The drive back to Aspen Falls was uneventful. Vern didn’t say a word. Nate stopped at a gas station halfway back and bought two bottles of water and a muffin for each of them. Vern took his without a word and left them on the seat beside him.

Nate nibbled at his food but wasn’t hungry, so he ended up sipping on the water and stealing glances in the rearview mirror.

Vern remained expressionless the entire ride back to Aspen Falls and it was damn near painful.

Anxious to get on with it, Nate parked at the station and quickly led Vern to the interview room.

“Can I get you a water, or a soda? Coffee?”

The man shook his head, threading his fingers together and looking like his life was over.

“We’ll do an interview first, and then I’ll take you to see the remains…if you still want to.”

The man gave a stiff nod, but wouldn’t look at Nate.

“Let me set up the recording equipment.”

Vern flinched, his expression grave.

Nate left the room, which locked automatically behind him, and hustled through the station to let Kellan know what was happening.

“He came back with you?” Kellan frowned and got out of his chair.

“He wants to see the remains.”

Kellan nodded. “Fair enough.”

Leaning on the doorframe, Nate sighed. “He’s pretty cut up about it. I mean, he showed a little emotion when I first told him, but he hasn’t said a word since. I thought I’d do the interview first. His emotions might rise to the surface when he sees the bones.”

“He’s finally getting closure,” Kellan clipped, his expression tight as he no doubt thought about his own missing daughter. They’d never found her. “Everyone processes differently. Hopefully he’ll want to help us find the killer. Do you want me to come watch?”

“Uh, yeah, actually, if you’re free. Saves me hassling Cam.”

“I’ll be down in just a minute.” Kellan’s nod was a quiet dismissal and Nate quickly headed back to the interview room.

He went behind the glass first to check that the computer was correctly set up to record the interview and that the camera was positioned at the right angle.

“You all set?” Kellan slipped into the room and set up post behind the glass, studying the sad-looking man. “Geez, poor guy,” he murmured.

“Yep.” Nate brushed past him and walked around to the door, buzzing himself in.

He gave Vern a tight smile as he shrugged out of his slightly damp jacket. “So, Mr. Schnyder, thank you for your cooperation today.” Hanging his jacket over the back of his chair, he smoothed down his tie and took a seat. “I know it’s been a long time since you lost your daughter, but I’d like you to think back and tell me what you can about the night she ran away.”

Vern’s head bobbed like a jackhammer. Licking the edge of his mouth, he swallowed and let out an aching sigh. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, uh, according to the report I read, you claimed she ran away.”

“Yeah,” Vern rasped. “She, uh…she thought she was in love with this boy…this man. They met over spring break and when she got back, she’d changed somehow. She wasn’t the same girl. She kept sneaking out to see him. She told us she was meeting friends, but we quickly worked out that she’d been lying to us. She’d never lied to us before.” The man blinked, his voice wavering over his words.

“Where was she for spring break?” Nate flipped open his notebook and clicked on his pen.

“Uh, one of her friends had an aunt in Nissawa. She owned a cabin up there, so they went away for a girls’ trip. Three nights away to watch movies and paint each other’s nails. That’s how she sold it to us.” Vern gave him a watery smile, which quickly disappeared. “She must’ve met him there.”

Nate jotted that down. “And how did you find out she was lying?”

“Well one day she told me she was off to catch up with one of her girlfriends. I watched her drive off and then headed out myself. I was very surprised to spot her car parked by the train tracks, so I went to go check it out. I found her in an abandoned mill, practically naked with some man pawing her.”

Nate swallowed. “That must’ve been a shock.”

“I was horrified, and deeply disappointed. Mila was a good girl. She was such a good girl.” Vern’s voice broke and his lips formed a wonky line as he no doubt fought his roiling emotions.

“What did you do when you found them?” Nate asked, keeping his voice even and calm to counter the brewing storm.

Vern swallowed, running a shaking hand over his head before answering. “Well, I told her to get dressed and get back to her car. I’d follow her home and we’d talk about it then.”

“What did her boyfriend do?”

“He grabbed his things and hightailed it like a coward. Mila was mortified and quite tearful, but when I asked her about the guy, she became very closed off. It was obvious she didn’t want to tell me much. All she could admit was that she loved him. When I told her she was too young and that I didn’t want her to see him again, she flipped. I’d never seen her like that before. She started screaming at me that I couldn’t keep them apart. I didn’t know what to do. My baby girl was turning into someone I didn’t recognize…all because of that man,” he ended darkly.

“You keep saying man. How old do you think he was?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Not high school. He looked to be in his early twenties, maybe. He had the body of a man. He was definitely too old for my Mila, so I forbade her to see him.” His voice grew distant. “I tried to ground her, control her somehow, but she said I never could. She swore she’d never speak to me again and that she’d keep sneaking out. I warned her that I’d lock her in her room and bar the windows if I had to.” His face bunched with regret. “I don’t think she ever forgave me for threatening that.” He sniffed and blinked at his tears. “She kept her word and stopped speaking to me. It was pure torture. But I knew I was doing the right thing, protecting her. I just had a bad feeling about that man from the start. What kind of person encourages someone to lie to her parents, to sneak out of the house? He didn’t have the balls to come and introduce himself to me. He was trying to have sex with my baby girl, I knew it, and I didn’t want him near her.” His chin bunched suddenly. “I would’ve done anything to stop him.”

