“Why did you say you were right to be worried?” Roxy prodded.

Lynn did not respond at first, careful, as always, to mask her reasons. “I didn’t even like Tom going there. I fought for so long to keep him from even stepping foot there. But Tom gave up so much … and was such an asset to my work … that it was unfair to stop him. And when I’m lost, or frustrated with my own deep failings, I can’t help but go there, to see if I’ve missed something. And I was right to go there today. We have to leave. Right now.”

Roxy allowed Lynn to drag her away. “I know you enjoy keeping me in the dark, but if there’s truly something dangerous—”

“I have to find William. I have to.”

“Lynn, we all want to know where he is. I’ve told you time and time again that he’s a grown man now, and he’s just working his way through this—”

“He’s not. He’s hiding. And I understand why. But he can’t hide anymore. I have to tell him.”

“Tell him what?” Roxy planted her feet. “Even though I am in desperate need of air-conditioning right now, I need an explanation.”

Lynn once again touched her arm. “Then come and see.”

Moving around the boxwoods and across the lawn, Lynn led her out into the sun that hit them with the ferocity of a Tennessee summer morning. Roxy winced, pulling her “I ♥ PBS” T-shirt loose from her chest. “Can we stand in the shade at least?”

“No. Right here.” Lynn took off her binoculars and thrust them into Roxy’s hands. “Hold them up. Follow where I point.”

“Can I go get my sunglasses?”

“No.”

Roxy sighed and lifted the binoculars to her eyes. “Great. I see leaves.”

“Look up higher,” Lynn said, gently lifting the binoculars. “Follow my finger.”

“All I can see is white. I can’t see your finger through these things. Wonderful, more white. Wait. Is that a rain cloud? If I’m lucky, it will burst open and drench us and complete this marvelous morning.”

“That’s not a cloud.”

“Of course it is,” Roxy lowered the binoculars, squinting. The sky was piercingly white, awash in thin cirrus clouds. The strip of razor-thin dark could have been easily missed. “What is that? Birds?”

“No,” Lynn said, the pitch of her voice dropping. “Ladybugs.”

The dread that hit Roxy was like suddenly realizing there was a semi truck in her blind spot. While she knew little about her friend’s research, Lynn had explained to her the swarming of the beetles at the time of William’s disappearance, and how even the government kept them in canisters at the hospital in Argentum to serve as a warning of what was to come.

“Are you sure? They’re so far above trees. I didn’t think insects could fly that high.”