It still made her so angry to think of her family’s private details in the possession of strangers. She’d never heard from Steven again, including what it was that had made him travel so urgently to Mexico. He hadn’t even ever inquired about Anne, his biological daughter, or any of his grandsons. He must have fully embraced the reclusive life of the Corcillium.
Lynn pulled her hair back off her neck, looking up to the blistering bright sky, wishing she had an elastic hair tie to lift the curls and alleviate the heat—
She held the position, blinking several times, forcing herself to keep squinting. After all, what she had just seen could have been a trick of the imagination.
But then the line above the trees took shape again, like the long tail of a kite in the wind. The swarm drifted apart, the insects separating so thoroughly that it was if they disappeared altogether. She held her breath, waiting, until they once again, for just a moment, joined together, making the shape.
The same formation that she’d seen above her own woods. The same formation she’d seen in the photographs far above other abduction sites.
Not ladybugs. It couldn’t be. Moths, perhaps? What was native to Maryland—?
The answer came in the singing all around her, in the twittering crescendos of cicadas.
Someone, somewhere in these vast pines, had been taken.
As she looked down to the trees, she saw movement. Another security guard, probably on assignment to patrol the woods. She waited, slowly letting her hair fall once again. A minute later, a man moved, so deep into the trees that the green foliage almost completely blocked him from view. She saw another, then, both wearing camouflage pants and shirts, their brown ball caps curved just as William preferred to wear his. They carried rifles and had stopped to stare at her.
She lifted her hand to her chest to conceal her movement from the guard on the patio. She gave an urgent wave.
The men were so far away that she couldn’t see their expressions, but neither returned the gesture. She saw one pull up something from his neck. It was black, and he raised it to his eyes.
She waited for a moment, hoping he was focusing the binoculars. She began to mouth the words. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
The sound of shoes on grass came from behind.
Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.
“Ma’am, time to go back inside,” said the guard.
Keep the binoculars up. Please.
She waited till the guard was directly behind her, and she dramatically turned, pushing him away.
“Ma’am!”
“Get your hands off me!” she cried out, striking him again.
As she’d hoped, he reached up and took her arm gently. “Mrs. Roseworth, are you alright—”
She violently tore her arm away. Please keep watching.
“You can’t keep us here!”
“Ma’am! That’s enough! This heat has clearly gotten to you. Time to go inside and cool off. I promise you, you are in no danger at all. You need to relax.”
“I will not relax!” she practically screamed.
“Lynn?” Roxy had come out to the patio.
“They have to let us go!” Lynn called out.
“That’s enough,” the guard said, this time forcefully taking her by the arm.
Lynn struggled but let the man lead her away. Please keep watching. Please.
“Lynn, what’s wrong?” Roxy asked.
“Get back in the house!” the guard barked.
“Listen jerk off, you take your hand off my friend right now,” Roxy walked forward.
The guard ushered them both inside, closing the door. “That was your last trip outside. Best make yourself comfortable. You just lost any privilege you thought you had by making that scene out there. You best calm the hell down. If you thought you could get one of the other agents to think I’m mistreating you, trust me, you’re not that good of an actress.”
Lynn gave the agent a sharp look. “Sir, you are completely unaware of what I am capable of doing.”
He turned around and drew the curtain across the French doors. He then stepped through the doors, shutting them tightly.
“What the hell happened out there?” Roxy asked.
Lynn moved past her. “Did you bring any lipstick?”
“Come on. It was important to me that I look my best out in the middle of nowhere. They wouldn’t let us take anything. Why? What is going on?”
Lynn rushed to the desk in the room, quickly rummaging through the bare contents inside. She found a lone pen, but no paper.
“Did you have heatstroke out there?”
“No,” Lynn said, walking over the bookshelf. She searched among the row of coffee table books, finding one on beaches of the East Coast. The first page had just a small dedication to the lovers of the ocean. Tearing out the page, she hurried to the bathroom.
“OK, I’m starting to worry that you have indeed lost your mind.”
“Come in the bathroom. And close the door.”
“What are you doing?” Roxy asked, pulling the door shut behind her.
“Turn on the water.”
“Why?”
“Because they have certainly set up cameras inside the bedroom, and microphones. The faucet will drown out our words.” Lynn reached over and began to draw out large letters, scribbling back and forth on the page to darken them.
“Well, I’m going to find one of those cameras and take off my clothes and really give them something to look at,” Roxy said, looking over her shoulder. “What in the world are you writing? HELP?”
“Turn on the shower too. There were men in the woods. Hunters. They saw me. And I bet my life on the fact that someone had been abducted from these woods.”
“Wait. People saw you? And how do know there’s been an abduction from here?”
“The shower, Roxy! Especially if you’re going to talk that loud.”
“Fine.” She turned on the faucet at the sink and above the tub. “Are you sure they were hunters? In the summer?”
“They must be hunting squirrel or quail. They were carrying rifles and were wearing camouflage. One had on binoculars, and I swear he looked at me. If they’re local, I bet they’ve noticed the swarm and came to look at it.”
“Swarm? Like the ladybugs—”
“Yes. But this time they’re cicadas.”
“Cicadas? Are they making the same shape?”
“Yes. You wouldn’t notice it unless you stood and watched for a while. I assume one of the hunters saw it. And that’s why I got all dramatic out there. I hope they got worried by what they saw.”
Lynn walked to the small window in the bathroom, raising the wood blinds. She looked out, seeing none of the guards walking around. She slid the paper onto the window.
She peered over the page, biting the inside of her lip. Please come in for a closer look. Please don’t think I’m some crazy old woman with dementia who wandered out.
For the next hour she stood and watched, with Roxy pacing or sitting on the toilet lid. “Nothing?” she asked for the seventeen time.
“I would tell you if I saw something. No. Nothing.”
“Maybe they didn’t see you after all. If one of those guards walks by outside and sees that sign, we’re going to get quite the lecture. Not that I care. Screw flashing the cameras, maybe I’ll strip down naked, and when he opens the curtains from outside, he’ll be so blinded that we can make a run for it.”
“Like I said before—and just proved again—there’s nowhere to run,” Lynn said.
“Don’t sound so defeated. This was the most excitement we’ve had all day. It was worth the try.”
At the closure of another hour, they heard the door to the bedroom open. “Dinner,” said a deep voice from beyond.