I heard a second boarding call. “Abby, we’d better go.”

She pulled Ben into an embrace, and they hugged for a long time. When he finally pulled away, I could see a tear in his eye.

He and I shook hands.

“I’ll tap you in a couple of days,” I told him. “Give you a progress report.”

He nodded. “Talk to you then.”

We grabbed our suitcases and walked past the gate and down the jet bridge.

“Progress report about what?” Abby asked.

“How things are going in Dallas,” I lied.

We waited for a moment on the jet bridge. Abby leaned close to me so no one would overhear her. “Creighton, when Cleary discovers that the nanites didn’t activate, what will stop him from trying it again?”

“I’m sure the FBI will have him by then.” Another lie—unless one considered possession of a corpse as “having him.” I’d be glad when this entire episode ended and I didn’t have to hide anything from Abby. “Ben is staying here to work on it. All they have to do is find one nanite bomb, and they’ll have the evidence they need.”

“Then it will be over?”

“Then it will be over.” I smiled at her. “Our part is already over.”

When she sighed, her whole body seemed to release tension, and she leaned into me. “I know.”

Ten minutes after Ben Steele left the airport, Lewis Pape emerged from a car, walked inside the terminal, and approached a ticket kiosk.

“Destination?” the kiosk robot asked.

“DFW.”

“Departure time?”

“Two forty-six.”

He secured his ticket and proceeded to the concourse, stopping to buy some over-the-counter pain medication for a headache. Did this stuff actually work? Pape hadn’t had a headache in years.

I woke to bright sunlight streaming through my windows. I threw on some clothes and walked down the hallway. Abby was stretched out on top of her comforter in jeans and a T-shirt, writing in her journal, her Bible next to her on the bed.

“Hey,” I said from the doorway. “You’re up early.”

She closed her journal and smiled at me. “You’re up late.” She crossed the room, placed her arms around me, and hugged me.

I stepped back after a moment. “No kiss?”

She rose up on her toes and kissed me briefly on the lips. Something was wrong, but I decided not to press her about whatever was bothering her. We went downstairs for breakfast.

“I saw in the news that Lauren has a new strategy. She’s called for hearings on government oversight of the AI industry.”

Abby had a bite of toast. “At least we gave her a new issue for her campaign. I’m glad government funding for the transplants died.”

“Thanks to you.”

She shook her head. “No, thanks to Poppy.”

“NTI announced that it has suspended brain transplants indefinitely.”