“I’ll take the lead,” I said, taking the keys from his hand. “You follow in the utility truck.”

“Are you sure about this?” Calvin asked.

“We don’t have a choice,” I said.

I climbed up the high metal steps into the cab of the semi-truck.

The interior smelled of old vinyl and pine-scented air freshener, a scent I remembered from when I was a child sitting next to Elliot.

I inserted the key and turned the ignition.

The massive diesel engine roared to life, shaking the entire cab with a powerful, steady vibration.

I looked in the side mirror.

The warehouse doors were slowly rolling open, letting in a swirl of white snow and cold wind.

Through the gate at the far end of the yard, the bright headlights of the news vans flickered through the falling snow.

My phone on the dashboard lit up again.

It was an incoming call from an unknown number.

I hesitated, my hand hovering over the gear shift.

I picked up the phone and pressed the screen.

“Avery,” a woman’s voice said.

It was my mother.