Sheriff Burke tossed his keys from one hand to another, then closed his fist and shook his head.
“Come in when you’re ready. I’ll be there when you need me. Seems like the story is yours to tell.”
Cara was exhausted. Her legs were so tired she could hardly stand upright. But her journey did not end here. When he reached out a hand, she took it. His grip was warm and strong. She let go first.
Then, putting one foot in front of another, she began slowly walking downhill into the night.
EIGHTY-NINE
JORDAN
And baby, you go good with me.
—Walker Hayes
Bubbly blue water fanned out behind the fourteen-foot aluminum fishing boat as Jordan steered toward the shaded side of Bass Lake. On the seat ahead of him, Amber zipped up her jacket against the early morning chill, while on the seat ahead of her, Sydney took selfie after selfie, trying to get the perfect shot with her brown hair whipping in the wind.
Jordan had been ready to go right back to work, and sure he should, until Beto stopped him.
“Damn it, boss, take at least twenty-four hours off,” his chief deputy had told him over the phone as Jordan rolled over the county line the evening before. “I’ve got this. Things have been downright quiet since the circus left town. A few more sightseers than usual but nothing we can’t handle.”
Grateful, Jordan had agreed. Several days before, a brief but unseasonably heavy rain had knocked out the remaining fires, and today the skies were a perfect California blue. Last night, hiswife and daughter had promised him breakfast in bed and a day doing whatever he wanted, “even though we already know what you’re going to say.”
Amber didn’t like to fish or eat fish, and Sydney hadn’t wetted a line since she was twelve, but they both feigned enthusiasm so believably it made his heart ache.
He didn’t care if he caught a thing today. He just wanted to be unreachable. He’d left his own phone in the glove box of his truck.
In a minor miracle, Bree had started talking sometime around the time Jordan found Cara Campbell in the urban canyon. According to Sydney, her friend’s first words were, “Where’s my phone?”
Speech was still an effort for her, and she wouldn’t walk for months. Chronic pain seemed likely. But she would survive, and her personality seemed intact.
And Jordan, come this time next year, would still be doing the job he loved while Silverman continued his real estate hustles, most likely from Montecito. While he hadn’t formally withdrawn from the race, his Facebook page had been deleted, which Jordan took to mean he’d stopped campaigning. The news that he’d accidentally shot Dylan Danvers as part of a plot to entrap Cara Campbell had been leaked to the media by a friendly source.
Jordan suspected Wen, who’d shared in his win—he’d given a statement praising her work—and would be back in good graces at her job.
The icing on the cake was the Silverman meme making the rounds with an unauthorized push from Gracia and the Madera Sheriff’s social media. Silverman had repeated his defense within earshot of someone with a phone:It was an accident.
A campaign slogan worthy of its candidate.
Amber looked over her shoulder and smiled at Jordan. “All good?”
Holding the tiller steady, he leaned forward and kissed her. “All good.”
NINETY
CARA
To those who say you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, I say: REBRAND.
—@margiesmarketingmecca
Taylor hadn’t formally apologized to Cara, but she did send word through Aunt Evelyn that she had no plans to list the house.Not for the foreseeable future, anyway.
For now, that was more than enough.
Cara had a place to live rent free, even if she couldn’tforeseeliving there very long. There were too many memories—wonderful, nightmarish, and bittersweet—to sleep soundly. Not to mention the lookie-loos driving by at all hours of the day and night. Some left flowers, stuffed animals, or notes wishing her well. Others shouted her name, hoping she would appear in the window. A carful of fraternity pledges had even piled out of their Jeep and onto her front steps to belt out the refrain of Kanye West’s “Gold Digger.”
The video went viral instantly.