“Do you know his name?”

“Jamie,” he croaked. “At least I think that’s what it was.”

“Last name?”

Vern shook his head.

“Do you think you’d be able to describe him to a sketch artist?”

“Yeah.” Vern’s face took on a hard edge. “I can picture him alright.”

“Good.” Nate nodded. “I’ll arrange for that after the interview.”

Vern shuffled in his chair, looking on edge as he asked, “Can I see my daughter now?”

“Not just yet.” Nate gave him a tight smile. “I need you to tell me about the night she ran away. Your wife was out of town, correct?”

Vern shifted in his chair again, scratching the side of his face with shaky fingers. “She went to visit her sister. She was gone for two weeks. I told her it was a bad time to leave, but her sister was sick and she trusted Mila to fall into line. We’d never had any problems with her before, and Darlene was convinced that everything would be fine. It’d be fine.” A lone tear slipped from Vern’s right eye, trailing down the side of his face. “I think Mila had just been waiting for her to go, because she tried to leave the night after Darlene did.”

“And what happened?”

“I caught her sneaking out her window…with a bag, like she was going to leave us.”

“So what’d you do?” For some reason Nate’s heart rate had picked up. He swallowed and smoothed down his tie as Vern continued his story.

“Well, I chased her down. I wasn’t about to let him steal her away for good. She was only seventeen. She hadn’t even graduated high school,” he spat. “And he was going to drive off with her and we’d never see her again.” He thumped the table. “He was stealing her!”

Nate held up his hand to calm the man down. “It’s okay, Mr. Schnyder.”

The man let out a ragged sob. “He killed my baby.”

Sitting to attention, Nate leaned his elbows on the table. “Did you see it happen? Did you see this Jamie person kill your daughter?”

“I just wanted to scare him away.” Vern’s face bunched. “But then Mila went ballistic. She was so scared and she came toward me screaming like a banshee. ‘Don’t kill him. Don’t you dare.’” A sob punched out of Vern and he crumpled forward, holding his stomach like it hurt. “She tried to grab my gun, and I don’t know how it happened. But if he hadn’t been there, if he’d just left us alone, it never would’ve happened!”

For a second Nate couldn’t speak, his brain scrambling to process the unexpected confession.

“Mr. Schnyder, are you saying… Sir, did you… Did you shoot your daughter?”

“It was an accident,” he whispered. “She was wrestling for the gun and he was yelling at her to get it. ‘Get the gun. Get the gun.’ He had some kind of hold on her and she didn’t see me anymore. I wasn’t her daddy anymore; I was just the man stopping her. I told her to calm down and let go, but she just wouldn’t listen. And then her body just… She fell. And the blood.”

Nate was dumbfounded. It was the last thing he’d been expecting. He blinked and tried to find his voice, his lips opening and closing like a goldfish.

A sharp tap on the glass brought him to attention and he cleared his throat.

“Um…Vern Schnyder, you’re under arrest for the murder of Mila Schnyder. You have the right to remain silent,” Nate said, his mind still spinning. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning.” His voice sounded wooden as he read the man his rights.

Vern slumped forward, pitiful whimpers spurting out of him. Nate’s eyes began to burn as Vern fell apart in the interview room. The whimpers grew to sobs that racked his body, punching out of his chest in heavily weighted moans.

Nate was usually so good at hardening himself against that kind of behavior. Cutting off the emotion. But this one was hitting him right in the core.

“He took off after that,” Vern wailed. “Drove into the night and I was left holding my girl. She was gone. She was…gone.”

Nate knew he should’ve asked why he didn’t call the police, but he couldn’t speak.

The man was still bent over, his sobs ebbing to a quiet weeping that broke Nate’s heart. “I killed my own child and I was so ashamed. How was I supposed to tell Darlene? I’d only been trying to protect our girl!” He looked up, desperate for Nate to understand. “So I hid her under my workshop, and I tried to give her the dream she wanted. I told everyone that she’d been taken away by a man who loved her. And I was a good father, and I let her go because I didn’t want to lose her. That’s all I could give her. That’s all I could…” Vern’s voice was lost to more gut-wrenching moans.

Nate couldn’t swallow. The lump in his throat hurt. Gripping the edge of the desk, he watched this man…this criminal…who had only tried to do the right thing, completely screw himself over.

He couldn’t even muster anger at the man’s terrible decision-making, because all he felt was pity.

Vern Schnyder would be going to jail for this, but he’d incarcerated himself already. Living in isolated squalor, haunted daily by the demons of his mistake. The burden he’d been carrying for the last twelve years had eaten him alive and taken everything from him. His wife. His home. His entire life.

A knock at the door pulled Nate to attention. He glanced over his shoulder then turned back to Vern and managed, “I’m going to need a s-signed confession.”

Vern nodded. “And then can I see my daughter?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Stumbling out of the interview room, Nate stepped into the hallway and shared a sad look with Kellan.

His boss nodded and patted his shoulder. “I…uh… Case closed, I guess.”

Nate couldn’t respond as Kellan started talking logistics. He felt hollow. Raw and reeling. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so devastated by a case.