“Maybe they didn’t see you after all. If one of those guards walks by outside and sees that sign, we’re going to get quite the lecture. Not that I care. Screw flashing the cameras, maybe I’ll strip down naked, and when he opens the curtains from outside, he’ll be so blinded that we can make a run for it.”

“Like I said before—and just proved again—there’s nowhere to run,” Lynn said.

“Don’t sound so defeated. This was the most excitement we’ve had all day. It was worth the try.”

At the closure of another hour, they heard the door to the bedroom open. “Dinner,” said a deep voice from beyond.

“Just one second. Waxing my upper lip,” Roxy called out, opening the bathroom door.

Sighing, Lynn snatched the sign from the window and walked out.

After the food was delivered and the door to the hallway once again locked, she and Roxy sat at the table and softly spoke.

“Those swarming cicadas. If someone was taken out there, it means you were right,” Roxy said, toying with a tough piece of overcooked chicken.

“It’s happening at all the places where people have vanished. I developed contacts all over the world at the different abduction sites. When I saw the swarming happening above our woods, I reached out to them, asking them to take video or photographs, to see if they saw it as well. Even in Argentum, where one of the families of the missing took video above the town. It took me considerable time, but I found the shape there in the falling snow, clustering as it drifted.”

“I hate to even suggest it … but have you thought about sharing what you’ve uncovered with the government? To warn them?”

“I am afraid it would mean they would kill us all. Starting with William.”

“God, Lynn. There has to be another way.”

“I just need to think.”

“We have plenty of time for that.”

Having lost all trace of an appetite, Roxy grabbed two books from the shelf and attempted to read. Two hours later, she exclaimed she was so bored that her only option was to go to bed early.

It was only beginning to darken when Lynn herself started to doze in a chair. With Roxy softly snoring, Lynn closed her eyes.

Don’t go to sleep. Think. Think how to get out. Get to Stella. Get to Kate. Get to William. He has to know. Above anyone else, he has to know—

The gunshots in the distance prompted her to sit up.

“What the hell is that?” Roxy said, still deep in sleep.

“Rifles,” Lynn said, sitting up. The sounds resounded again, closer to the house. They both hurried to the curtains, parting them.