He gulped the drink and kept a death grip on the cup as the best way to hold on to his wayward feelings. When he seemed calm enough to speak, I asked why he’d come to me.

“That was probably the stupidest thing of all, me coming to you, because what can you do? Only, when I saw he was going to send me to—to boot camp, I thought I couldn’t take another time like that, like when they made me go to the camp for fat kids, that was horrible enough, but at least everyone else was overweight too, but boot camp, that’s like when all the other kids get to haze you for being queer or different somehow. Like my cousins, when I have to go spend a month with them, they play football, they’re supposed to toughen me up.”

I blinked. “Is this a definite plan?”

“Oh, yes.” He looked at me bleakly. “Don’t tell me it’s wrong to snoop in his briefcase, it’s the only way I know what he’s up to, and I saw the fax from this place in South Carolina—of course anyone who does anything with prisons or army stuff, they fall over themselves for a chance to help out BB and this guy, he’s the head of this military school and they run a summer boot camp. So he faxes BB that they’ll be expecting me Saturday night, I can start Monday morning. BB and Eleanor can put me on a plane to Columbia when they take off for France. Not that I wanted to go to France with those ghastly Poilevy twins and my sisters, watch them swimming all day long to get ready for Mom’s swim meet. She’s doing this thing for charity on Labor Day, and of course she wants Madison to beat everyone. But I’d rather clock Madison and Rhiannon Trant in the pool than go to military camp.”

“But you disappeared two nights ago, didn’t you? Where have you been in the meantime?”

He looked at his hands. “I hid out in our grounds. When BB and Eleanor went to bed I’d go sleep in the cabana. Only the gardeners found me this morning and I was afraid they’d tell Eleanor.”

“Your folks are looking for you—that’s how I know you left home. Do you think they would call the police, or will they rely on Carnifice’s private security force?”

“I’m so stupid, aren’t I, I didn’t think about that,” Robbie muttered. “I only thought I should get away as fast as I could. Of course if he wants me he’ll sic his whole team on finding me. Not that he really wants me, but no one is supposed to outsmart BB Baladine.”