“I am with like-minded people.”

“Well, I mean, you know . . . oh, screw it! Bring her along, if you must.”

“She doesn’t want to go. She has . . . other priorities. Priorities we share.”

Julian shifted uneasily. His high-maintenance redhead was outside tapping her shapely fingernails in Sea Sprite’s passenger seat. All three of them were dressed to move fast, be prepared for anything, and look like you know where you’re going. Kind of like tourists.

Daniel flung in a handful of books. The crate shuddered. “You didn’t approve of Sara either, as I recall.”

“Ancient history!” Hannah snapped.

“Not to me.” Daniel topped off the crate and thrust it at me.

“Easy now . . .” I caught my balance, then stowed it beneath the racks, passing up the next empty.

“Sorry.” He set the crate between him and Hannah, then stopped to wipe his face with an old T-shirt. We were all dripping sweat, not just from the heat of the day. “What you refuse to hear is that it’s about so much more than who I spend time with. I went along with the Arcadia idea because I was fresh out of viable alternatives. I told you that at the time. Now I have one.”

“Yankee Stadium?” Hannah pressed both hands to her temples like she was fighting to keep her brain from bursting. “Viable? Come on! You really believe this hare-brained scheme will survive the next big blow or food shortage?”

“More food riots on the Mainland than there have been here,” Daniel pointed out.

“Along the coasts mostly. Instead, you have firebombers raiding your provisions! I track current events, remember.”

“I think we put a stop to that for a while,” Daniel said quietly.

I pushed forward. “Do your drones have range to see what’s going on inland?” I hadn’t promised to sit out the confrontation entirely.

“Of course not. But my contacts . . .”

“The dens have emergency reserves . . .”

“Oh, sure. For a week, maybe two?”

“A lot more!” We were talking over each other, hissing really. I was ready to make up a number if pressed.

Daniel eased me behind him, shaking his head. He’d regained his calm. “You’ve only seen the dens from the outside, H. Most of them are pragmatic and well-organized, and this move means combining their resources. I’ve eaten well at Unca Joe, and you couldn’t get a better business team than Empire State. Based on the site survey, Yankee Stadium was built like a fortress, has stayed in good condition, has no current occupants, a whole flood plain for a moat, and plenty of room for all. With Arcadia, the refusal to supply confirmable information always bothered me. Truth is, you don’t know it’ll be any better there!”

Hannah held up her phone. “Look at the video again. Better is what we’re paying for!”

I guessed they’d put up most of what the family had left, buying those documents.