Page 47
An officer comes out of Room Twelve.
“Clear.”
Sheriff Vega motions for us to follow.
The doorframe is splintered. A broken security latch hangs from the wall. The bed is unmade, but there are no clothes or personal belongings in the room.
Hayley kept everything packed.
Ready to run.
Just like Sage.
A spent bullet is lodged in the wall beside the back window. Glass covers the floor.
“She went out that way,” Taylor says.
Sheriff Vega nods. “There are blood drops beginning near the dumpster. It looks like she injured someone before they grabbed her.”
Pride and terror collide inside me.
Hayley fought.
Of course she fought.
She survived her father. She escaped her family. She built a life under a different name and searched for Sage for eighteen years.
She isn’t the frightened sixteen-year-old girl I remember.
The motel manager waits inside the office. His hands shake as he pulls up the camera footage.
“Three men,” Sheriff Vega says as the video begins.
The image shows two men disabling Hayley’s car. A third approaches Room Twelve.
Minutes later, the back of the building erupts into movement.
Hayley runs into view.
My heart stops.
She’s older, her long blond hair cut to her shoulders. She wears jeans, a dark jacket, and running shoes.
She is still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
One man steps into her path.
Hayley drives her elbow into his throat and strikes him in the face.
Arthur leans closer to the screen. “Good hit.”
She runs again.
The dark sedan turns into the alley.
Another man catches her. Hayley fights him, breaks free for half a second, and reaches for something on the ground.
Her phone.
