"Then go back to him. Tell him I heard you. And tell him not to come near the woman or her boy."
Tuck's expression hardened with concern. "Cole, don't make the situation worse because you're angry."
"Go," Cole said.
The men turned toward their motorcycles. Briggs paused before putting on his helmet. "For what it's worth, I remember Evan. He was good to people who didn't have much reason to expect goodness." He looked once toward the diner window. "I hope you get what you're looking for."
Cole gave no answer. He listened as the two engines started, watched their red taillights carry them onto the highway, and remained beneath the yellow light until they disappeared into the weather. Only then did he return inside. The diner was warmer, but it no longer felt safer.
Mara read his expression before he reached the table. She had the disciplined gaze of someone who had learned not to waste time pretending to believe comforting lies. "They were looking for you."
"Yes."
"And they knew about us."
"They knew you've been asking questions. They knew you were traveling through this part of the state. I don't think they expected us to meet tonight."
Mara's jaw tightened. "How would they know anything about me?"
"That's one of the questions I'm trying to answer. I need you to tell me what you've found. The letter you mentioned. Anything unusual you've been asked to ignore."
Mara glanced at Eli. She was silent for a long time, then took a folded photocopy from the inside pocket of her jacket. She had folded it along the same creases enough times that the paper had become soft. She placed it between them but kept her fingertips on one corner until Cole reached for it.
"I found this three months ago," she said. "In the box. I hadn't noticed it before because it was between two photographs. I think somebody folded it small to hide it."
Cole unfolded the copy carefully. The handwriting belonged to Evan. There was no mistaking the shape of the capital letters or the way the lines inclined left as the page filled. At the top were two initials, D. R., followed by an old Tucson address. The address had been crossed out and written again more faintly below, as if Evan had been uncertain whether the letter could safely be sent.
The opening lines changed Cole's understanding of the last eight years. Evan wrote that people had threatened Mara while she was pregnant, and later threatened the baby as well. They told him that remaining with his family would put them in immediate danger. They gave him conditions for disappearing and promised that breaking those conditions would have consequences for the people he loved. The letter was unfinished; the last paragraph broke off abruptly, leaving a broad strip of blank paper at the bottom.