He thought for a moment and leaned forward. “All right, very well. Focus on the insertions for now. They’re the most important thing. Let’s get them in place. I’ll see if Nichols can inquire about the girl. She’s either back in New Guinea, which solves our problem, or she’ll show up on the Grid again. I’ll be monitoring.”

Sabin sat in the alcove at the far end of the upstairs hallway. It was his favorite room in the house, a place where he liked to relax and lapse into VR. That didn’t appeal at the moment, however. It was physical reality that concerned him. Abby’s physical reality. She had left unannounced three days earlier while he and Lauren were out the morning after their disagreement. They had told her to go, and she had. But he had anticipated helping her and certainly staying in touch. Now she was out there on her own. For Abby, America was a more dangerous jungle than the one in Papua New Guinea. Especially if federal agents came after her.

She wanted to restart Christianity in the States. Where could she possibly go to accomplish that task? Something she had said kept returning to him. The message from Inland Tribes. It had convinced her to stay. She had wanted continued access to it. Did it provide a clue as to her plan? Might it indicate her whereabouts?

He hated the idea of accessing someone else’s personal message. But Abby had no idea what she might face out there. She needed someone to keep track of her—if for no other reason than to obtain good legal counsel when the time came.

“Spitfire,” he said to his Grid interface, “access a message forwarded to me from Inland Tribes.”

“Accessed, Sabin.”

“Play the message, please.”

Five days. I had waited five days since Abby’s abrupt exit from my office. Long enough to let her cool down from whatever prompted her departure. Assuming she would cool down.

I tapped Sabin Wright and waited on a VR mountaintop. He liked mountain hiking, I remembered Abby saying. In a moment he appeared. I reached my hand toward him. “Creighton Daniels. Abby came to my class at the University of the South last week.”

“Sabin Wright.” He took in the view. “Breathtaking.”

I got right to the point. “Abby left my office somewhat…well, abruptly, and I was hoping I could speak with her again. It’s a matter of some importance.”

Sabin shook his head. “I don’t know where she is. She packed her stuff and left three days ago without saying where she was going.”

I felt a tightening in my stomach. Abby could certainly take care of herself, but I hated the thought of her alone, navigating unfamiliar territory. “Do you think she went back to Papua New Guinea?”

“No, she was planning on staying here.”

“With whom?”