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Will sits beside me.

Sean and Hayley take the seats behind us.

As soon as the plane climbs, Taylor receives an update from New Mexico.

“Marisol is out of surgery.”

I straighten.

“Is she okay?”

“She lost a lot of blood, but the doctor expects her to recover.”

“What about Deputy Cole?”

“Bullet passed through his shoulder. He’s already asking when he can go back to work.”

Arthur nods.

“I like him.”

“You’ve never met him,” Holt says.

“I still like him.”

“Did they find Frank?” I ask.

Taylor’s expression answers before he does.

“No.”

“What about the blood?”

“Some belonged to Marisol. Some didn’t.”

“Frank?”

“They’re running tests.”

I stare out the window.

Clouds stretch beneath us.

Frank bought me dinner when I had fourteen dollars left.

He let me sleep in his truck with the door locked.

He drove six hundred miles out of his way and never once asked me to trust him.

He made sure I didn’t have to.

“Why would Patrick fake his death?” Hayley asks.

“To disappear,” Kane says.

“From Navarro?”

“Or from law enforcement.”