Bear stood slowly.
The words changed the room.
One of the mechanics near the back stopped wiping his hands.
Another quietly shut off a radio.
Reese asked, “Run from where?”
Avery stared at the water bottle.
“The white building.”
Bear knew at once which building she meant.
Half the town was decorated in white for Founders Weekend, but there was only one place children called the white building.
Founders Hall.
Reese’s voice became even softer.
“What happened there?”
Avery’s lower lip trembled for the first time.
“My mom found papers.”
“What papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did somebody hurt your mom?”
“I don’t know.”
Her breathing became faster.
Bear immediately raised a hand.
“That’s enough.”
He did not want to turn the child into a witness before she had even caught her breath.
Reese nodded and moved the conversation elsewhere.
“Did your mom tell you where to go?”
Avery finally looked directly at Bear.
“Yes.”
His heart gave a strange beat.
“Where?”
“Here.”
Bear stopped breathing for a second.
Reese noticed.
“So you knew this garage?”
Avery shook her head.
“No.”
“Then how did you know where to find it?”
Avery reached into the pocket of her dusty blue dress.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Her small fingers opened it carefully.
On the paper was a rough drawing of the road outside town.
A railroad crossing.
A diner.
A metal building.
And beside the building, someone had drawn the old winged-engine sign.
Under it were three words.
ASK FOR BEAR.
Bear stared at the handwriting.
The garage disappeared around him for half a second.
He had seen that handwriting before.
Years ago.
On birthday cards.
On school permission slips.
On one final note left on his kitchen table eleven years earlier.
Reese looked at him.
“Bear?”
He did not answer.
Avery folded the paper again.
“My mom said if anything bad happened, I had to come here.”
Bear’s voice became rough.
“What’s your mom’s name?”
Avery hesitated.
Then she said it.
“Claire Reed.”
Bear’s shoulders lowered slightly.
The name meant nothing to him.
He almost laughed at himself.
Of course it didn’t.
Handwriting could look similar.