Ben took a document out of his inner jacket pocket and stuck it through under the chain of the barely open door. “I have a warrant.”

Grandma Rose opened it. “How do I know you didn’t make this at Kinko’s?”

Ben sighed. “Listen, I know this must be a little scary, but your daughter is in real trouble. I just need to take a look around and see if she left something here. If it’s not here, then I’ll leave.”

“And if I don’t let you in?”

“Then I’ll be back in an hour with two other agents who will be a lot less patient.”

“Do you have a gun?”

Ben paused. “Yes. I do.”

“You’re going to have to leave it in your car. I have a young, impressionable boy in here. Guns are strictly off-limits.”

“Fair enough. I’ll be right back.”

She watched through the crack in the door as Ben jogged over to his car and deposited his gun between the seats. He locked the door and returned to his position on the front porch. “Open your jacket,” Grandma Rose said.

“Lady, you are hard-core.” Ben showed her the empty holster under his arm.

“Ankles too.”

He pulled up his pant legs. “Satisfied?”

She closed the door.

“Hey!” came a muffled cry.

She slid the chain out of the lock and opened the door. She would leave it open just in case she needed to scream for help.

“I’ll be out of your hair in a minute,” Ben said. “Just point me to your daughter’s bedroom. I’d like to start there.”

“It’s right over there,” Grandma Rose said, directing Ben past the dining room. “I’ll wait here for you, if you don’t mind.” She stood positioned between Ben and the stairs that led up to Charlie’s room.

“Thanks. Be right back.”

Grandma Rose looked at her watch. Ten minutes. That’s all she was going to give him. She heard the television come on upstairs, loud at first, then quieter and quieter. Even at low volume, she could discern the sound of fighting and explosions. What was Charlie watching? Power Danger? Danger Badgers? She could never remember the names of all the programs on April’s do-not-let-Charlie-watch-these-shows list. She turned to walk up the stairs and caught her breath. There was a man standing in the front entry. At first, Grandma Rose thought he might be an associate of Ben’s. Until she noticed the gun he was pointing at her face.

He put a finger up to his lips. Quiet.

Grandma Rose froze, one foot on the bottom stair. The gunman shut the door. Could she have made it any easier for him to walk in? How could she have been so foolish?

Behind her, she heard Ben exiting April’s room. “Didn’t find anything in there. I just need to check—”

“Don’t move,” said the gunman.