“It’s a sat-phone,” Xandria said, showing it to him. “Brand-new. A prototype. I work for the provider. I can talk to anyone in the world, crystal clear.” She smoothed out a wrinkle in her black skirt. “You watch, everyone will have one a year from now.”

“I should get one of those,” August said. “I could talk to my son everywhere I travel. He’d get a kick out of that.”

“Now you’re making me feel guilty.” Xandria held out the phone, her clear eyes dancing. “You want to talk to your son?”

August held up both hands. “I wasn’t trying to imply anything.”

“I know you weren’t. But I know how it is, being away from home and everything. Here. I insist.”

August looked at his watch. Charlie lived in Washington DC. There, it was only late afternoon. The timing was perfect. April, his ex, wouldn’t be home for another few hours, meaning he could avoid an argument with her. “I’m sure it’s a really expensive call,” he said, as weak an argument as he could present.

“No problem. It’s a company phone,” Xandria said, placing the sleek device in August’s hands. “I can tell you miss him. Believe me, I understand. You should call him.”

August’s calls to Charlie were far too infrequent. Traveling around the world, he would often forget what time it was back in DC and end up calling at three in the morning. Only a couple weeks ago, April answered, voice groggy, and immediately hung up on him after looking at a clock. “Hey, thanks for this,” he said, dialing the number. It only rang once before someone answered.

“Adams residence. Charlie speaking.”

His voice sounded younger than August remembered. “Hi, buddy,” August said.

“Dad? Where are you? Are you in DC?”

“No, afraid I’m not,” August said. “But I wish I was.” In the background, he heard the sound of the television. Probably PBS, the only thing April allowed him to watch.

“I wish you were here too,” Charlie said. “Hey, Dad, I made a new friend at school today. His name is Nicholas. He likes Power Rangers just like me.”

“Your mom lets you watch Power Rangers?”

“No.”

“Are you watching it now?”

“Yes,” Charlie said, his slow response telling August the rest of the story.

“It’ll be our little secret,” August said. “Where’s Grandma Rose?”

“She’s talking in the other room with somebody.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. But I think I heard him say something about the FBI when I was spying on him earlier.”

The FBI? What could they want with Grandma Rose? “You playing Superspy today?” Xandria gave August a knowing smile and raised her eyebrows as she returned her photos to her purse. She had the prettiest—