Stella reached back and parted the curtain on her side of the window. “Not yet. But I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time. I feel terrible that I haven’t been able to respond to Anne or Chris or the boys, but I’m hesitant to make any calls, given the kind of tracking technology my sources say the FBI has at their disposal. Anne is blowing up my phone as we speak.”
“I know I’ve said it already, but brilliant move, kiddo. Long live the fourth estate. And good thinking ditching the Volvo for a rental car. Although I was unaware that you’d changed your first and last name.”
“I did a series of reports on how easy it was to buy fake IDs once. Had one made myself to prove it. I always wondered if one day it would come in handy.”
“If you’re worried about being tracked by cell, shouldn’t you be worried about that laptop?” Roxy pointed to the computer sitting on Stella’s lap.
“It’s got a pretty strong firewall, and everything I do is encrypted. I feel safe using it. As soon as we come up with some kind of plan, I’ll email Chris and Anne. They’re already so worried about William, now they know Mom is in some sort of trouble too. If I wasn’t so mad at my ass of an older sister, I would reach out to her for help.”
Stella turned to Lynn. “Sorry, Mom. I know you don’t like me talking badly about Kate. But my God, signing that order? That’s low, even for her.”
“Stella, now’s not the time,” Roxy cautioned, waiting for Lynn to interject.
Instead, Lynn just kept staring. When Roxy saw she hadn’t blinked, she walked over. “Lynn?”
Lynn slowly held up her hand.
“Mom?” Stella asked. “Are you OK?”
Lynn’s fingers folded, with only her index finger remaining extended.
“What are we waiting for exactly?” Roxy demanded.
Lynn closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were filled with tears.
“Mom!”
“I’m OK,” Lynn said softly. “It’s William.”
“What?” Roxy asked, pulling up a chair. “What are you talking about?”
Lynn exhaled. “I know where he is.”
Roxy reached out and put her hand on Lynn’s shoulder. “Sis, seriously. You’re scaring me a little.”
“I’m fine. He found me. I just need to think.”
“Found you?” Stella asked. “What do you mean?”
“Stella, I thought I heard you say that you trusted your laptop. Can you send secure messages?” Lynn asked.
“I can,” Stella began, exchanging worried glances with Roxy. “But I don’t understand.”
Lynn dug into her pocket, bringing out the flash drive. “I’m going to need access to my files.”
“And they thought making two little old ladies leave their purses behind would keep us from causing trouble,” Roxy said. “Now, back to how you think you communicated with William—”
“I don’t think I did. I did,” Lynn said, reaching for Stella’s laptop. “It was more… of a connection than communication. I could barely understand what little he said. I couldn’t respond, I didn’t know how. I have to make sure… that it’s all here. It’s my only choice.”
“Choice to do what?” Stella asked.
Lynn inserted the flash drive.
FIFTEEN
Two hundred and seventy-two text messages in two days.
As she had done dozens of times in the last week, Kate resisted the urge to call her chief of staff and explain why she’d gone completely off the radar. Sorry, Rachel. It’s just that the world is about to end.
Instead, she sent a quick apology, promising to explain more about why she was so unreachable. What she wanted to tell Rachel was to go home to her loved ones.
Did you see the hurricane now forming in the Bering Sea, heading for Alaska, Rachel? Or how the southern tip of Greenland is burning? Or maybe how hospitals in Valparaiso are overrun, completely freaking out the Chilean government? But that, of course, has been momentarily overshadowed by the shooting massacre in Buenos Aires. The world is quickly realizing these are not isolated events.
Kate’s phone dinged again. Make that two hundred seventy-three.
Anne again. Her older sister’s texts were the hardest to ignore.
Kate! I know you’re getting these. Stella’s not responding, you’re not responding. I can’t take this. If you care at all for your family, please call me. I have no idea where William is. It’s been two days since that video of Mom and Roxy leaving that house with Stella. We got into Maryland last night and no one will tell us anything. You must know something. Please, Kate. Please call. I can’t take this.
Kate’s fingers hovered over her phone. My God, what would I say? That Mom is hiding from me too? That I know your son is in a government cell miles beneath the earth, and they won’t even let me see him?
It still burned, thinking about how after she left William’s cell, she was briskly escorted out of the SSA’s building and ushered into a waiting Town Car. She’d demanded to see Director Wolve, but was told he would be calling her any moment now.
That had been forty-eight hours ago.
She’d repeatedly called. But the director of the SSA was out in the field, his secretary explained. Kate’s calls to his cell phone had gone to voice mail.
When she’d demanded to see her nephew, she was told it was too high of a security risk at the moment.
They used me and now have no need to keep me in the loop.
And he wasn’t the only one.
She’d learned the president had been having hourly updates, and her presence hadn’t been required. When she’d inquired with his chief of staff, she’d been told that the president intended to bring her in at the appropriate time. With that, her access to the Oval Office was shut down.
So she’d made a phone call she never thought she’d make again. The car had arrived two hours ago.
Kate didn’t wait for her door to be opened when they arrived at the SSA’s warehouse headquarters, brushing into the building as soon as her escort had punched in the code and allowed the screen to scan his eyes. Another code and another scan in the small front lobby, and they walked briskly through.
She stopped walking at the sight of all the camouflage.
The sprawling first floor of the operation was more chaotic than before, as men and women clad in army fatigues moved between computer screens and television monitors, each showcasing a different disaster somewhere in the world. At each work station were SSA employees, looking more dour than usual.
She watched as one grizzled-looking soldier, an AR-15 strapped to his back, grilled a woman in a black suit about video of a hospital room. When the woman didn’t immediately respond, he shoved his finger at the screen.
“Senator, this way,” her escort said, placing his hand on her arm. It was more of a forceful touch than she would have liked.
Kate gave the operation another look as he led—no, whisked—her down a hallway. After several turns and another retinal scan, they arrived in a nondescript office.
Inside, Agent Flynn Hallow leaned over two laptops.
“Senator. I’m glad you called—”
“I want to see my nephew,” she said, throwing her purse on a chair.
“That’s beyond my ability to allow at this point.”
“Then what about Steven Richards? I was told he was found with William and the others. Has he been useful?”
“Not at all. He refuses to speak or eat. He won’t even change his clothes. He’s a very ill old man, that’s obvious, but won’t tell us even if he needs medicine. He’s just down the hall.”
“I’ll want to see him. But first, why is Director Wolve not taking my calls?”
“It’s General Wolve, not director.”