The Good Girl

Mia doesn’t eat for days. She spends all her days sleeping. Colin is out chopping firewood one day and returns looking for water. He finds Mia in her panties and bra, standing in the middle of the living room: “She might as well have been dead. Her skin was drained of all color” (97). She asks him if this is what he wants and starts undoing his belt. He lets her, for a moment, before pushing her away. She keeps trying, desperate to change something about the situation, but he pushes her away more forcefully. He tells her to put her clothes on. He goes back outside to chop wood.

Eve is standing in the pantry at three o’clock in the morning when she realizes that she might never see Mia again. She grieves the loss of her daughter, and it consumes her: “I’m reminded of my daughter’s dissolution with every breath I take” (100). She thinks about the kind of mother she wanted to be, and the bad mother she became. She wonders if Mia knows she loves her.

Mia spends all her time in bed, crying. Colin is worried she is going to starve to death. He spends most of his time cleaning the cabin. Mia limps around the apartment from an enormous bruise on her leg where she fell down the cabin steps trying to escape. Colin thinks, “I’m not one to feel guilt, but I know that I’m the one who did it to her…” (104). Eventually Colin forces Mia to eat. He tells her she can only be in the bedroom to sleep at night, so he can make sure she eats, drinks, and uses the bathroom enough to live. He thinks about wanting to catch a plane and flee the country, but something in the back of his mind stops him.

Gabe brings a sketch of the suspect, Colin Thatcher, to the Dennett house. Eve cries; James reminds Gabe of his theory that Mia left on her own accord with this man. He bases this assumption on her history of delinquency. Eve defends their daughter, and Gabe comes to her rescue when James mocks her. He asks the judge how this will impact his upcoming election. James tells Gabe to watch himself.

Each day is the same. Mia’s bruises fade. Colin notices and brushes her cheek, and Mia’s eyes widen in fear. She looks out the window all day while he cleans or feeds them breakfast. He doesn’t have a passport to flee the country, a hitch in his carefully laid plan. The pair spend hours together in silence. Colin worries Mia’s fear of death will be what kills her.

Eve remembers what attracted her to James. He was confident, flirtatious, and captivated a crowd. He captivated her, too. She fell in love with him on a trip to Chicago when she was only 18. Since then, he morphed from a people-pleaser to a cruel, attention-seeking man. He is only concerned with his reputation. Eve calls Detective Hoffman to apologize for the night before. She explains Mia’s delinquency, the way her father ignored her feelings and focused only on his reputation, not on the well-being of his child. Detective Hoffman empathizes with Eve. After they get off the phone, Eve realizes she is certain, the way only a mother can be certain, that “something has happened to Mia” (122).

Colin and Mia gather sticks outside for winter. She enjoys the task, straying farther and farther away. It begins to downpour, and she runs back. The cabin is soaked. Colin makes dinner, and Mia sits in a chair to warm up. They enjoy the sound of the rain. Finally, Mia asks Colin why she is there. He ignores her at first but finally explains. She was kidnapped on behalf of Dalmar. It involves a ransom from her father. He was supposed to drop her off but didn’t. He tells her the rumors he knows about Dalmar—that he killed a child and sent the parents photos; that he might have been a child soldier in Africa. They sit in silence after that. Colin knows Mia is thinking about what could have happened to her if he didn’t bring her here.