She and the others led him to the stairwell and back up the insane stairway—Barbara crawled while they walked—then into the elevator and up to the lobby. All along the way he rattled on about a hole in the floor of his apartment and how it opened into a totally deserted city in another reality on another world and how he’d followed a seemingly endless serpentine path that eventually led him to the door Hill had opened.

Hari figured she could beat that story—she wished her alternate world had been deserted—and was only half listening until she heard him mention a familiar name.

“Wait-wait,” she said, grabbing his sleeve. “What did you say?”

“I said I have to be careful not to run into Belgiovene once I’m back.”

“Belgiovene?” Hadn’t Donny mentioned that name? “You’re sure that’s his name?”

“Well, I overheard him call himself that when he was on a phone call. You know him?”

“Only heard the name. Could be someone totally other. Why would you want to avoid him?”

“He was sent to kill me.”

Hari felt a chill. Donny said he was sure a guy named Belgiovene had killed his brother.

“How do you know he was sent and why would someone want to kill you?”

“The Septimus Order sent him—because I know too much.”

Déjà vu body-slammed her: exactly the case with Donny’s brother.

“Gotta go,” she said and hurried toward the entrance without good-byes or an explanation. She had to check this out.

When she reached the door, Simón said, “Can I get you a cab?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

She stood under the canopy and dialed Donny’s number while Simón waved and whistled from the curb. The call went straight to voicemail so she left a message to call her ASAP. Then she took the cab down to the Flatiron District. She called Donny three more times along the way with the same result. Seemed like he’d turned off his phone.

Back in her office, she settled before her computer and found a strange icon blinking on her monitor: Donny’s grinning face in a glowing circle. She laughed and clicked it. The screen flickered and a video of Donny began to play. He was standing by the damaged hood of their rented Tahoe. Initially she warmed at the sight of him, but then she noticed how stressed he looked.

“Hey, Hari, I’m pretty sure this transmission will work. I’m beaming it straight to your hard drive. I hope you enjoyed our time together this morning as much as I did, and I hope you’re looking forward to a replay as much as I am.”

She was. As much as she knew it was foolish and couldn’t go anywhere, she most definitely was.

“Okay, that said, I wanted to prove to you that I can do more than sit and tap at a keyboard.”

He waved to the woodsy scenery behind him.

“I think you can recognize that area just a little ways back up the hill there.”