Did you ever meet my American parents? he asks suddenly. After all, the Sender said his parents were lying to him. What could they have lied to him about except his adoption? Everything else pales.

The in-box stays empty for five minutes, and he feels his nerves begin to tense up. Then the answer comes: Yes. Briefly. They came to see me one time. Before your hearing. They were concerned your mother Anya wanted you back. They wanted me to help them complete the adoption by keeping Anya away.

They had seen her, Grant guesses. He types that.

Yes. They saw her. She had caused problems at the orphanage. They were afraid of her changing her mind. She had an earlier child, had given it up, wanted it back, and gave it up again. They were afraid she would do the same to you.

Somehow, although it was forbidden, his parents had encountered his birth mother and father both in Russia. And lied about that to him. And now Danielle is dead. He feels a sick twist settle into his stomach. He stares out into the darkness beyond the window.

He types and sends: So she wouldn’t send these pictures to me? You say one is of her. Is she trying to find me?

A terrible dark thought comes to him. Danielle is dead. Someone, maybe his biological mother, is sending pictures to him from a Russian server. And his family is, at the same time, completely falling apart. Is it that Danielle’s death is unraveling them, or is there a deeper danger? But that can’t be. All of the terrible things that have befallen his family cannot be under the control of a woman back in Russia.

What if she’s not back in Russia? What if she’s here? Putting gifts for you in the tree.

Grant’s throat feels thick. No answering email yet. He writes again: Would she try to hurt us? Is she angry?

The longest two minutes of his life tick by. He is about to give up when the message appears: I called her the day of the court hearing for your adoption and she told me she was not going to give you up and she would stop you from being taken to America. But then I never heard from her again. I decided she changed her mind or lost her courage.

Something in the answer…in the words…frightens him. What would his parents have done?

I can’t be involved. She was never well. She gave up the first child TWICE because she was unstable and she should have never had another one. I don’t mean that against you. It was just how it was with her. She would say unwell things to me. People were after her. People were coming for her. All in her imagination. I have to go now. We cannot talk again.