into the liquid, causing little splashes. “Are you sure I can’t get you something? You look like you could use it.”
“No,” she repeated.
“As you wish. Gillian’s drinking again, by the way. Grief will do that to you. She’s taking the loss extremely hard, as you would expect.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well, I suppose I should get all the alcohol out of the house, but what’s the point? She’s clever. She’ll find a way no matter what I do. And frankly, I’m drinking my way through it, just like her. This has been devastating for me, too. You may not believe that. You probably think I have no emotions at all. But believe me, you couldn’t be more wrong.”
“I don’t recall your shedding a tear when Danny died,” Lisa said.
“Not in front of you maybe. That doesn’t mean I didn’t cry. He was my son.”
“Yes, and he was going to be my husband. He was the love of my life. You didn’t say a word to me after it happened. Not a word. Danny died, and you shut me out. At the memorial? You wouldn’t even come near the grave until I was gone. To this day, I hear from your assistant or your lawyer, but never you. All because you blame me for taking him away from you and ruining The Plan. Somehow you could never get it through your head that Danny made his own choices in life. I didn’t tell him to leave the law firm. I didn’t tell him to come back to me. He did that all on his own.”
“I don’t blame you for any of that,” Denis replied. He sipped his bourbon and stared back at her.
“You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not. Really. Was I angry? Yes. Danny could have done so much more with his life. He was called to greatness. Whatever he set his mind to, he could have achieved. But if he wanted to be a small-town fireman living with a small-town nurse, well, fine. I would have come to terms with that. Did I shut him out? Yes, and that was selfish and immature of me. I have to bear the guilt of knowing I never mended the rift with my son. But I don’t blame you for that.”