Trooper Wells arranged a video call from the garage after investigators confirmed the connection was secure. Mia sat under the brown blanket, the magnetic drawing board on her lap. Evan was beside her but well outside the camera's center.
"Mommy?" Mia said.
Claire pressed the phone to both hands. "Mimi. I'm here."
Mia began crying. "I thought you left me."
"I didn't want to leave you. None of what happened was your fault."
"The mechanic came. He said he'd wait."
Claire looked beyond Mia toward the man in the oil-stained jacket. She saw tired eyes, hands that looked too large for the paper cup he held, and a workbench behind him crowded with ordinary tools.
"Then he kept the most important promise anyone could have made me tonight," she said.
Evan lowered his eyes. He was not interested in being included in the moment; he had simply stayed close enough for Mia to know he was still there. When the call ended, Mia clutched the drawing board, pressed it against her chest, and asked when the hospital would let Claire come.
"After the doctors are finished helping her," Wells said. "And after the road is safe."
Mia nodded. She did not like the answer, but it was the first one that ended with a location she could imagine. She asked for another cup of cocoa and, after drinking half of it, fell asleep on the stool.
At two, the storm knocked out power to the old mill district. The fluorescent strip went dark, the refrigerator stopped humming, and rain instantly sounded louder against the roof. Mia woke with a gasp before Evan had reached the emergency lamp.
"The lights!"
"I'm here," Evan said. He switched on the battery lantern and set it where she could see the workbench. "The storm turned the power off. I've got a backup generator."
He asked Wells to stay in the office with Mia while he checked the equipment outside. A trooper accompanied him, keeping the generator sheltered and the exhaust away from the building. After two reluctant starts, the engine caught, and the garage's lights returned one bank at a time.
Mia stared at the fluorescent strip. "You fixed it."
"That part was easy," Evan said.
He returned to the office with a bowl of crackers. He had not eaten since lunch, but Mia pointed at the crackers and asked whether he wanted any. He accepted one because refusing would have made his hunger another thing she needed to interpret. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
A little after three, Sophie's number appeared on his phone. She sounded groggy and annoyed in a way that let him know she was probably frightened.
"Mrs. Alvarez says you rescued a kid," she said.
"I found one who needed help. The police are here. She's safe."
"Are you hurt?"
"No. Just tired."
"You always say just tired when you're hiding something."