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She pulls away.

“You really are bad at taking orders.”

“Apparently.”

Will moves beside her.

“I’ll call the second we know anything.”

Sage nods.

I look at my daughter one last time.

Then I get into the truck.

Taylor drives.

Arthur sits in the back.

We follow Sheriff Vega away from the motel as the first edge of sunlight appears over the Nevada mountains.

For several minutes, nobody speaks.

Then Arthur leans forward.

“She’s something.”

I know which she he means.

“Sage?”

“Yeah.”

I stare through the windshield.

“She survived.”

“She did more than survive.”

Taylor glances at me.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“Good.”

I look at him.

He shrugs.

“If you said yes, I’d be worried.”

I turn back toward the road.

Hayley’s face fills my mind.

Not the sixteen-year-old girl I remember.