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"Why?"

"Because I thought it would be faster," I said, not revealing the true reason, which was that I’d felt inexplicably pulled in that direction

"What happened next?"

"I saw their car on the side of the road We pulled over and I went into the woods Annie waited for me"

"And then what?"

Scenes of the redwood forest flashed throughI I didn’t knohere I was going;

I just knew I had to go deeper"

"And then?"

"And then I saw the coins"

The faucet was still running I watched the water cascade over the dishes

My grandfather’s voice broke the silence "And then what happened?" he said gently

I turned to him "That’s it I found theht? You knohat happened You read the police report I told the I know"

I turned away and wiped my eyes over the sink

"I’m sorry," he said softly "I know it’s difficult for you with your parents gone, and noith e and unexpected that the fates should bring us together again after all this time But think Does it not seem odd to you that you happened to stumble across your father’s car on the side of the road, and that you were then able to locate the bodies of your parents, which were a mile north of their car? The redwood forest covers more than three hundred square miles, yet you were able to find them within half an hour"

"Maybe it was aa coincidence" That hat the police had called it

He raised a white, bushy eyebrow "Was it?"