The Good Girl

Colin lures Mia to his apartment for the promise of sex. She sees his dingy living conditions and hesitates. He is assertive, pulling her head back and kissing her. Then, he pulls away and refuses her. The rejection kills her, and she begins to panic. She tries to stumble out of the apartment, but he blocks the door. He pretends he’s worried he upset her, but he’s just buying time. He doesn’t care about Mia’s feelings.

Gabe brings Mia in for questioning. Grace is with her. She mocks Mia’s disheveled appearance, but Mia says nothing. It’s clear Grace is angry her mother asked her to chaperone. Gabe shows Mia a sketchbook recovered from the cabin where she and Colin lived in rural Minnesota. She can almost recognize it, but the memories won’t come. Grace begins to mock the sketchbook, particularly Mia’s drawings of Colin. She asks Mia why she didn’t run. Gabe comes to Mia’s defense, but Grace doesn’t seem convinced. Then, Grace flips to a page with a Christmas tree drawn on it. Gabe admits that the Christmas tree they found inside the cabin was “out of the ordinary” (55). Grace is disgusted. Gabe calls the tree “charming” (55).

Colin keeps Mia in the apartment until a phone call comes in from Dalmar at two o’clock in the morning. He takes a semiautomatic rifle out of the drawer and prepares to move Mia. She wants to leave but sees the gun and stops. She isn’t hysterical; instead, she tries to fight her way out the door with a stoic face. Finally, she gives in, and Colin gets her into a car down the road. On the way to the drop spot, Colin begins to question his decision. Kidnapping comes with a 30-year prison sentence. He fears Dalmar will pin a murder on him, too. He knows Dalmar doesn’t get his hands dirty, instead hiring “some outcast like [him]” (60) to take the fall. He doesn’t take his turn-off. He gets on I-90 and starts driving into the suburbs. Mia panics, and he points the gun at her. He needs her to be quiet.

Eve makes Mia dinner. She drops a frying pan, and Mia jumps. Eve apologizes profusely and thinks about the change in her daughter: “Mia never used to be afraid” (64). Mia holds an envelope from Gabe. Inside is a childlike drawing of a girl with long hair and big eyes. Mia thinks she drew it, but Eve is skeptical—Mia is much more talented than that. The drawing came from Mia’s sketchbook during her time at the cabin. Eve looks at the picture again: The drawing is a portrait of Mia.

Colin and Mia drive for hours on the highway. She asks him why he did this to her and starts to fight, so he puts duct tape on her mouth. Eventually she gestures to him that she has to use the bathroom. They stop at a gas station in rural Wisconsin. He supervises her visit to the bathroom, grabs some envelopes, and approaches the cash register, but they don’t pay. Instead, Colin points the gun at the elderly cashier, who starts sobbing. He demands all the money in the register and stamps. She gives it to him, begging him to let her live. Mia asks him desperately what he’s doing. Colin shoots the phone for good measure, and they both put on cheap sweatshirts to keep warm; Mia’s sweatshirt says “l’etoile du nord.” Back in the truck, Colin shoves half the stolen money in an envelope and drops it in a mailbox.

Eve watches the police escort outside her home. They supervise Mia, who rarely notices them. Mia attends a hypnosis session with Dr. Rhodes, who can get fragments of Mia’s memory back from her kidnapping. Mia talks about a weather report on the radio, the half-moon, a man with rough hands. She also blames herself. Dr. Rhodes later explains that self-blame is a common response to attacks like kidnapping and rape. Eve stays up, googling dates for half-moons and weather reports during the period of Mia’s disappearance. She keeps the scraps of knowledge in a folder—“any scrap of information to explain what happened to my daughter inside the walls of that rural, Minnesota cabin” (83).

Colin brings Mia to the cabin of an old family friend he knew as a child. It is dingy, caked in dust and dead bugs. Mia is disgusted and obstinate—she refuses to light a fire until Colin points the gun at her. The cabin has been winterized for the season, so Colin spends a few days turning the power and water back on. He brings Mia to the store to get soup and other essentials so they can eat. After a few days, Colin becomes comfortable and leaves the keys in the truck—he wakes to Mia running out the door and fumbling with the keys. When she can’t find the right key, she runs into the woods. Colin jumps on her and presses the gun into her skull. She screams, and he drags her back to the cabin.