Brett. The name fluttered through Lily’s mind. Her gaze lingered on the shorter of the two, following him up the hallway.

“Next week is going to be my week,” Brett said to his companion. “You just watch. I will beat you so badly, you’ll—”

“Die of shock?”

Brett cuffed the other man and they bounced down the hall like overgrown puppies.

Look at me, Brett. I’m right here.

The two men passed Lily without a glance her way.

I’ll make you look, Brett. I’ll make you see me. Just wait—

An alarm wailed. Lily shot up, blinking fast, heart racing. The bedside clock-radio continued to screech. She slammed the Off button, then stared at the blurry red digits. Seven-thirty.

“I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go,” she muttered.

“Oh, but today will be different,” the Nix whispered.

Lily chortled and reached for her glasses. “Oh, yeah, today will be much different.”

With her glasses in place, the room came into focus. She leaned over and opened the nightstand drawer. Inside were a few dog-eared magazines. She reached underneath, fingers closing on metal. She pulled out her prize. A semiautomatic.

The scene faded to black.

After a few minutes, Trsiel pulled me out.

“Is that it?” I said. “I need more. Did you see the flyers on the wall?”

“I saw papers, but I couldn’t get a good look. I’m restricted to what she sees.”

I started to pace. “So was I, but I could zoom in a bit. It was a community center. Indoor pool, ball courts, bulletins for a dance and March Break activities—she works in a community center. And that’s where she’s headed now. With a gun.”

As I passed Trsiel, he grasped my shoulder, forcing me to stop pacing.

“Eve, we need to—”

“Slow down and think. I know that. But I think better when I’m moving.”

He let me go. I wheeled and strode across the cell.

“Let’s see what we have,” Trsiel said. “Her name is Lily and she works at a community center as part of the cleaning staff.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Still walking, I rubbed my hands over my face. “Okay, she just woke up, so it’ll take her a while to get to work. It was seven—Wait. What time is it now?”

Trsiel walked through the cell bars and looked around. “This clock says just past nine-thirty.”

“Then we’ve got a two-hour time difference. That means she’s somewhere west of Colorado. American accents, so definitely in the country.”

“Upper West Coast accents,” Trsiel said. “North of California.”