42
ANOTHER HOUR PASSED before anyone spoke again.
The road had climbed and climbed, twisting up into the hills like an unspooled ribbon. They passed one other vehicle, a pickup truck, the driver old and grizzled. He lifted his forefinger from the wheel in greeting as he passed. The long stretches were punctuated by strings of switchbacks as they ascended – the Mogollon Rim, Audra recalled – and the temperature dropped until Danny shut off the AC.
They reached a plateau, and the road straightened. All around, pines as far as Audra could see. Sometimes the land fell away to one side or the other, and the forests stretched to the horizon. Beautiful and terrible, she thought, hundreds of miles of nothing but trees.
My children are out here on their own, she thought. But I’m coming for them.
A question appeared in her mind, from nowhere, and she felt desperate for the answer.
‘How much?’ she said.
Danny turned to look at her.
Audra turned in the seat, looked back at Collins.
‘I said, how much?’
Collins kept her gaze to the window. ‘Half a million,’ she said. ‘Ronnie’s share was more. I don’t know how much in total.’
‘Half a million dollars,’ Audra echoed. ‘What would you have done with it?’
‘Got my boy the care he needs.’ Collins’ eyes glistened. ‘He has a heart condition. The drugs cost so much, and my insurance doesn’t cover even half of them. My mother mortgaged her house a second time, and that’s almost gone. Every time he takes a bad turn, he has to go to the hospital, and they take their cut. I got nothing left. Nothing. I just wanted my boy to be well. That’s all.’
Audra studied her, the trails of her tears. ‘And you were willing to sacrifice two other children to make that happen.’
‘That’s right.’ Collins turned her eyes away from the glass, matched Audra’s stare. ‘I mean, they’re not my children.’
The car felt colder than before, and Audra wrapped her arms around herself.
‘Up here, maybe a hundred yards,’ Collins said. ‘There’s an exit onto a dirt road. Take it.’
Danny slowed and made the turn, a cattle grid rattling beneath the wheels. The ground was softer here, more forgiving than the low desert, a bed of pine needles to cushion the worst of it.
‘Follow this trail for like fifteen, twenty minutes,’ Collins said. ‘Then we have to get out and walk.’
They made the rest of the drive in silence until Collins told Danny to stop.
Audra climbed out, stretched her limbs, shivered at the chill in the air. She had to remind herself it was still early morning, the car’s touchscreen saying it was not yet seven-thirty. Danny came around the car and opened the rear door.
‘Get the Glock,’ he said.
Audra reached in through the passenger door, retrieved the pistol from the glove compartment. Cold and heavy in her hand, it sent another wave of chills through her.
‘Keep it on her,’ Danny said. ‘If she tries anything, shoot her in the leg or the arm. Don’t kill her.’
‘I’ll try not to,’ Audra said, raising the pistol, aiming past Danny at Collins’ thigh as he used a pair of wire cutters to snip the cable ties.
Danny stepped away and Collins climbed out. She took two steps before falling, landing hard on her shoulder, unable to break her fall with her wrists still tied at the small of her back.
‘Shit,’ she said.
‘Come on,’ Danny said as he reached down to help her up. ‘Walk around a little. Get your blood moving.’
They gave her a minute or two to recover before Audra said, ‘Which way?’
Collins looked beyond the car and said, ‘That way. About a ten-, fifteen-minute walk.’
‘Let’s go,’ Audra said. ‘You lead.’
Collins left the trail and made her way through the trees. Audra and Danny followed. They made slow progress, and Audra pushed Collins between the shoulder blades to hurry her along. Collins stumbled, but didn’t fall. She looked back at Audra.
‘If you undid my hands I could walk faster,’ she said. ‘I can’t keep my balance like this.’
Audra looked to Danny. He shrugged.
‘I won’t do anything,’ Collins said. ‘You guys still got the guns.’
‘All right,’ Audra said, levelling the Glock at Collins’ shoulder.
Danny took the wire cutters from his pocket and approached. He snipped the cable tie and let it fall away. Collins rubbed her wrists, stretched her arms, rolled her shoulders.
‘Now move,’ Audra said.
A little of the chill left the air as they walked, causing perspiration to spread on her back. Birds called high among the trees and creatures stirred below, rustling in the shadows. Audra kept her gaze ahead, past Collins, looking for any sign of the cabin.
And there it was, through the pines.
Audra froze. There it was, her children inside.
She ran. Arms churning, feet pounding the forest floor, past Danny, past Collins, she ran like she hadn’t run in years, since school, when she ran for the pure joy of it. Danny called after her, but she ignored him.
‘Sean!’ Her voice echoed through the trees. ‘Louise!’
Audra didn’t slow as she burst into the clearing, as she mounted the porch, as she shoved the open door aside. Her feet skidded on the wooden floor as she tried to halt, and her balance deserted her. She landed on her hip, didn’t pause, got on to her hands and knees, still holding the Glock. She crawled to the open trapdoor, calling their names, calling …
Open?
She saw the splintered trapdoor that rested back on its chains. She saw the lock torn loose from the wood, still hanging from the loop on the floor. She looked down into the basement and saw it empty.
Knowing they wouldn’t hear her, Audra called her children’s names once more.