Lulu. Doomed, like a flower that had bloomed hidden from human eyes and died unnoticed. Even if Lulu survived the orphanage physically, she would wilt there without love to nurture her sunny personality.

“Hey, lady!” a guard poked his head out of a booth. He had an Australian or South African accent. “Move on.”

Startled, she turned. Behind him towered a pagoda-inspired roof with three monkeys carved into corners that tilted upward.

“Oh, my God,” he gasped. “Nola. Right? You’re Nola? I’m so sorry—Uh, I was at your concert— I love your songs. Would you like some water? I didn’t know it was you—”

Sniffling, she shook her head and resumed her walk. No cars passed by. She was in a vacuum in the middle of bustling Beijing, like the vacuum inside her that stretched as far back as she could remember.

On one corner, under a tree, three old men sat on a bench, smoking long-stemmed pipes. Above their heads hung half a dozen birdcages in which canaries chirped in a symphony of sound. Tzwits, tzwits. Kew—kew—kew—Chooooorup, chooooorup-uup-uup-uup, tzwits, tzwits. Kew—kew—kew—us—kew—us—Everyday life streamed on, flowed over the pebbles, she thought, and people found little pools of bliss, enough perhaps to keep them content. Kew—kew—kew—us— kew—us. Rescue—us, rescue—us, rescue us—. Damn Wade for turning his back on her when she needed him more than ever.

Her mind broke out of its stupor. Why was she dawdling, while every minute with her baby was precious? She had left Ambassador Ashford’s office with no specific date for Lulu’s return, but time was running out. She must tap into the forgotten resourcefulness of the girl who had taken care of her family.

As she flagged a taxi, Nola heard Yoram’s voice. “Nola?”

She turned. “How did you know where I was?”

He pointed toward her shoes. “We get signals.”

She had forgotten about the security measures installed against possible kidnapping. Yoram had been following her all this time, watching her from a distance. The insurance company took no chance on its half-billion-dollar liability.

Nola wanted to scream.

Later at the hotel suite, the city lights below flickered even before the rosy strip of sun had completely disappeared. Nola's stretch of delight playing with Lulu was broken by another bout of despair.

At one point, Wade had entered the room and indicated to Leslie to leave and close the door. He was furious at Nola for disappearing from Yoram’s watch. The insurance company was on the Israeli’s ass, he said. “Yoram has threatened to resign if you ever as much as think of going off on your own ever again, detection devices or not.”

Anger was an expensive commodity she couldn’t afford. Her arms tight around Lulu in her lap, Nola said, “Don’t you see how cute this baby is?”