“Did you play that video?” Izzy said. “Do you know Sky?”

The red-haired man stepped closer, glaring. He wasn’t messing around. “Get the hell out of here,” he said, but Ever was already leading her away.

When they had crossed the road, Ted came over to see if she was all right.

“Whose film was that?” Izzy asked.

“I have no idea. I think those kids might have put it in. Some kind of prank. What do you think it was about?”

“We have to go home,” Izzy said. She turned to Ever. “Can you take me home?”

“Of course.” He held her hand. It felt as if he had held her hand like this for years. His hands were warm and dry, and hers were cold and clammy. She let him lead her to his truck.

She could feel Ted standing there, watching them go. He still wore his sunglasses as if he hadn’t noticed that the sun had set.

◆◆◆

Dog greeted Ever with the usual explosive dog-joy, jumping up and spinning in circles, while Izzy went to the drawer where she and Cyrus kept their important papers. There wasn’t much—their social security cards, the deed for the car, the property documents for the house, and a bank account booklet with a twenty-three-dollar balance. Also their birth certificates. Izzy examined Cyrus’s. She showed it to Ever. Name: Cyrus Larkin. Born: 1/28/1990, Imperial County. Eyes: Hazel. Hair: Black. Parents: Melissa Larkin, Social Worker. Father: Unknown.

“You think this means something?” Ever asked.

“I don’t know.” She went to the computer and typed in Melissa Larkin Social Worker Salton Sea Imperial County and a number of links came up but nothing to do with Sky. She typed in Melissa Larkin House of Hearts Foundation Sky. Nothing.

“What do you think is going on?” Ever asked.

“Something. With Sky and Cyrus. I need to go back there, to the retreat center.”

Ever had a recording session starting late that same night but said that he would go with her the next day. “Do you want to come home with me now?” he asked.

She did, of course she did, but part of her wanted to be alone, to think about everything that had happened. And she knew she couldn’t wait until tomorrow to go back to Joshua Tree.

“Lock the door and don’t answer it,” he told her. He knelt and looked into Dog’s eyes. “Take good care of your mama, okay, buddy?”

Izzy could have sworn she saw Dog nod his whiskery head, but as she watched Ever leave, a part of her wanted to run after him, beg him to stay.

◆◆◆

Izzy woke to her ringtone and reached for her phone, still half asleep.

“Izzy,” Nephy said.