I wasn’t going to argue.
‘What about you?’ David asked. ‘You still planning on writing that article?’
‘I don’t know.’
I hadn’t decided. I was going to have to do something for money. Something to resuscitate my career. But for now, I didn’t want to think about Hollow Falls or murders or burning cabins.
‘I need a vacation,’ I said.
We all laughed.
‘Well, if you do write about this, we’d love to have you on our podcast as a guest,’ Connie said.
At that moment, Neal Fredericks came over from where he had been packing up his car, lifting a hand in greeting. When I had returned to the resort after my hospital visit, I was surprised to find he was still there. I thought he would have gone back to Portland. But he had lots of questions. For the past twenty years, he had believed Everett Miller had murdered his wife. I imagined all of this must have opened up old wounds. He’d wanted to know everything I’d found out. What Carl, Greg and Nikki had said to me and Frankie.
Now, he clapped me on the shoulder. ‘Heading home too?’
I nodded. I was cutting our trip short by a couple of days. I just wanted to get out of here. ‘Got to take Frankie back to Albany, then I’m going to hang around there for a few days.’ The police had asked me not to leave the US quite yet, in case they had any more questions.
He nodded in return. ‘I just want to thank you again. For finding out the truth.’
I was uncomfortable with all of these thanks, so I shrugged.
‘It never sat right with me,’ Neal said. ‘About Everett Miller, I mean. It always seemed too easy, you know? Too convenient.’ He turned his face towards the woods, in the direction of the clearing where Sally and Eric’s bodies had been found. ‘But I still didn’t get justice. The three of them oughta be rotting in a jail cell.’
He looked around, a curl of distaste on his lip.
‘I hate this fucking place,’ he said.
He walked back to his car, and then Frankie and Ryan appeared. They stood close together. Ryan said something in Frankie’s ear and she smiled, then caught my eye.
I was proud of her. And when I thought about going back to the UK and not seeing her for another year, I had to fight back tears.
But at least I would see her again.
‘Dad.’
The night before, after I’d got back to the cabin and started packing up our stuff, Frankie had come up to me and given me a long hug. Then she’d stood back, arms wrapped around herself.
‘I feel different,’ she said.
‘That’s . . . not surprising.’
‘I had to do it, didn’t I?’
I put my hands on her shoulders. ‘Of course you did. You saved me and Ryan. You were amazing.’
She pulled away and crossed to the window. ‘Do you think they’ll ever find Darlene?’
The police had been searching the woods for her for over twenty-four hours now. The helicopter had failed to find her. Sniffer dogs hadn’t been able to pick up her scent in the wet grass. Just like Everett twenty years before, she had vanished, except we knew she couldn’t be hiding in a hunting cabin, trapped forever in its basement.
‘She’ll turn up,’ I said. ‘One day.’
‘Maybe she’s gone to Canada,’ Frankie suggested.
‘Poor Canada,’ I said.
I did a final sweep of the cabin to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind, then shook David’s hand, then Ryan’s. Connie gave me a quick hug, and Frankie gave Ryan a long hug.
Then we were in the car.
On the way out, I stopped at reception to drop off the keys. Vivian, who had been made temporary manager, was on duty.
‘Hey,’ she said. I could tell she was pleased we were leaving. She wanted everything to get back to normal. Maybe that was possible now the ghosts of the Hollows’ past had finally been exorcised.
‘Hi.’
I handed her the keys and spotted a cat carrier on the side. She noticed me looking at it.
‘I’ve volunteered to take in Nikki’s cat,’ she said.
‘Cujo? That’s great.’
‘He’s a cutie,’ she said.
I turned to leave.
‘Hey, Mr Anderson,’ she called. I looked back. ‘Don’t forget to leave us a review on TripAdvisor.’
I was still chuckling when I got back to the car. Neal Fredericks drove past us, also on his way home, and I raised a hand to say farewell. Then something else occurred to me that made me laugh more. I stopped and took a final look back at Hollow Falls. It was beautiful. There was no denying it. And we were never coming back here again.