Thief River Falls

As Lisa drives, she realizes there are police cars stationed at every bridge and crossroads, “watching or her like wolves in the snow” (267). Lisa tells Purdue she wants to get him out of town, where he will be safe. Lisa says she never should have fired a gun at Denis Farrell’s house, because that gives the police an excuse to see her as a threat. As Lisa looks over at Purdue, she realizes Purdue bears a remarkable resemblance to childhood photographs of Danny: “Danny’s hair, Danny’s eyes, even some of Danny’s expressions when he looked at her” (268). As Lisa drives, she notices a truck heading for the bridge. She speeds up and drives next to the truck, so that the truck will shield her from the police car stationed on the other side of the street. Hiding alongside the truck, she makes it past the police car and outside of town. However, after a moment, Lisa realizes she is being followed by the police car. Lisa arrives at a white church alongside the railroad tracks. She remembers attending the church with her family as a child. Lisa’s plan is to sneak into the church with Purdue and when a train arrives, urge Purdue to run out the back door and onto the train, where he can escape into Canada. Lisa and Purdue make it inside the church and police cars start to gather outside the church’s doors. Lisa thinks about how Purdue will have to make the escape onto the train alone, while she stays back, where she “would hold off the police until he was gone. They could do what they wanted with her. Nothing mattered once the boy was safe” (272).

A crowd of police cars, the media, and other curious civilians surround the doorway to the church. Denis Farrell and the mayor are present as well. Denis explains to the mayor that they’ve tried calling the church phone and Lisa’s cell phone but she refuses to answer either. Denis explains that Laurel March is on her way over from the hospital in order to try talking to Lisa. Denis reveals that Laurel is a psychiatrist, and Lisa has been seeing Laurel for a few years. Denis explains that he knows Lisa is armed, and he believes Lisa may be a threat considering she shot her gun inside his house. Denis urges the mayor to treat Lisa like any other active shooter, explaining, “If we had some nobody hunkering down in that church with a rifle, you think we’d hesitate to take a shot when we had it? Of course not. The sheriff and I aren’t giving Lisa Power any free passes. If she threatens our people, if she fires at us, she becomes a target, and we have to take her out” (275). The mayor reminds Denis that Lisa is both a local celebrity and the victim of trauma, “Not only is she not some nobody, she’s also a woman who’s just gone through the worst kind of loss that a human being can experience. We need to keep that in mind” (275). The mayor asks if Denis knows where Lisa took the boy, whom he calls Harlan. Here, Denis reveals that Harlan is Lisa and Danny’s son, who died of cancer in the hospital two nights earlier. After Harlan died, Lisa stole Harlan’s body from the hospital, wrapped him in a sheet, and tried to bury him in the cemetery near Danny’s grave.

At the hospital, Laurel prepares to head over to the church and attempt to talk to Lisa. Laurel feels as if she’s failed Lisa. Laurel thinks, “she’d guided a lot of patients through a terrible loss, but she’d failed Lisa. She had never imagined the possibility of a crisis like the one Lisa was experiencing. She’d tried to contain it; she’d hoped she could reach Lisa before grief carried her across a line from which she’d never return” (276).

As Laurel leaves her office, she runs into Noah in the doorway. Noah explains that he could sense that Lisa was in trouble. Laurel tells Noah Harlan died two nights ago. Noah says he always thought he brought the curse upon his family, and explains, “I thought if I left, the tragedies would go away. And instead this happens” (278). Laurel tells Noah Lisa still needs his help, explaining, “The Dark Star isn’t finished. It’s trying to take Lisa, too” (279).

Lisa sits next to Purdue in the church with the AR-15 rifle across her knees. Purdue observes that there are a lot of people outside. Lisa agrees, and explains to Purdue that when they hear the train approaching, she will go out and distract the crowd, while Purdue runs out the back of the church and jumps on the train. Lisa assures Purdue that Canada is beautiful, and says, “It’s like heaven. You’ll see. It’s just like heaven” (281). As they wait, Purdue asks Lisa to tell him the story in her novel, Thief River Falls. Lisa explains, the novel is about a boy who is running away from the hospital because his mother just died. The boy arrives in Thief River Falls, and as the boy hides near the river one night, he witnesses a terrible murder. The bad men discover the boy and hit him in the head and bury him. However, the boy survives and digs himself out of the dirt. The boy finds a woman named Madeleine who vows to protect him. When Lisa finishes, Purdue says, “Doesn’t it seem weird to you? […] Everything that happens in your book, it’s just like everything that’s been happening to you and me” (285). Purdue asks Lisa to tell him how the story ends.

