“You will not get far.”

“We do not need to leave the country,” I said, stepping in front of Nathan.

She looked at me, her smile faltering slightly at the confidence in my voice.

“Enjoy your little trip, Emily,” she said, turning her back to us.

“By the time you return, this house will no longer be yours.”

We did not answer.

We slipped out the back door into the cold, wet night.

The wind caught my hair, blowing it across my face as we hurried down the stone path toward the treeline.

We walked through the dense woods for twenty minutes, the mud sucking at our boots, until we reached the main road where Nathan’s lawyer had left a rental car.

Nathan unlocked the doors with a quiet beep.

We got in, shivering from the cold.

He started the engine, the dashboard lights illuminating his tired face.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, looking over at me.

“I have to be,” I said.

“For my family, and for yours.”

He put the car in drive and pulled out onto the dark highway, heading south toward West Virginia.