“ ‘Aren’t you all being a bit ridiculous about this?’ Aunt Queen asked. ‘This girl is having supper with us. I’ll have my car bring her home this evening. I’ve never seen such hysterics before. Dr. Mayfair, I’m shocked.’

“ ‘I’m sorry, Mrs. McQueen,’ said Dr. Mayfair. Her voice was still low and husky, and very sincere. Yet a terrible power enforced her words. ‘Mona’s fifteen years old. Her parents are both dead. Sometimes she does things that are impulsive. I’m her legal guardian. I want her to come home, and as you can see, she won’t do it.’

“Michael Curry shook his head as if to say, The sadness of it, and then very gently he touched Mona’s hair. He spoke to her in a soft soothing voice.

“ ‘Now come on, honey, I know how you feel.’

“ ‘No, you don’t,’ she sobbed against me. ‘None of you do.’

“ ‘Mona, I love you,’ he said, and then he went on tenderly. ‘Let us take you back, sweetheart. You can see Quinn tomorrow. Quinn, you could come by the house, couldn’t you? We’d be glad to have you. What about tomorrow afternoon? Come on, darling.’

“I grabbed her head and whispered in her ear, ‘Go home and get your passport and be ready.’

“Dr. Mayfair shook her head as if she too hated this predicament. Or as if she’d heard my whisper. The lawyer, Ryan, the smoothie in the suit, never changed his pained expression. I think he was mortified but resigned. He was a good-looking son of a bitch, I had to give him that, and that probably meant his son, the infamous enemy Pierce, was also good-looking.

“Finally Mona turned around and, still clinging tight to my arm, she looked at them.

“ ‘I hate you that you did this to me,’ she whispered. ‘I hate you all. I don’t trust you.’

“ ‘Dear God, child,’ said Aunt Queen. ‘What do you want us to do?’

“Nash looked totally alarmed. Allen and Clem were ready for battle. The security man was on full alert.

“ ‘She has to come home, Mrs. McQueen,’ said Dr. Rowan patiently and courteously. Her face was too serene. ‘Quinn, can you come see Mona tomorrow? I think Michael’s suggestion was a good one.’

“Mona turned to face me again, and with her back to the evil three she mouthed the word ‘passport.’ ‘You’ll come at three o’clock, all right?’ she said. But her fingers secretly pressed the number two against the inside of my arm.

“ ‘Yes, three o’clock, I’ll come.’