“And they thought making two little old ladies leave their purses behind would keep us from causing trouble,” Roxy said. “Now, back to how you think you communicated with William—”

“I don’t think I did. I did,” Lynn said, reaching for Stella’s laptop. “It was more … of a connection than communication. I could barely understand what little he said. I couldn’t respond, I didn’t know how. I have to make sure … that it’s all here. It’s my only choice.”

“Choice to do what?” Stella asked.

Lynn inserted the flash drive.

FIFTEEN

Two hundred and seventy-two text messages in two days.

As she had done dozens of times in the last week, Kate resisted the urge to call her chief of staff and explain why she’d gone completely off the radar. Sorry, Rachel. It’s just that the world is about to end.

Instead, she sent a quick apology, promising to explain more about why she was so unreachable. What she wanted to tell Rachel was to go home to her loved ones.

Did you see the hurricane now forming in the Bering Sea, heading for Alaska, Rachel? Or how the southern tip of Greenland is burning? Or maybe how hospitals in Valparaiso are overrun, completely freaking out the Chilean government? But that, of course, has been momentarily overshadowed by the shooting massacre in Buenos Aires. The world is quickly realizing these are not isolated events.

Kate’s phone dinged again. Make that two hundred seventy-three.

Anne again. Her older sister’s texts were the hardest to ignore.

Kate! I know you’re getting these. Stella’s not responding, you’re not responding. I can’t take this. If you care at all for your family, please call me. I have no idea where William is. It’s been two days since that video of Mom and Roxy leaving that house with Stella. We got into Maryland last night and no one will tell us anything. You must know something. Please, Kate. Please call. I can’t take this.

Kate’s fingers hovered over her phone. My God, what would I say? That Mom is hiding from me too? That I know your son is in a government cell miles beneath the earth, and they won’t even let me see him?

It still burned, thinking about how after she left William’s cell, she was briskly escorted out of the SSA’s building and ushered into a waiting Town Car. She’d demanded to see Director Wolve, but was told he would be calling her any moment now.

That had been forty-eight hours ago.

She’d repeatedly called. But the director of the SSA was out in the field, his secretary explained. Kate’s calls to his cell phone had gone to voice mail.

When she’d demanded to see her nephew, she was told it was too high of a security risk at the moment.