They had escaped the mansion.
The vehicles continued down the road, leaving the Hale estate farther behind with every passing mile. Nobody spoke much. Caleb's absence was impossible to ignore, especially inside the vehicle where he should have been sitting.
Veronica kept her phone in her hand.
She looked at Alexander's number again and called.
The call went unanswered.
She lowered the phone and stared through the window.
"Try again later," one of the bodyguards said quietly.
"I know."
She didn't put the phone away.
Iris remembered that part clearly.
The novel had moved quickly after Caleb's death, barely giving the family time to process what had happened before pushing them into their next problem. They couldn't stop to mourn. The road ahead was already becoming dangerous, and staying in one place for too long wasn't an option.
For the first few days, the Hales managed better than most survivors.
