Page 106 of Cold Light of Day

But their plans were thwarted. “He told you this?”

Nolan lifted a shoulder. “More or less.”

“We’ll need to recover the bodies.” Oh. What was she thinking? Someone else would need to recover the bodies.

Not her.

And not Grier.

“WhereareMom and Sarah?”

Autumn had no idea how to approach her mother—the woman she had thought dead for so long. And she also needed to talk to Sarah about the information that could clear Grier.

He would live.

He had to live.

She wouldn’t dwell on any other outcome. And somehow, she had to muster both the emotional and physical strength to finish this.

“Heading to the hospital, just to get checked out.” He gestured to the right.

She hadn’t seen the other ambulance.

“You should go too,” he said. “Tanya can take us. I’ll go with you.”

Ignoring his words, she angled her head and looked at Nolan. “Did you get a chance to talk to her?”

He held her gaze. “To our mother? Not really.” He looked away, and by his expression, she could tell he was as confused as she was, though he’d known longer than her that Mom had survived.

“Does Dad know she’s here? In town? Birdy and Grandpa Ike?”

“They will soon enough.”

Autumn sat in Tanya’s vehicle. She didn’t remember the walk over. Nolan sat in the back, and Tanya drove them to the hospital.

Autumn’s thoughts swirled in chaos. The mother she thought dead was very much alive and had chosen to stay away. The man she loved...was dying.

A bone-deep exhaustion gripped her body and soul.

If Grier somehow survived, his fate still hung in the balance until he could prove his innocence. Grier had saved their lives by sacrificing his own.

Autumn would clear his name—if it was the last thing she did.

At the hospital, after one of the physician assistants checked out Autumn’s superficial wounds, she found her way to Sarah and Nolan, who spoke in hushed tones.

“What is it? What’s happening? Where’s Mom? And Grier? Where is he? I couldn’t get anyone to tell me anything.”

Nolan gently touched her arm. “Just breathe, Autumn. Grier’s been transported to Juneau, and then possibly to Seattle or Anchorage. And Mom is getting stitches. She had a gash in her leg.”

Okay. She needed to talk to her mother. “Dad?”

“He’s in there with her.”

Wow. “Did you talk to her, Nolan? What did you say after all these years?”

“I should go and let you two talk.” Sarah started to walk away.

Autumn grabbed her arm. “No. Wait. I need your help to clear Grier. I still don’t know what Martin Krueger found.”

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