They’ll say — ”

“They were already saying vicious things without knowing a single fact,” I said, more sharply than I meant to.

She stopped, and looked at me.

“And do you know the whole truth, Callahan?

Do you actually know what happened?”

I looked toward the dark room where Vivienne lay struggling to breathe.

“I know that a woman who runs off of her own free will,” I said, “does not end up tied like an animal in a frozen forest.

That much I know for certain.”