I know that much thanks to Rachel, who made it clear that I never had to talk to anyone about what happened up at the camp in Maine if I didn’t want to—not that Agent Klute and his friends had ever returned. Unless they have. Maybe this is them in one way or another.

“No, I suppose we can’t,” Kendall says, eyes locked on mine. I am still too far away to read him, but I can see from the look on his face that he knew I was here the entire time. That he is here for me. “This situation has many moving parts, however. Many things are not what they seem. It can be difficult to follow, but you should try.”

It’s a message directed right at me. Difficult to follow, but you should try. But it’s not a threat. I feel like he is trying to help me.

“Wylie’s right,” Ramona says, stepping over to stand next to me. She flicks her bracelet once, but in a way now that’s almost imperceptible. “It’s a free country. You can’t pretend you’re helping us so that you can make us help you.”

“Yeah, you can’t keep us here,” Becca says.

“Yeah,” Kelsey says, next to me now, too. Committed to commotion, I get the sense, more than cause. “Let us go.”

And I don’t know who starts it, but soon everyone is chanting: “Let us go!” Everyone but me. I stand silently. My eyes are locked on Kendall in the swell of a revolt of my making. “Let us go! Let us go! Let us go!”

Kendall’s face is calm and still, as if this is exactly what he planned. Like he is already focused on the next steps.

“Okay, everyone calm down,” Dr. Haddox calls.

The security guards seem annoyed by the noise but not actually concerned. “Quiet!” the Wolf shouts.

Kendall glances away then, distracted by something. He digs around before pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“I apologize,” he says, looking first at Dr. Haddox and then right at me. “I have to step out and take this.”

It’s a sign: It can be difficult to follow, but you should try. Officer Kendall has already turned elegantly for the windowed doors, toward the Wolf and his partner in front of them. The doors to the outside. In a moment he will be gone. I need to go after him. I need at least to try. That is my instinct right now. And I need trust it, just like my dad said.

I walk quickly but calmly—at least that’s what I try for—toward the water fountain. It’s in the general direction of where Kendall is headed, the water fountain, but a good enough excuse that no one will wonder where I’m going. I get there just as Kendall reaches the guards.