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offered a relaxed smile. “The first of several useful gifts I intend to pass along. Don’t hesitate to use it if you’re in a situation where it would help.”
    Her hand tightened around the phone. “Thank you, Matthew,” she whispered.
    “I hope you have calm and pleasant dreams tonight, Shannon.”
    “That’s a nice hope.” She nodded and disappeared from the room.
    He closed the report and set it aside. Washington State. He’d read nothing in the case summary that indicated any focus there. He picked up his phone, ignored the time, called Ann to have her scan the first weeks in the case file for anything that pointed to the West Coast or Washington State. Had Shannon been out West this entire time? Had she gotten to freedom and instinctively headed as far away as possible, only stopping when she reached the East Coast?
    Shannon seemed confident the ransom demand had been a con job, someone taking advantage of her disappearance. That implied only a limited number of people—possibly two or three—were involved with her abduction, and they had all been with her on the West Coast, leaving no one behind who could have made that ransom demand and pickup. If it had not been a demand from her actual abductors, had her uncle not only taken some of the ransom money but been behind the ransom call itself?
    Matthew finished the call with Ann, got ready to turn in for the night, shut off the room light. As the still of the night settled around him, he found himself replaying some of the early days with his daughter. “God, a question,” he said softly into the darkness. He focused on one memory in particular. He and Becky were playing a game of Scrabble so they would have something else to do while they talked, could use it as a reason not to say anything when either needed time to just think. Becky had been just beginning to give him facts about what had happened on the day she was taken.
    “What’s happening inside Shannon right now?” he asked God. “Is she wanting to talk, but hesitant to do so because she’s seeking to avoid having a wave of questions come at her when she offers those first facts? Or is she reluctant to say anythingand trying to find ways to accommodate me? Like with the list she handed me—I think she put it in writing so she would not have to say one word beyond what she had decided to say. She just now mentioned Washington State. Did she want to do so, or is Shannon’s true preference right now to say nothing and she’s trying to stay in my good graces by offering a few details?
    “It worries me, Lord, if the information is coming because she feels like it’s currency she can use to keep me from being annoyed with her silence. I can accept the details if she wants to talk—I do need them—but I can also accept the silence if she needs that for a time. Whatever she needs is how this has to unfold. That was a turning point in Becky’s recovery, her freedom to share or not share as she wished. I wonder if I’m on the wrong footing with Shannon already. It’s a dreadful feeling.”
    Just putting it into words was enough to bring some clarity. Matthew turned on the light, got up and crossed over to the desk, pulled over a blank sheet of paper, and wrote a note.
    Shannon—
    I like lists too.
    I like glazed donuts and cream-filled chocolate-topped ones.
    I like clams and scallops and Boston clam chowder.
    My daughter is my best friend.
    I want to hear your story when you are ready to share it.
    I will listen to whatever you want to say, whenever you want to say it.
    I’m in no hurry.
    I can handle your silence.
    I don’t mind tears.
    Only when you are ready to talk about something should we do so.
    I want to see arrested those who did this to you.
    I have room for another friend.
    If you choose me as a friend, you’ll find you can trust me.
    He found an envelope and folded his page, slipped it inside, wrote her name on the top, dressed, walked across the hall, and slipped the envelope