“I didn’t see.”
“You weren’t supposed to.”
“I should have.”
The Biker shook his head.
“That blame belongs over there.”
He pointed without looking at the restrained man.
“Don’t carry what he did.”
The Waitress swallowed.
The girl watched.
Then signed toward the Biker.
TELL HER.
“What?”
The girl repeated.
TELL HER THANK YOU.
The Biker’s throat tightened.
He interpreted.
“She says thank you.”
The Waitress covered her mouth.
“For what?”
The girl signed.
HOT CHOCOLATE.
The Waitress began crying.
“I’m sorry, baby.”
The girl shook her head.
Then pointed at the drink.
SMELLS GOOD.
The Waitress laughed through tears.
The entire diner exhaled slightly.
Then red and blue lights appeared through the rain.
The kidnapper stopped smiling.
Two sheriff’s deputies entered with weapons drawn.
The next several minutes happened quickly.
The Biker stepped away.
The Trucker raised both hands.
The Waitress pointed toward the gun.
Deputies separated everyone.
The child stayed near the Biker until one deputy tried questioning her verbally.
She stared blankly.
The deputy spoke louder.
The Biker closed his eyes briefly.
Not again.
“She’s deaf.”
The deputy nodded and spoke even louder.
“CAN YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”
The Biker stepped closer.
“She needs an interpreter.”
The deputy looked irritated.
“You sign?”
“Yes.”
“Then interpret.”
The Biker hesitated.
He knew enough to know that was not ideal.
He was a witness.
Emotionally involved.
Not certified.
“She needs somebody neutral if you’re taking a statement.”
The deputy studied him.
That surprised him.
The Biker continued.
“I can help until one gets here.”
The senior deputy nodded.
“Fair.”
They began with immediate safety questions only.
Name.
Age.
Injury.
Parent contact.
The girl signed an address.
Then a phone number.
The Biker interpreted.
The deputy called.
Nobody answered.
Again.
Nothing.
Third time.
A woman answered screaming before the deputy finished identifying himself.
The child’s mother had been searching for her for six hours.
The girl disappeared from the fenced yard behind their home while the mother was inside helping an elderly relative who had fallen.
A neighbor had seen a tan sedan near the alley.
Police had already issued a regional alert.
The storm had slowed everything.
The deputy looked toward the kidnapper.
His expression changed.
“You’re done.”