THE POLICE RUSHED toward them. When Chris saw Makani’s wretched face, his body seemed to shatter. Officer Bev grabbed his arms to keep him from falling.
“Where is he?” Chris asked.
Makani could only point. He shook off Bev’s grip and ran.
She approached Makani and Darby with caution. “May I take that?”
It took a few seconds for Makani to realize that Bev was asking about the knife. Bev removed an evidence bag from her jacket, and Makani dropped it in.
“Rosemarie,” Makani said, remembering as the paramedics swarmed them.
“She’s all right. Three college kids found her and stayed with her. One of them was wearing a David Ware costume,” she added wryly. “The media’s gonna love that.”
At least it meant the kids had also stayed with Alex.
Darby lost control, sobbing, and Makani knew he was thinking about her, too. He’d been holding Makani, but now she held him as they were hurried into an ambulance. Bev stayed with them. Makani checked to see if her phone’s signal was strong enough for a call. She needed to hear her grandmother’s voice, or she’d lose her mind completely. The clock turned to midnight. It was officially Halloween.
Bev’s shoulder radio fuzzed: “—alive! Do you copy? My brother is alive!”
All the atoms in the universe became motionless.
And then Darby whispered to Makani, “Go.”
As the paramedics reached to close the doors, Makani burst back out of the ambulance. She tore through the fairgrounds and down the path of demolished cornstalks, officers and medics racing behind her.
Please, please, please.
Gasping and panting, she ran straight to him. He was still lying on the ground. Chris was holding his hand, and his police coat was bundled under his head as a pillow.
“Ollie,” she said, falling to her knees beside him.
His eyes lit up when he saw her. Snow dusted his lashes. “Makani.”
“I thought . . . I would have never left . . .”
He broke into a smile, but his voice was weak. “Darby?”
“He’s okay. We’re both okay. How are you?”
His smile widened. “Nothing your grandma’s doctors can’t fix.”
Makani laughed, wiping the tears from her cheeks, and put on a brave smile of her own. She kissed his forehead. His skin was warmer than she’d expected. He tilted his head, and she moved to his lips. Softly, she kissed them.
A faint but reassuring pressure answered back.
Chris was still holding one of Ollie’s hands. With his other hand, Ollie fumbled for hers. She grasped it, and the autumn moon shone brighter—rendering the night soft and cold and safe.