The Overnight Guest

Wylie rushes back to the house as fast as she can in the perilous conditions. She confirms that the boy is still sleeping and checks the landline, which is still out of service. After building the fire up and finding more clothes, she goes out to one of the barns to retrieve wire cutters and a toboggan. She travels back to the truck, doubting herself and whether she should continue her journey. Wylie initially believes that she has somehow missed the woman in the storm but spots a piece of fabric and realizes the woman pulled herself free of the barbed wire and vanished into the storm.

Sheriff’s Deputy Levi Robbins struggles with boredom at 1 o’clock in the morning, having had an uneventful patrol. He speeds his cruiser down back country roads and almost hits a pickup truck that pulls out in front of him without lights on. He pulls the silver truck over and approaches the vehicle, surveying the blond teenage boy inside. The teen apologizes, clearly anxious; he is late returning from a movie. When Levi looks at the boy’s license, he recognizes the last name Cutter.

Levi briefly reminisces about his old friendship with Brett Cutter, the teen’s cousin.