“Sorry, Mr. Martin. You know the board. Millionaires with this much at stake don’t mess around. They want you brought in safely, away from these people,” the man holding William said. “And ultimately, that board is who makes sure we get paid. And we need our paychecks. We’re going now.”

The beefy security men were on Quincy, rushing him out like a president under fire.

“No!” Quincy ordered, even trying to wrench away, but the men were built like semi trucks.

The bodyguard leaned down to William. “I will have a gun on you until we are out of this place. Don’t you think about making a damn move.”

With a final hard press on William’s arm, the man backed out, his gun still pointed at them. Swiftly and quietly, he shut the door.

Seconds later, there was a squeal of tires and a flash of headlights. What remained was a street, dark and still.

TWELVE

“You are going to burn a hole in that carpet if you walk in front of that window one more time.”

Lynn stopped pacing, her hand rising in exasperation. “What else am I supposed to do?”

“You should look over this pamphlet on the Antietam Campaign Trail, as I have seventeen thousand times.” Roxy took the brochure and threw it back in the drawer by the nightstand.

“What have I done? I have no idea what happened to that boy. Or his brother. Did they get caught? They’re strangers, for God’s sake, and I just recklessly put them in harm’s way to help us escape.”

“Listen, those are country boys. You know what Hank Williams Jr. says is true. Of course they survived. And if the guards caught someone trying to help us, don’t you think Mr. Wonderful out there would have come in here and given us another lecture? That boy got away, Lynn. Whether or not he was sober enough to do anything with that phone number is another story.”

Lynn started walking again. Morning had come, and with it a breakfast on trays served by an agent who refused to speak to them. But he had, at least, parted the curtains to allow in some natural light.

“Wonder what they’ll bring us for lunch,” Roxy muttered. “Food is usually the one thing I have to look forward to, so at least that’s normal. Can I request Papa John’s?”

Lynn hated the feeling. Even when William had first disappeared, and in those awful, dark days in Argentum, she had never felt unhinged. But she felt it rising, now, like a fever. The walls around her weren’t closing in, per se, but the room felt tighter.