Chapter 33. The Choice

Rae POV

I found them on the slope above the logging road. Crystal sitting against a fallen log, crying into her knees. Wade crouched ten feet away like a man trying to coax a wild cat out from under a porch.

He looked up when I came over the rise. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. I could see it on his face: she's telling the truth, and it's worse than we thought.

I sat down on the log next to Crystal. Not close. Just there.

"Where's Toby right now?" I asked.

She lifted her head. Her face was a mess. "School. Copper Fork Middle. He gets out at three-ten."

I looked at my watch. It was one-forty.

"Here's what's going to happen," I said. "Birdie Morrow is going to pick your brother up from school at three-