EMMET DIDN’T KNOW HOW LONG HE LAY ON THE TREE-house floor. Apollo circled the tree, barking and scratching at the trunk, whining for a while, until Emmet finally climbed down. Dr. Geaux was still in the house on her cell phone when he came back in. She and Calvin gave him some time and space, and he appreciated it. When he entered the kitchen she told whomever she was talking to that she would have to call back, and she stood up.

“I’m sorry, Emmet,” she said again. “We’re going to find your dad, I promise you.”

“It’s not your fault,” Emmet said. “You didn’t kidnap him. It’s just …”

He couldn’t go on. This didn’t seem like the right time to talk about being afraid of losing his dad, just like he’d lost his mom. But Dr. Geaux understood.

“Emmet, I think I understand a little bit about what you’re feeling right now. I’ve … we’ve … Calvin and I have lost someone, too. But my husband’s death was an accident, and your mother was sick. Those are tragedies we couldn’t do anything about. We can fight back here. And we’re going to. We’ll find him,” she said.

She stood up and reached into her pocket, handing Calvin and Emmet cell phones. “I brought these over from the operations center. They’re military-grade phones that we use in the park. I want both of you to keep these on you at all times. They’ve been pre-programmed with my number, the Florida City PD, Park Ranger Ops Center, Homestead PD, and the county sheriff’s department. If you have any trouble, any trouble at all, you hit one or all of these buttons and you’ll be surrounded by rangers and cops in a matter of minutes. There are chargers in the kitchen. Keep them fully charged at all times.

“Emmet,” she said, looking at her watch. “It’s about seven now. It’s going to be dark soon. I was going to call my neighbor Mrs. Clawson to come stay with the two of you, but I’ve decided to take you both with me to park HQ. If your dad is in the swamp, I think he’s going to want to see you when we find him. I’m going to be busy — and you’re going to have to promise me you’ll let us do our jobs — and in return I promise you we’ll keep you informed. Deal?”

“All right,” Emmet said.

Dr. Geaux smiled at him and put her hand on his head, running her hand through his hair. Emmet hadn’t really thought about it before because she had an important job and was all business most of the time. But she was a mother, too. She understood what he was going through.

“Okay. Let’s get Apollo and get back to HQ,” she said.

The four of them piled into her silver Buick and hit the road.