He had never thought about balancing parenthood and work, especially work that was so often urgent. His already healthy respect for Morgan quadrupled. She’d been juggling kids and work and grief for years. She was the strongest person he knew.

Morgan took his hand and squeezed it. “See? You’re already great at this dad thing. But Sophie is fine now. My sister just arrived. Gianna and Grandpa are going to spoil her rotten for the rest of the evening. We should call the sheriff back. It could be important.”

Lance dialed the phone.

Had something terrible happened to Evan?

The sheriff answered on the third ring. “About time you called me back.” Colgate’s voice was snippy.

Lance had no patience left for the sheriff’s attitude. “Sorry. We were at the hospital with Morgan’s three-year-old daughter.”

“Oh, I apologize.” Colgate’s tone became polite. “I hope the child is all right.”

“She is now, thank you. Why did you call?”

The sheriff said, “We had a sighting of Evan Meade.”

Chapter Thirty

“Put the sheriff on speakerphone.” Anxious to hear the sheriff’s report, Morgan hurried to Lance’s side.

The sheriff continued. “A statement has already been given to the media. In case you missed it with your medical emergency, we held another press conference late this afternoon.”

Lance tensed. “Where was Evan seen?”

“We had a report of a squatter in a vacant home on Deer Lake this afternoon,” the sheriff said. “A neighbor was kayaking and saw someone in the kitchen through the window. The homeowner is deceased, and his children live several hours away. No one should be in the home except a real estate agent. By the time the deputies arrived, the intruder had gone. But they found blood in the bathroom.”

Evan was still bleeding. He must be seriously hurt.

“Are you sure it was Evan?” Lance asked.

“Yes,” Colgate answered, his voice testy. “The fingerprints matched.”

“I thought his prints were unavailable in AFIS,” Lance pointed out.

“We located his original fingerprint card,” the sheriff said.

The sheriff’s department had recently upgraded to digital fingerprinting. Their budget was ridiculously small.

Morgan went to her nightstand and pulled out a notebook and pen.

“You said the house was on Deer Lake?”

“Yes.” The sheriff read off an address. “We also found a gully in the riverbank that suggests someone launched a canoe or kayak. We suspect Evan is still traveling on the river, which would explain why he’s been hard to find. I’m sending patrol units after him now, and a K-9 team and patrol boat will go out at first light. We’ll find him.”

Not if we can find him first.

Lance frowned. “What time did all of this happen?”

“This call about the intruder came in at eleven o’clock yesterday morning, but we just matched the fingerprints today.” But when he’d been speaking with them the previous evening, he’d known about the possibility that Evan had been seen. And he’d kept it to himself.

Unfortunately, until Evan was caught and formally charged, Colgate had no legal obligation to provide Morgan with evidence regarding the case. If he gave them information, it was either a courtesy or for his own benefit.

Lance went to his nightstand and took his iPad from the drawer.

Evan was resourceful, Morgan would give him that. The sheriff hadn’t been able to find him despite the sighting.

“I’ll let Ms. Dane know once he’s in custody,” Colgate said. The line went dead.

Lance pulled up a map app on his iPad and entered the address. He pointed to a red dot on the screen. “Here is the house.”

On the digital map, Morgan followed the river from the campground at Deer Lake to the red dot. “He’s traveled quite a distance.”

“The river is high. I’m sure the current is giving him a good push, which is why they haven’t caught up with him.”

Morgan continued to trace the course of the river. “He’s a smart kid. He’ll stay on the river as long as possible. He’ll know it’s the best way to put distance between him and the deputies.”

“But now that they know he’s on the river, they’ll pursue on foot, by boat, and by vehicle. At least we know he’s still alive.” Lance paced in front of the bed. “I want to go out and look for him.”

“I know, but where? We don’t have the resources to follow him three different ways.” Morgan’s finger stopped. “Look. He’ll have to stop here.”

“At Scarlet Falls.” Lance leaned over the iPad. “Technically, the Deer River continues right into Scarlet Lake, but the part between the falls and the lake isn’t navigable by boat. That section of waterway is all eddies and boulders.”

Morgan moved her fingertip across a patch of green. “And the falls are a forty-foot drop.”

