Daisy held the wooden toy crane in her right hand and kicked her heels against the rusty bumper of the sedan.

“Where are we sleeping tonight, Mama?”

Martha didn’t answer her daughter right away.

She stepped back into the heated room, picked up a folded wool blanket from the cot, and carried it out to the car without looking at the deputy.

“Where are you taking her?” Nathaniel asked, stepping between Martha and the open trunk.

“Back to the diner parking lot,” Martha said.

“My things are already packed.”