Weirdly, despite her fatigue, Cara was starting to feel stronger. Maybe she was delirious or near death, but she felt like she could keep hiking indefinitely if she had to.
But as dusk fell, Fisk stopped and pointed. Through a break in the trees, she saw a small domed roof. They walked closer and Cara was relieved to discover a rustic yurt with an outhouse and a lean-to barn.
“It ain’t Aspen or the Alps, like you’re probably used to,” Fisk said. “But given the circumstances, I think you’ll find the accommodations to your liking.”
THIRTY-THREE
JORDAN
What an ugly photo. Of my evil stepmother.
—@TayCamp
Amber met Jordan on the porch. Her eyes were tired, her hair was disheveled, and she was already wearing her pajamas. When she wrapped him in a hug, he squeezed her back gratefully. The coconut smell of her shampoo was a respite from the campfire smell that still lingered over their cul-de-sac.
“How are you doing?” he murmured.
She kissed him and then leaned back. “A little embarrassed to have called you home. But Sydney... she’s had a rough day. I think I just needed a change of parent.”
Ever since their teenager was a toddler, Amber and Jordan had played tag team during difficult emotional episodes. Jordan always wished they’d been able to have more kids but didn’t know how this strategy would work if they were outnumbered.
“How areyou?” Amber asked.
“Still standing.”
“That goddamn Silverman.”
The way she said it raised the fine hairs on the back of his neck. They broke off their embrace.
“What about him?” he asked.
“You haven’t seen the meme from the press conference?”
“No, and I don’t want to.”
“You need to. But come inside first.”
She took Jordan’s hand and led him into the house. In the kitchen, he declined her offer of leftover pizza—he had wolfed the burgers while driving home—but accepted a beer since she already had one open for herself. They stood together at a corner of the breakfast bar while she called up the meme on X.
There were two pictures, side by side. On the left, Jordan had been captured looking like a doofus, with his mouth open and eyes half closed. On the right, a luminous Cara Campbell, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress, playfully waved bye-bye.
The caption:SOMETIMES THEY GET AWAY.
“You have got to be kidding,” he said, giving her phone back.
“I thought everyone would see Silverman for the joke he is, but here we are. He’s making this his one and only campaign issue.”
“Out of my hands at the moment,” Jordan said, tipping back the bottle for a swallow. “I figure maybe it’s not such a bad idea to let the Feds chase her, while I keep as many of my people as possible out of danger.”
“She’s not actually dangerous, is she?”
“There’s danger any time you have a bunch of armed, excited people running around in the woods.”
He still hadn’t told her about his own close call.
Amber squeezed his arm. “Sydney’s really upset about the meme. And Bree, obviously. She stayed super optimistic, even after seeing her in the hospital, but I think reality’s starting to set in.”
Leaving his half-finished beer in the kitchen, Jordan went to Sydney’s room, where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed and staring at her phone like it was a Magic 8 Ball. When she looked up, her red eyes and flushed cheeks made his heart ache.
