‘But they will. She has to call the police now.’

‘I agree,’ Elise said, ‘and Klara agrees – but only after Amber has had her abortion. Which she is currently trying to arrange.’

I hung my head. This was beyond bad. This was a nightmare.

Elise reached over and put her hand atop of mine. And said:

‘I have a possible plan … a way out of all this. But I didn’t put it to Klara just now on the phone – because I could tell that she was absolutely resolute about her own game plan.’

‘That’s my daughter’s greatest strength and most dangerous tendency: when she becomes resolved about something she refuses to budge from her position.’

‘Let’s see what I can do to change that position. She gave me the address of the safe house out in Twentynine Palms. We have to get out to the desert today.’

seventeen

IT WAS NOW crowding 4 p.m. The crazed height of the Los Angeles rush hour. I plugged the address Klara had given Elise into my phone. Google Maps indicated that we would make it to Twentynine Palms in four hours and twelve minutes. Elise scrunched up her face as she looked at my screen and saw the journey ahead of us. She was clearly thinking something through. Just as I was about to hit the ignition button she said:

‘Not just yet.’

‘Something wrong?’

‘I need to make one last call before we head off.’

‘Time’s not on our side.’

‘I’ll be five minutes, no more.’

She was immediately out the door and on her phone. As I watched her head to the sidewalk and turn away from me there was a bing on my own phone. A new text from Todor:

We still need to talk, Brendan. I know you probably don’t trust me after my outburst yesterday. But if you remember Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus … well, I’m not saying that I have had an about-face on the abortion issue. But having watched video footage of what went down when you were at that clinic near us yesterday, I am now making it clear to everyone that this sort of intimidation protest has to stop. I just gave an interview to the local NPR station for the national ‘All Things Considered’ show tonight. I really hope you’ll call me.