I took a car to Lauren’s home and carried my belongings to my guest bedroom upstairs. Down the hall Abby was already asleep. What was I going to tell her about my decision? I had thought of a hundred ways to break the news. None of them would soften the blow. No words could.

The next morning I woke up late. I walked down the upstairs hall to Abby’s sunlit room. Her bed was empty. I checked the bathroom; it was as well. I walked down the stairs and called for her. No one answered.

I searched the downstairs. Had she said she was going someplace? I accessed my memory stream. No. I went outside to the FBI agent sitting in a car at the curb. “Did Abby leave?”

“Yes.” He seemed annoyed to be speaking with one of his charges.

“When?”

“About an hour ago.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“No.” The man had no intention of elaborating.

“Why didn’t you stop her?”

“I’m here to secure the house, Dr. Daniels. I don’t have the authority to prevent either of you from leaving.”

Great. I stalked back into the house and tapped Ben. We met in VR.

“Abby left.”

“Where’d she go?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Neither does the FBI guy.”

“How long ago?”

“An hour.”

“You think she just wanted to get out for a while?”

“Probably. Or…”

“Boston.” Ben rubbed his brow in frustration. “She seemed pretty focused on getting Ray out of there the other day.” There was a long pause. “I have a friend at the bureau who will still help me out. He can check to see if she’s taken a train.”

He exited VR. In five minutes he was back. He looked worried. “She’s on the train. Gets to Boston in two hours.”

“I’ll meet you at the station,” I said, exasperated by Abby’s determination to put herself in danger.

“No, you’ll never make it to the mental hospital before she does. I might.”

“From DC?”

“No, I’m in Baltimore. I’ll go after her. You stay in DC.”

“But she might need both of us.” I didn’t like the idea of helplessly sitting around Lauren’s, waiting for news.

He shook his head. “No, let’s stick with our plan.”

“But my transplant isn’t for two days.”

“I need you there in case Abby comes to her senses and returns. If she does, don’t let her out of your sight.”

Ben accessed Grid time. It didn’t encourage him. Abby had too much of a head start. He couldn’t just walk into a hospital and demand that a visitor be handed over to him. He wasn’t FBI anymore. He tapped a Grid address he hadn’t contacted since the day of his firing and entered Trevor Hamm’s virtual office.

“Ben! How’s your vacation going?”