When that failed, he knocked harder.
The ranger arrived from the office and told him to move away from the vehicle.
Caleb argued that he had a right to speak to the child.
That was the moment June knew exactly who he was.
“He said she was his daughter,” June told Lydia.
Hazel looked between the adults, confused.
Nick crouched beside her.
“Sweetheart, why don’t you show Grandpa where you found those pinecones?”
Charles understood the request.
He took Hazel’s hand and led her several yards away.
Lydia waited until Hazel was out of earshot.
Then she turned toward Caleb.
“Why are you here?”
The nearest officer stepped closer.
Caleb shrugged.
“Camping.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m allowed to camp.”
“You knew Hazel’s name.”
His expression shifted.
Only slightly.
But Lydia saw it.
“You always thought everything was about you,” he said.
Nick moved forward, but Lydia touched his arm.
“No.”
Nick looked at her.
She shook her head once.
For years, Lydia had imagined what she might do if she ever saw Caleb again.
In some versions she screamed.
In others she ran.
Occasionally, in the darkest moments after therapy sessions, she imagined saying every sentence she had been too frightened to say during their marriage.
Now that he was actually standing there, she wanted none of it.
She wanted facts.
She wanted distance.
She wanted her daughter home.
One officer asked Lydia and Nick to step aside while another continued questioning Caleb.
The officer confirmed that Caleb had recently been released from custody.
Lydia’s information as a victim should have been part of the notification process, but the officer could not explain at the campground why she had not received notice.
He advised her to contact the appropriate victim-services office and document everything that had happened that day.
The explanation did not calm Lydia, but it gave her something solid to hold onto.
A failure had occurred.
It could be investigated.
More important, everyone now knew Caleb had appeared near Hazel.
There were witnesses.
There was the ranger.
There were June and Charles.
And there was Hazel’s accidental photograph showing Caleb at the campsite before Lydia or Nick arrived.
The selfie that had terrified Lydia had also preserved evidence.
Caleb seemed to realize this at the same time.
His relaxed posture disappeared.
“That picture proves nothing,” he said from across the site.
Nobody had told him they were discussing the photograph.
The officer beside Lydia looked toward him.
Neither Lydia nor Nick spoke.
Caleb continued anyway.
“I was standing near a fire.
