JACK’S PHONE RANG JUST AS HE PULLED INTO THE GROCERY store parking lot.
“I need you to get home right away!” Taylor’s voice was panicked.
“What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
“Jack . . . my mother just called me.”
“What do you mean? Another dream?”
“No. She says she’s in Greece. Under arrest. She wants me to go there.”
“Taylor, what are you talking about? This is crazy. Your mother can’t have called you.” What was going on with Taylor? Jack did a U-turn and headed back to the house.
He could hear her breath coming too fast. “Jack . . . she knew the code word. It had to be her . . . I just . . .”
“T, try to calm down. Breathe. I’ll be home in ten minutes.”
His pulse was racing, and it felt like it was taking forever to get back to the house. What was happening? What if she was having a stroke? Was she hallucinating? Maybe it was that damn vaccine. Delayed reaction perhaps? They’d both had those boosters a few weeks ago. What if she hurt herself? Should he call 911? No. He was the one panicking now. It was surely some sort of a mix-up. He pulled onto their street and tore into the driveway, then bolted toward the house and ran through the open front door, yelling her name.
He found her in the kitchen on the phone, pacing and speaking fast. She looked up and held up a finger. “Okay. See you soon.”
“Who was that?”
She took a deep breath. “Jeremy. He said we can use his company’s jet.”
“Hold on. Are you seriously considering flying to Greece on a wild-goose chase?”
“Jack, listen to me. Look.” She held her phone up and showed him the picture she’d been sent. “It’s her! See?”
He enlarged the selfie and examined the photo. It was Eva. Older, of course, but undoubtedly her . . . but how? “What the . . . ? I don’t get it.”
“I have to go. You can see that, can’t you?”
He sighed. “I’m going with you.”
She put her hand on Jack’s arm. “No, you have to stay and take care of Evan. I need to know he’s safe here with you. Jeremy and I will be fine.”
“Taylor, have you considered that maybe someone just aged an old picture and sent it? This deepfake technology has gotten really advanced. You talked to her for what, five minutes? This doesn’t feel right.”
“Jack, it was her! I know it. I recognized her voice. Even after all this time. Please, you have to trust me on this. Besides, a Father Basil from the Orthodox Church called me right after she did. He’s the one who gave her the passport. He’s given me the name of a lawyer to see when we get to Athens.”
This all sounded more and more ludicrous. “Look, this could all be one elaborate trick. You don’t know that the man who called you is really a priest and even if he is, so what? You can’t go flying off to Greece. It’s crazy.”
She replied, “Listen, Jeremy knows Father Basil. He tried to help Jeremy find the coins after Crosse killed himself, and he’s been trying to help my mother get back to the States. Father Basil said that he didn’t know the airport had installed the new technology and would be able to see that the passport had been forged.”
Jack had a terrible feeling in the bottom of his stomach. “Let me go with you. We can have someone come and stay with Evan.”
“No! You have to stay with him. And I don’t have time to stand here and argue with you. I’m meeting Jeremy at Teterboro in two hours.”
The old Jack would have pulled some macho stunt to block her from going but he’d evolved, even though it killed him to stand down. But he could see it was pointless to try to dissuade her. “This is nuts. I really don’t want you to go, but I realize I’m not going to be able to stop you. Go get ready. I’ll drop you.”
She leaned in and kissed him and he put his arms around her. “I love you,” she whispered.
He closed his eyes. “I love you more than life itself. Please be careful.”