Third person's POV
By the time Ethan steered his car onto the highway, the knot that had been lodged in his chest for days had finally begun to loosen.
Jade was alive.
He had heard his voice. It had been shaky and tired, but unmistakably Jade's, and for the first time since the kidnapping, hope no longer felt like something he had to force himself to believe.
His fingers rested lightly on the steering wheel as the cabin disappeared in the rearview mirror. The lake, the armed guards, and Raina herself gradually vanished behind the trees, yet none of them left his thoughts.
The conversation replayed over and over in his mind.
Raina had somehow found Jade before anyone else.
She had known where he was when neither the police nor Susan nor Ethan himself had been able to uncover a single lead. She had handed him a phone as though she had anticipated exactly how that moment would unfold, watching silently while relief washed over him without asking for gratitude or recognition.
