Paige

Paige pulled into the Denny’s parking lot and turned off the engine. She could see Carli, sitting still and alone at a booth by the window. Framed by the big sheet of glass, she looked tiny. She stared straight ahead in a way that spoke of exhaustion and sadness. Carli sipped from her mug and turned to the window, but because it was dark outside, she was probably just staring at a reflection of herself. Paige wondered what Carli saw reflected in the glass. And she couldn’t help wondering whether she had looked so alone sitting in that Steak ’n Shake so many years ago, fresh off the bus from Des Moines, pregnant, waiting for her aunt to pick her up.

Paige heaved herself out of the car and went into the restaurant. Carli spotted her as soon as she came through the door. She pushed her hair out of her face and tried to smile. Paige wedged herself into the other side of the booth and reached for Carli’s hand. She gave it a little squeeze.

“How are you?” she asked, because she really wanted to know.

“I’ve been better.”

“I’m glad that you called.”

Carli looked down at her coffee. “I’m so sorry about all this.”

Christ. She was blaming herself. “Stop. I should be the one apologizing to you.”

“This isn’t what I meant to happen.”

“You had every right to do what you did.”

“But if I didn’t—”

“Carli,” Paige said, louder than she intended. With an effort she softened her voice. “Maya’s your baby.”

Carli fell silent. Her eyes flickered up at Paige, out the window, and then settled back on the mug. “If you knew where they were, you’d tell me, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course. And I’d tell the police. I’ll do anything I can to help.” Paige shook her head, tried to swallow all the anger she’d been chewing. “I still can’t believe that Gail would do this.”

“I can,” Carli said.

“Why do you say that?”

“She wants that baby as bad as I do.”

Paige took in a big breath, held it, let it out. She hated Gail and Jon for what they had done to this girl. She hated herself for letting it happen. “I talked to Agent Bradford again on the way here. It sounds like they’re doing everything they can.”

“But they haven’t found them.”

“No. They haven’t found them.”

Carli swallowed. “Do you think they will?”

Paige looked at the table and then back at Carli. If she could give the girl nothing else, she could at least give her the truth. “He said that if they make it across the border, the odds go way down. He just doesn’t think that the Canadians will make it a priority.”

“What about her parents?”

Paige shrugged. “I keep calling them, but they’re hard to read. I don’t think her mom knows anything. It’s harder to tell with her dad.”

Carli put her hands flat on the table, swallowed, and then looked Paige right in the eye. “Will you help me?”

“Any way that I can.”

“Will you lend me some money?”

“For what?”

“Gas. Food. Hotels.”

“To go where?”

“Winnipeg.”

Oh shit. Paige reached to squeeze Carli’s hand again, but she pulled it away. “Carli—”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s not that, honey. I’d give you the money. But Winnipeg’s such a big place. And we don’t even know for sure that’s where they’ll end up. You’ll be looking for a needle in a hayfield.”

“I need to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait for the FBI to tell me my baby is gone forever.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “I have to see her again. I have to go.”

Paige picked up the saltshaker, rolled it between her fingers. A tiny kernel of a thought had sprouted sometime in the last twenty-four hours, but Paige had refused to acknowledge it, burying it away. She imagined Carli wandering the streets of Winnipeg, alone, searching in vain for a glimpse of her baby. She thought about going to Canada with Carli, but she knew that was a fool’s errand, her guilt getting the best of her. Finally, she let the seedling struggle through the soil. It just might work, but saying it aloud felt like a betrayal of the side that she had chosen. “I have one idea.”

Carli looked up, her eyes hungry.

“I hesitate to even bring it up.”

Carli leaned forward. “I’ll do anything,” she said.

“It’s a long shot.”

“I said I’ll do anything.”

“And if it works, it will only give you part of what you really want.”