Ethan cut the headlights as they approached the three squad cars. Mitch and the deputies stood around the front of one of the vehicles. In the darkening twilight, he could see rifles laid out on the hood. The last several minutes, when neither he nor Cole had spoken, had given him time to close the door on the memories that had no place in the present moment. If he had to guess, he would say that Cole had silently arrived at his own conclusions concerning Sam, what happened ten years ago, and their current situation. He parked the truck, then turned toward his wounded passenger.
“While you were getting stitched up at the hospital, Sam was giving us a play-by-play. She somehow came to possess a radio that she didn’t have when we left the sheriff’s office.” He waited for Cole to take credit
