Anika slammed the door shut, which made me and Sam jump. Then she strode back into the kitchen, went to stand beside Luca, and crossed her arms while smiling tightly at Penny and flicking her eyes to us. “We’re in the middle of a grounding,” she said. “These two were late home from school, trying to get in on some excitement happening around town this afternoon. . . .” Anika glared at us, and Sam and I bowed our heads, doing our part.

“You happen to know anything about that?” Luca asked, and I looked back up. “Would that be why you’re still in uniform when your shift ended hours ago?”

Penny’s face finally broke into a real, weary smile, and she nodded. Her shoulders seemed to sag and it was just the signal she needed to come deeper into the kitchen and pull out one of the bench stools and take a seat.

“You would be correct, old man,” she said, and Luca pulled out another stool and sat beside her.

“Tea?” Anika asked, and Penny thanked her as she started making up mugs.

“There’s been a breakout at the haven,” Penny said. “Some nine-months-pregnant woman went into town yesterday afternoon and hasn’t been seen since.”

“Pregnant?” Luca said. “Can’t imagine she’s gone far then.”

“Nine months? It’s hard to even walk in that condition,” Anika added, her words coming out hard, and then Penny seemed to remember us—me and Sam standing still as mountains between the living room and kitchen—and she raised her eyebrows at us.

Luca looked over his shoulder at Sam and me, and then gently tipped his head toward the kitchen table. “This is what you two were so interested in being grounded for, you may as well hear,” he said.

Penny opened her mouth like she was about to protest but Luca continued, “It’ll probably be all over the evening news anyway, but you both know not to repeat what’s said in this room, understood?”

Sam and I nodded, and we sat side by side at the table and listened as Penny continued.

“Well, she’s not the first of them to flee a haven—apparently dozens around the country have been broken out, suspected to be hidden by civilians.”

“That so?”

Penny nodded, and then looked over at Sam and me. “Your little friends said they might have seen her hopping on the 787. . . .” I held my breath, until Penny shook her head. “But that was a bust, and we’ve had no other sightings.” I could feel Sam exhale beside me.

“So I thought I’d come here and see if you had any ideas about who it is we should start looking at,” Penny said, turning back to Luca.

Sam started jiggling his leg underneath the table, and then pushed his slipping glasses roughly back up his nose. I gently pressed my knee against his to get him to stop fidgeting.