Peyton and Lin marched down the row, peering at the windows into the body bags. Near the end of the row, Peyton saw her father’s face. They had closed his eyes.

Lin Shaw knelt, unzipped the bag, and touched her husband’s cheek.

Peyton couldn’t remember ever seeing her mother cry. But in that tropical island forest, with the first rays of sunrise beaming through the tree canopy, Lin Shaw sobbed. Peyton realized it then: in some way, her mother had always expected her father to return. Lin Shaw had had one great love in her life, and she had never given up hope of being reunited with him.

Peyton understood that. Desmond was the only man she had ever truly fallen in love with. For the first time, she realized that she had always been waiting for Desmond to return. That’s why she had never moved on with her life romantically. Just like her mother had never dated after her father was taken from them.

With her hands still on William’s face, Lin said, “A long time ago, we bought burial plots in London. I’d like to bury him there. And I’d like for you, your sister, and brother to be there.”

Peyton nodded. She found it fitting. She knew now that her parents hadn’t fallen in love in London. That had occurred on the Beagle. But they had become a family in London. It was also where her father had been adopted, taken in, and helped to become the person he was.

Lin zipped up the body bag, composed herself, and turned to Peyton. “This crisis will soon be over. When that occurs, anger will replace fear. People won’t be focused on how to survive. They’ll want someone to blame—criminals to hang.”

Peyton instantly realized what her mother was telling her: Andrew was in danger. Peyton felt conflicting emotions. Her brother had created the pathogen that had killed millions. But he had been brainwashed to do it.

“I know what you’re thinking,” her mother said. “You should know this: Yuri Pachenko is a survivor. He was a young boy in Stalingrad when the Germans came. He survived by the strength of his mind. When everyone was dying around him, he learned how to manipulate people to his will. Every person has a breaking point, weaknesses—levers that can be turned.”

“What was Andrew’s?”

“Yuri threatened you.”

Peyton exhaled.

“And yours?”

“Andrew—and you. And Madison.” Lin paused. “If we give Andrew to the world, they will try him and kill him. Or imprison him. He isn’t completely innocent, but he’s not entirely guilty, either. When he realizes what he’s done, that weight will be a punishment more cruel than any the world could put upon him. What he needs now is to find his way back, to learn to live and love again.”