IN SPITE OF KNOWING that there was a big mystery waiting for her in Long Beach, and that Ethan was back and wanted to talk, Abby spent another night in Tehachapi. Things at Barone’s house hadn’t been completely wrapped up the day before, and she, Luke, and Woody weren’t released to go back to their hotel until after midnight anyway. Abby wanted to speak with Molly. So after breakfast and one more meeting with the local cops, their part was finished for the time being and Abby got her chance to reconnect with the girl.

“I’m okay,” Molly said. She was back on her rolling walker and upbeat in spite of the dark circles under her eyes. Abby guessed she hadn’t gotten much sleep after the disturbing day they’d spent sorting out Barone and all that he’d done. “I hated you for a while. I told my mom you were nothing but a big bully.”

Abby couldn’t suppress a chuckle. “I imagine that’s exactly what I was the day we met.”

“I needed it. Everyone but you treated me like I was breakable. It took almost losing my sister to realize that the last thing I wanted to be was fragile. And I also saw that by staying stuck where I was, I was letting him win. He still had me in the trunk of his car.”

Abby could tell by her face that she was being honest, that she’d finally won a resounding victory over what had happened all those years ago. Abby knew what a good feeling it was to be in that place.

“I’m so glad to hear it. And how is Callie?”

“She’s okay. He didn’t do anything to her —I mean, he choked her and tied her up, and that was bad, but he didn’t do anything else. I’ll make sure she stays okay. And she can’t believe how that guy totally fooled everyone in town. How is he doing?”

“Last I heard —thanks to you —he’ll live to stand trial. He lost a lot of blood, but he’ll live.”

“I heard him, you know, heard him yelling. Even with the gun firing, I understood what he was saying. I heard him screaming that he was the top of the food chain.”

“You did? I couldn’t understand a word. So you knew then that he was your bad guy.”

Molly nodded. “Yeah, and I’ll confess that while I was holding my sweatshirt against his wounds, pressing to stop the bleeding, I wanted him to live so that he would know what it’s like in a trunk. I think being locked in a jail cell will be just like that.”

“He’ll receive justice for what he did, even more than for what he did to you. He killed at least two people, maybe more.” Abby paused, wondering if Molly was ready for the rest of the news that the police search of Barone’s house had brought. She decided that the girl was okay all the way around. “By the way, the police found a lot of interesting things in Barone’s house. One item was a shoe box that contained three IDs and some jewelry. This is preliminary, but it appears as if the stuff belongs to three girls who went missing around the same time you were attacked.” Abby watched Molly process this new information.

“You mean there were girls who didn’t get away?”

“It looks that way, though it will be difficult to prove in court. Officers are working hard to prove what they can.”

Molly bit her bottom lip and looked down for a minute. When she looked up again, she said, “So the families of the missing girls will have a little bit of closure?”

Abby nodded. “As much as is possible if Barone doesn’t want to talk.”

“I hope I have the chance to help some of them, if I can.”

“That’s a wonderful thought. You might be a big help.”

Molly smiled. “Thank you for everything, especially Callie.” She wrapped Abby in a hug.

“Seeing you on a firm foundation is thanks enough.”

Abby left Tehachapi with a light heart. Helping Molly was satisfying on many levels, and she hoped to be able to help others like her. Molly’s smile and new, confident demeanor resonated with her for a long time. While Abby loved catching killers, putting people in jail so they couldn’t victimize anyone else, she realized that seeing life pour back into a tortured soul was as, if not more, satisfying. After all, she thought, I know what it’s like to emerge from a tunnel of darkness to find my footing on the other side. Helping people like me, like Molly, feels like a journey worth taking, a vision worth having.

We’re survivors.

Luke and Woody had left town already, about half an hour before she did. The dog rescue people had found Woody a female Lab, half-starved, wandering in the desert, probably dumped by some idiot, Woody said. He had to wait for her to pass a medical exam and then be spayed, but he was looking forward to driving back out in a couple of weeks or so to pick her up.

Abby’s phone rang, and she saw it was Ethan, again. He’d called yesterday, but she’d not been able to answer or return the call. She picked the phone up but realized that she didn’t want to talk to Ethan at the moment. Feeling guilty, she nonetheless put the phone down and let the call go to voice mail.

I’ll call him after I get to Long Beach, when I know more about the buried body they discovered. I’d rather have the whole story to tell him. . . . Yes, that’s best, she told herself as she let her thoughts return to the find in Long Beach.

Abby planned to meet Luke and Woody at the house on Granada where the remains with her father’s ID had been unearthed. Because of the contents of the letter Luke had gotten from Lucy Harper’s daughter, Abby was 99.9 percent certain they were her father’s remains.

“What does it say?” Luke had asked.

“It’s from my dad.” Abby took a deep breath; the letter had shaken her but had not knocked her off-balance. “He gave it to Lucy with instructions that she take it to the police if anything happened to him. It’s dated two days after the fire.”

“She didn’t do as he asked.”

Abby shook her head. “I guess not. She was probably frightened. She had kids and no particular loyalty to my father.” She looked into Luke’s eyes, then to Woody. Both of her friends were obviously concerned. “I’m okay. He confirms a bit of what Sanders said. Gavin was the shooter. He killed my mom and my dad killed Piper Shea. My dad agonized over running off and leaving your uncle and me. What he hoped to do was prove he’d acted in self-defense and be reunited with me. And he says he was certain she would have ordered Gavin to kill me on the spot if he hadn’t fled.”

“She?”

“Yep. Alyssa Rollins was there giving all the orders.”

Abby had considered that Alyssa was involved, but assumed her involvement included her husband, Lowell Rollins. But her father made it clear that he didn’t believe Lowell was involved at all, that it was only Alyssa who was behind the threats that eventually led to the shooting. The day after the fire Buck had tried to reach Lowell but failed. His next thought was to appeal to Kelsey Cox. He was going to turn himself in, but he didn’t know where Abby was and he wanted to be certain what he did would not jeopardize her.

That’s why, after he left the letter with Lucy Harper, he went to the house on Granada —Kelsey Cox’s house, the place that ended up being his tomb.

Abby was on her way there. She wanted to see her father’s temporary grave and pray about what move to make next.

The letter would never be considered proof enough to even approach Alyssa Rollins, much less formally accuse her, but maybe it would be good enough to pressure Kelsey into revealing what she knew.

At least that was what Abby hoped.