“Because they’re not going to air it unless I confirm it,” he said. “Someone could easily manipulate old video of me to make something like this. They may want to talk to you too, Maisie.”

She was sitting a few computers down, boots propped up on the table. “Sure, why not? Let’s call everyone.”

“There’s still no one to stop us, right?” Lennon said.

“Technically, I should stop you,” Hadley said. “But Uncle Franco is gone, and so are his rules. So, sure, go ahead.”

She waved a hand like she’d given up. Wearing people down was one of his many terrible talents.

Lennon dialed the number and pressed the phone to his ear.

“It went through, right?” he asked Elise. “The video?”

She kept her eyes on her screen. “It looks like it, from what I can tell.”

“Hello?” the voice on the other end said.

“Hey, Zoe, is Constance around? This is Lennon Pierce.”

There was a long pause. “I’m—wait, what? Who is this?”

“It’s me, Zoe. Lennon.”

Silence on the other end.

“When I visited the studio, I brought you doughnuts, and we talked about how no one else likes apple fritters, but how they’re our favorite.”

“Oh my god. Lennon?”

“Hi.”

“Hold on. Holy shit. Hold on.”

The line went silent as she put him on hold.

Constance picked up a moment later, sounded annoyed. “Who is this?”

“Constance, are you being mean to your assistant again? I’m sure she told you it was me on the phone.”

“Lennon?”

“Yes, it’s Lennon, I already proved it to your assistant, let’s move on.”

“Jesus. Are you okay? Are you safe? Wait, did you get out of the quarantine zone?”

“Not yet. Listen, there should be an email in your inbox with a video file. Do you see it?”

Short pause. “Yes.”

“Open it. It’s from me.”

He heard the sound of his own voice playing on the other end of the line.

“Are you kidding me?” she said as it finished. “Is this for real? You’re getting out of there?”

“Yes. And you have to run it, okay? I’ve seen what the other networks are saying about my disappearance.”

“They watch the news in there? I thought they were totally cut off from the rest of the world.”

“Uh, I struck a deal.”

“Is that girl there with you? Maisie Rojas?”

“Yeah, she’s here.”

“Were you forced to record this video under duress?”

“No.”

There was a pause. “If you’re in trouble, can you give me some kind of sign?”

“I’m not in trouble, Constance. What I said on the video is true. Everyone has been nice to me, and Maisie is going to help me get out of here.”

“Can I talk to her?”

“Sure.” Lennon held the phone out to Maisie. “She wants to talk to you.”

Maisie sighed, standing and taking the phone from him. She held it to her ear. “Hey. Yeah, this is Maisie.” She listened for a moment. “I figured it was time to do my good deed for the year.”