An excerpt from Lisa’s thriller Thief River Falls follows. In the excerpt, Madeleine, hides out with the boy, Purdue, in the church. Madeleine yells to the boy to escape out the back door as she hears the train approaching. As Purdue runs out the back, Lisa steps out the front doors of the church, holding her gun. Madeleine fires: “She aims at any shadow she can see. She wants to kill. She wants to destroy these four men, these animals who would bury a boy in the ground” (289). Madeleine manages to shoot and kill the two deputies. Madeleine is shot in the chest. Bleeding, she continues to shoot. She shoots Liam, the red-haired killer. Madeleine can tell she is starting to bleed out and die, but she is determined to kill the last man, Denis. Madeleine falls to her knees. Denis appears in front of Madeleine, watching her die. As Madeleine and Denis look at each other, they notice Purdue standing off to the side. Purdue was unable to escape onto the train without Madeleine. Denis promises that Purdue’s death will be quick and painless. These words fill Madeleine with a newfound energy, and she manages to shoot Denis, killing him. Purdue kneels next to Madeleine and stays with her as she dies.

Lisa hears the train approaching in the distance and tells Purdue he needs to run and jump on the train. Purdue reminds Lisa that in the book, Purdue stayed with Madeleine. Lisa continues to insist Purdue has to get on the train. Purdue says to Lisa, “That was in the book […] This isn’t the book. The book is just in your head, Lisa. This has all be in your head. You have to let go of it now. You have to let go of me” (296). Purdue asks Lisa to remember his real name. Lisa remembers how she discovered she was pregnant before Danny went to fight fires in California. Lisa hoped to tell Danny she was pregnant when he returned. Instead, Danny died in the fires. Purdue helps Lisa remember that he is actually Harlan, her son, who died two nights earlier in the hospital from cancer. Lisa realizes Purdue is gone; he never existed at all. She realizes, “Harlan was gone. She was alone. She’d been alone for two days” (299).

Lisa steps outside of the church holding the AR-15 rifle. Lisa sees a crowd of dozens of people waiting for her outside the church, including Noah. Noah promises to help Lisa and asks her to put down the gun. Lisa thinks, “Noah who’d left her alone. Noah, who’d abandoned her. She hated him. She hated her brother” (300). Lisa lifts the rifle and points it at Noah. Noah screams to the police not to shoot Lisa. Noah slowly approaches Lisa. Lisa admits to Noah that she knew, that Noah was considering suicide the previous year, and that’s why he ran away. He promises never to leave her again. Slowly, Noah approaches Lisa and takes the gun out of her hands. Lisa lets Noah set the gun off to the side and they embrace.

A week later, Lisa sits in a hospital room surrounded by flowers and gifts from her readers. Laurel checks Lisa’s blood pressure and pulse. Lisa tells Laurel of all the characters from her novel whom she’d imagined as real: Fiona, Nick Laudon, Mrs. Lancaster, Tom Doggett, and Liam were all made-up characters from Lisa’s book. Laurel leaves the room just as Noah arrives with more flowers and cards. In Noah’s face, Lisa “could see Madeleine in the curl of his lips and the twinkle in his eyes. And her father. And their brothers. And Harlan. Everyone who was gone was really still here” (304). Noah tells Lisa he and Janie are settling down in their family’s old house. Lisa tells Noah Denis and Gillian Farrell came by to see her. Lisa explains, “Honestly, we all cried together. We cried for Danny, and we cried for Harlan. It was good” (304). Lisa tells Noah that Denis apologized to her for shunning her for so many years, and that he admitted he secretly thought it was “rather badass” (305) that Lisa had put him in her book. Noah tells Lisa that Janie is pregnant. The child will be a boy, to be named Danny. Hearing this news, “Lisa nodded. She was crying, but this wasn’t sadness. This was something she hadn’t felt in forever. Joy. She was overjoyed” (305).