ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR

“Jessie!”

John reached her, scooping her in his arms and carrying her away from the cliff.

“Abby! Where’s Abby?” she shouted.

“Right here,” John told her, as he set her down beside her daughter at the edge of the woods.

“Why are you crying, Mommy?” Abby asked.

“She doesn’t remember anything,” John said.

“Why are we out here?” Abby asked again.

Jessie embraced her daughter as all around them the woods came alive with flashing red police lights and the barking of dogs.

“Is everyone okay here?” Chief Walters called, running up to them, a dozen men following her carrying powerful flashlights.

“You’ll find Emil Deetz at the bottom of the gorge,” John told her. “He tried to kill us all, but Jessie saved herself and her daughter.”

One of the flashlights was shone down into the darkness. Sure enough, there was Emil’s broken body in a pool of blood.

There was no sign of Aaron.

Not that Jessie expected there to be.