***

He speaks to her one last time, almost two years later. He’s already said his goodbye but he wanted to hear her voice once more. The home of William Childress awaits them. She tells him the detectives have spoken to her about him and Marty, just as they had spoken to Maggie. He interrupts her, he doesn’t want her to talk about that; he asks her about how she’s doing, her son.

He’s silent as he listens, his face softening. She’s okay, still. He can hear the worry in her voice though and he knows there’s nothing he can do to stop that.

When he says goodbye, he thinks back to the night they met. Her voice was starlight, cutting through the haze and rush of chemicals. He’d slung his arm around her shoulders, whispering into her ear: Calm down. Trust me.

“Take care.” he says into the receiver before he hangs up. He means it.