No Exit

Ashley laughs in delight as he checks himself for injuries, amazed at his continuing luck in surviving against all odds. He tries to taunt her but realizes he can’t speak. Terrified, he loses focus and slumps to the ground. Jay returns to Darby, reporting that she shot Ashley in the face. Darby tells Ashley to make the snowplow driver take her to the hospital so she can receive her necessary steroid injections. Jay asks Darby to come, too, but Darby is resigned to death, feeling it was worth it to save Jay. She tells Jay to hand her a pen from her pocket and writes down Kenny’s name and address, along with the word “KIDNAPPER,” so the police will arrest the last person in Ashley’s plot. As she drops into unconsciousness, she hears her mother reassuring her that the nightmare is over and that she is proud of her daughter.

An unsent draft email from Kenny to Ashley, dated Christmas Eve, reports that he is prepared for Jay’s arrival and has “two interested fellas” (181). The unfinished email reports someone knocking “at the front door” (181), implying the police.

In February, after Jay is healthy enough to travel, she and her family visit Provo to thank Darby for saving Jay. Jay thinks of the unclear memories of the weeks following the abduction, when her story became national news. Darby does a rubbing of her mother’s grave while Jay and her family look on. Jay asks about Darby’s assertion that the love between her and her mother was “complicated,” but Darby, more secure in her mother’s affection, says she was wrong.