“We want to bring her here.”

A small flicker of hope appeared in Lily’s eyes.

“She has the storybook,” Lily said.

“The one about the bears.”

“We will find her,” I promised.

I stayed with her until her eyelids grew heavy.

She finally drifted back to sleep, her breathing shallow and steady.

I stood up and quietly left the room, closing the door behind me.

When I returned to the kitchen, Ryker was on the phone again.

His face was pale.

“When?” he asked the person on the other end.

He listened for a moment, then hung up.

“That was the gatehouse,” he said.

“There is a news van parked outside the main gate.”

“They are already here.”

I ran to the front window.

Through the trees, I could see the bright headlights of a vehicle idling at the edge of our property.

“How did they find us so quickly?” I asked.

“Marissa gave them the address,” Ryker said.

“She wants a circus.”

“The more public this is, the faster the state will intervene.”

The house phone on the wall began to ring.