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A man followed soon after, tall and burly, a woollen beanie pulled over his short hair. He’d rolled the sleeves of a flannel shirt to his elbows despite the cold and wore faded jeans and work boots, a slight limp in his stride as he made his way to the gate.

The dog ran several metres ahead of him, then doubled back and did excited doughnuts at his feet.

I turned the engine off and reached for the door. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Ava unfastened her seatbelt. “I’m coming, too.”

“Back in a minute,” I said to the guys.

Together, we climbed out into the icy morning.

The man slowed as he reached us, his breath clouding in the air. He took in Ava and me, then the Subaru.

His dog stared excitedly through the gate as if it had just found a couple of new playmates.

“What can I do for you?” he asked.

Ava swept a few loose strands of hair back from her face. “We’re trying to find Sadie,” she said. “This is the address she gave us.”

He held her gaze for a moment, not so much as a twitch of his hand toward the hunting knife at his belt. “How do you know her?”

“I’m her sister.”

The slightest hint of warmth crept into his expression. “Ava?”

“Yep.” She nearly laughed. “That’s me.” She shifted from one foot to the other, staring past him down the driveway. “Sadie’s here? She’s alive?”

The man’s eyes softened as the dog pushed its nose through the gate, tail wagging. “She’s safe,” he said. “You can stop worrying.”

“God.” Ava’s shoulders slumped, her chin trembling for a moment. She drew a slow breath and got it under control, but she didn’t need to hide it anymore. Didn’t need to hope for something that might never happen.

I clasped the side of her head and pressed a kiss on her temple.

I’d spent days trying to get her here, and it hit me that I’d wanted this moment almost as much as she had.

“Sadie told me about you,” he said to Ava, then he looked at me. “Not you, though.”

“I’m Luke.”

“Dave.” He extended his hand through the gate. “Theo’s dad, and this is Norm.”

Ava patted Norm’s head as my hand fell away from her. “We’ve got someone in the car who’s desperate to see Sadie,” I said. “He’s hurt.”

Just as I’d uttered the words, Varesh opened the rear door and called out, “Hurry.”

Dave’s eyes snapped to the Subaru, and his features hardened. “Punch four-one-nine-eight into the keypad and follow me through.”

We didn’t waste another second getting back into the car.

I keyed in the code, and when the mechanical whir of the gate sounded, I blew out a breath. “We’re in,” I said, glancing over my shoulder.

Tim swallowed and gave me a pained smile. “Don’t worry. I’m… still… me.”

Part of me had never expected to get here. We’d fought too hard, come up against too many obstacles.

My heart thudded double time as I drove behind Dave and Norm, willing them to move a bit faster.

The dog ran ahead, just like before, then came back around and bounded beside the car. Gravel crunched under the tyres, and the chill crept through my open window.