Ethan’s military training cycled through scenarios. Kidnapping, custody dispute, trafficking, each possibility worse than the last. “Okay,” he said, pulling her close again. “You did the right thing. You were so smart to keep walking. I’m going to take you somewhere safe now and we’re going to find your mommy.
I promise. It was a promise he had no business making. But looking at this child, this terrified little girl who’d been abandoned in a blizzard, Ethan couldn’t help himself. He put the truck in gear and headed toward Pine Ridge, the closest town, toward the sheriff’s office, toward whatever came next. The drive to Pine Ridge took 40 minutes that felt like 4 hours.
The storm didn’t let up. If anything, it intensified as if nature itself wanted to keep Lily’s secrets buried under snow. Ethan kept talking to keep Lily conscious. The symptoms of hypothermia were advancing. Her shivering had decreased, which was bad. Her words came slower, slurred at the edges. “Tell me about your mommy,” he said.
One hand on the wheel, the other keeping Lily steady in her seat. She’s pretty, Lily mumbled. She works a lot. Lots of meetings, but sometimes she reads to me. I like when she does the voices. What kind of books? Princess books and animals. I like the one about the elephant who can’t sleep. Normal. She sounded so normal.
A 5-year-old girl who liked princess books and had a working mother. Nothing about her suggested the nightmare scenario building in Ethan’s mind. Where do you live, Lily? Seattle. In a tall building. Seattle. In a tall building. You can see You can see the water from my window. the water from my window. Seattle. That Seattle.
That was 600 m from where he’d was 600 m from where he’d found her. 600 found her. 600 m of mountains and m of mountains and wilderness. How had a wilderness. How had a nanny gotten a nanny gotten a 5-year-old child that 5-year-old child that far? And why? Do far? And why? Do you remember leaving you remember leaving Seattle? When did Seattle? When did you leave? Lily’s eyes you leave? Lily’s eyes were drifting were drifting closed.
closed. Ethan gently squeezed her shoulder. Hey, Ethan gently squeezed her shoulder. Hey, sweetheart. Where do you live, Lily? sweetheart. Stay with me. When did you leave Seattle? Dark time, she whispered. Miss Rachel woke me up when it was still dark. She said we had to go right now. She was crying. The pieces assembled themselves in Ethan’s mind like a tactical briefing.
A nanny fleeing in the middle of the night with her charge. Crying, talking about bad people coming, then abandoning the child in the wilderness. Either Miss Rachel was running from something or she was part of something. Either way, Lily had been caught in the middle. “You’re doing so good,” Ethan said.
“We’re almost there. Just a few more minutes.” Pine Ridge appeared through the snow like a ghost town. Population 800, though half of those were seasonal workers at the ski resort. Main Street consisted of one stoplight, a general store, a bar, and the sheriff’s office. Ethan pulled up in front of the sheriff’s office, a small brick building with bars on the windows.
He grabbed Lily, blanket and all, and carried her through the storm to the door. Inside, blessed warmth hit them like a wave. Deputy Marcus Reed looked up from his computer, eyes widening at the sight of Ethan holding a half-rozen child. “Jesus Christ,” Marcus breathed, already reaching for the phone.