Lance tapped on the big blue blotch that represented Scarlet Lake. “He’d have to carry or drag the canoe at least two hundred yards to reach the lake. If he can do that, then he can’t be injured too badly. Otherwise, he’ll have to walk from here.”

“Or steal another boat,” Morgan suggested. “He’s already proven he’s clever.”

“Then we’ll never catch up to him.” Lance clasped his hands around the back of his neck.

“We’re lucky the sheriff waited until the fingerprint match came in to try and head him off.”

“Colgate has manpower issues, budget, and procedure to consider. I’m sure his men have been logging overtime on this case. He can’t afford to chase every lead until it’s verified.” Lance straightened. “But we can move on a hunch.”

Morgan scanned the map. “He could have gotten off the river anywhere along here.” She glanced out the window. Rain beat on the glass. “It’s dark already.”

Lightning flashed. The storm was approaching.

If only they’d gotten the sheriff’s message earlier. No. Morgan would not regret putting her own child first. Sometimes parenting required hard choices. Not that she or Lance had made a conscious decision. Their response had been instinctual.

But if Evan suffered because of their choice, they would both have to live with the guilt.

Morgan’s phone vibrated on the nightstand. She reached for it but didn’t recognize the number on the display. She answered the call. “Morgan Dane.”

“Hi. Um. This is Rylee. Rylee Nelson.”

“Hello, Rylee.” Morgan waggled her fingers at Lance. Then she tilted the phone so that he could hear.

“I didn’t know who else to call.” Rylee sounded out of breath and her voice quivered.

“What’s wrong?” Morgan asked.

“It’s Evan.” The girl hesitated.

“Rylee, I can’t help unless you talk to me.”

Rylee breathed for a few seconds. “After you left our house, I went to the lake last night, just to sit in the dark and think. Evan was there.”

Lance jerked straight.

“Was he OK?” Morgan asked.

“No,” Rylee said. “He looked awful. I think he had a fever. I gave him some emergency supplies from my car: a blanket, water, protein bars . . .”

Lance folded his hands and clenched them together until his knuckles whitened.

Morgan touched his forearm. “How badly is he injured?”

“He was shot in the arm.” Rylee’s voice hitched. “He’s in really bad shape.”

Next to Morgan, Lance grabbed socks from a laundry basket.

Once Rylee started spilling her secret, the words poured out at rapid speed. “I don’t know if he can climb out of the cave. Evan asked me to call his mom. He gave me her number. He doesn’t trust anyone else, but his mom said she was being watched by a deputy. She didn’t know how long it would take her to sneak out. She asked me to call you. She doesn’t trust the cops either. She’s afraid they’re going to shoot Evan.”

Morgan didn’t believe the police would shoot a teenager on sight, but tension and adrenaline were factors. Local law enforcement was convinced that Evan was an armed killer. They would respond with that in the forefront of their minds.

“I promised I wouldn’t call the cops, but I’m afraid he’s gonna die.”

“Where is he?” Morgan cradled the phone between her shoulder and neck. She went to her dresser for socks and grabbed her boots from the closet. Lance retrieved their handguns from the gun safe.

“He’s at the falls,” Rylee said.

They’d been right. And no doubt, the sheriff would be there in the morning.

“We’re going to go get him right now, Rylee.” Morgan shoved her feet into her boots. “Where are you?”

“On the observation deck. Evan is hiding in a little cave at the bottom of the falls, but I couldn’t get any cell reception there. I had to climb higher.”

“Well done, Rylee. We’re on our way.”

“OK. Please hurry.”

Morgan reached for a waterproof jacket and turned to Lance. “You heard all that?”

“Yes.” He headed for the door. “You don’t have to come. If you want to stay with Sophie, I’ll be all right on my own.”

“You can’t go alone.” Morgan held up a hand. “That’s not up for discussion. Have you heard back from Sharp?”

“He sent me a text. I haven’t had a chance to read it.” Lance read his screen. “He’s in Albany with Olivia Cruz. They’re going to meet with Joe Martin. Actually, he sent this text hours ago. The meeting might be over by now.”

“Joe Martin is in Albany?” That was too close for comfort.

“That’s what the text says.” Lance pressed a button on his phone to return his boss’s call. “Sharp isn’t answering.”