He’d had his own disastrous exchanges, especially when people insulted his family. Once some frat guy at a bar had pointed his finger at his brother Brian, slurring, “Aren’t you the one who stopped talking for like a year? You missed the aliens by this much.” William had hit him squarely in the jaw, and Brian had yanked him out before police had been called.

“You have to leave. Please,” William called out. He stuffed some jeans and T-shirts into a backpack and reached under the bed to pull out the wad of cash he kept stashed in a plastic bag.

“Mr. Chance, Lily has barely spoken beyond saying her first name. We’ve tried to figure out where she came from. When I took her to my office, she was given a phone to play a game while we began our investigation, and she suddenly started talking. She showed us the alert about your appearance and kept saying, ‘He knows, he knows.’ Over and over. She said she could find you. Given the seriousness of this, I got the authority to fly us here on a red-eye. Sir, you’ve got to understand that you’re our only hope at this point. And there’s more. I don’t know if you’re following what’s happening in North Dakota—”

William slid the bag onto his back and opened the door, breezing past her. “Lady, I’ve never seen that girl in my life—”

He almost ran into the girl, who was standing at the end of the hallway.

“Excuse me,” William said, moving around her and heading for the door.

“Mr. Chance, please. She can describe you with incredible detail. She knew how to get into this trailer. We need to understand what she’s talking about. She won’t elaborate, but indicates you know her—”

“Lady!” William turned around to find the girl now standing just two feet behind him. “I cannot help you. I have no explanation for you. You are breaking and entering, and I could call the cops.”

“I am a cop, Mr. Chance. I’m a federal criminal investigator, and right now, you’re our only lead in the case of a little girl found in the middle of an empty canyon that happens to be the center of a major disaster—”

“I wish I could help. I’ve never been to North Dakota, and I’ve never seen her before. And unless you’ve got a warrant, you can’t be in here.”

Lois hustled towards him as he opened the door. “She also keeps repeating the same thing over and over that troubles us even more. Mr. Chance, please don’t make me use my arrest privileges—”

“I come from a long line of lawyers, ma’am,” he said, stepping out. “I know what it takes to make an arrest, and you don’t have it.…”