The day Adeline’s father was exiled via Absolom, she dressed in black and promised herself she wouldn’t cry. Not in front of the others in that viewing box. One of those people, sitting right beside her, was Nora’s killer. That person was responsible for ripping her father out of her life.
But she couldn’t. As she sat there watching her father wake up and struggle to stand, her world was shattered. After her mother’s death, her father had been her anchor in the world. Now he was being torn away, and she had never felt more adrift. Or angry.
She stood and ran to the glass and pounded on it and lost control.
*
After her father’s departure, Adeline went home to Daniele’s and locked herself in her room and buried her head in a pillow and thought the darkest thoughts of her life. The worst among them was that if she killed Constance, Hiro, Elliott, and Daniele, she would have revenge for her father. The real killer would be dead. But three innocent people would also die. Well, assuming one or more of them weren’t in it together.
She probably would have kept spiraling if there hadn’t been a knock at the door.
She barely lifted her head enough to shout, “Go away!”
The knocking stopped. Ryan’s soft voice cracked as he called through the door, “Addy. It’s me.”
She pushed up and let him in, and he wrapped his arms around her. She squeezed him and kicked the door shut.
He looked up through tear-filled eyes. “I want to go home.”
“We can’t.”
“You can adopt me—”
“It’s not that.” Adeline dropped her voice and moved away from the door. “We have to stay here.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to get Dad back.”
“What? How? I thought that was impossible.”
“It is. Today. But maybe not someday.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Daniele knows more about what’s going on than she’s saying.”
“You think…”
“I think she’s a big part of whatever is going on.”
“Okay, fine, but why can’t you figure it out from our house?”
“We need to stay here so I can watch her and find out what she knows.”
Ryan closed his eyes and rubbed his eyelids. “Can you at least adopt me? I don’t want her to be my only parent.”
“She is not your parent. And never will be.”
“So you will?”
“I don’t think the court would approve it.”
“Why? You’re old enough, aren’t you?”
“Technically, yes. But let’s face it: I was just accused of murder. Until our dad confessed to that murder. A court is not going to love that home setting. Plus, Dad wrote a letter endorsing Daniele’s adoption application.”
Ryan shook his head and stared out the window. A hopeless, blank expression settled over his face. His eyes were almost glassy, as if the fight had just gone out of him.
A strange thing happened to Adeline then. In her younger brother, she saw a mirror of the despair she felt. There was no one to pull her out of the abyss. But she could help Ryan. And that filled her with purpose.
“Look at me.”
Ryan cut his eyes to her.
“One day—I don’t know when—it could be a month from now. Or a year. Or more. But one day, I’m going to come to you and say, ‘It’s over and we’re going home and Dad is waiting there for us.’”
Ryan blinked and inhaled a deep breath.
Adeline stared at him. “Do you believe me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know exactly how it’s going to work out. But I know it will. I also know that it’s going to be tough for a while. We’ll face it together. Me and you. Because we’re the only ones we can trust. We’re all we have left, Ryan.”
*
Adeline spent the afternoon answering emails and messages from friends. There was an outpouring from people who had seen the media coverage of her father’s sentence—and still believed he was innocent.
She found some comfort in that. People who truly knew you didn’t believe what they read online—or saw in the news.
*
Dinner was a somber affair. As soon as Ryan’s plate was clean, he asked to be excused, and Daniele said, “Yes, but homework first, then a max of two hours of video games.”
The eleven-year-old boy nodded and trudged upstairs.
Adeline set her fork down. “I think he should be allowed to play video games as long as he wants. He just lost his father. He needs distraction.”
“He needs a firm hand in his life.”
“You’re a parenting expert now?”
Daniele ignored the taunt. “His two-hour deadline isn’t the one that should concern you.”
“Which deadline should concern me?”
“Two years.”
“He told you.”
“He did. Your father was adamant that you spend no more than two years of your life on getting him back. He didn’t want this tragedy to consume you too.”
“I’m finished. Can I be excused?”
“We’re not finished.”
“What do you want from me?”
Daniele leaned forward. “I want the same thing you do.”
“Which is?”
“I told you before. We’re going to get him back. To do that, you’re going to have to start cooperating with me. You’re going to have to trust me.”
Adeline clenched her jaw. “That night Nora was murdered, at the lab, you wanted to continue building Absolom Two, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“So did Elliott.”
“That’s right.”
“And Dad and Nora opposed it. Now they’re both gone. One dead. One… may have already died two hundred million years ago, and there’s nothing we can do.”
“First off, there is something we can do. Second, I backed Absolom Two because I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s futile to fight the future.”
Those words gave Adeline pause. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’ll see. In time. For now, we need to talk about how we get your father back.”
“I’m all ears.”
“When are you going back to college?”
“I’m not. I already emailed my advisor and told her I couldn’t make up the classes I’ve missed. Or take final exams. They expect me in the fall, but I’m not going.”
Daniele nodded.
“Are you going to talk me out of it?”
“No. You being here will make our work easier.”
That surprised Adeline.
“What work?”
“There are places you can go that I can’t. Questions you can ask that I can’t. And now is the time.”
“Time to do what?”
“First, I’m going to get you an internship at Absolom Sciences. But it’s the other part of the plan that’s more important now.”
When Daniele had detailed what she wanted Adeline to do, the younger woman sat there, stunned. It was brilliant. And it might work.
“One last thing,” Daniele said.
Adeline raised an eyebrow.
“Your father trusted me. I’m asking you to trust me. If you don’t, our chances of getting him back are zero. I know how lonely you feel right now. How betrayed you feel, like the world isn’t fair. You feel helpless and angry and determined all at the same time. If you give me time, I’ll show you a way to set all this right.”
*
Upstairs, in her bedroom, Adeline considered what Daniele had said. She wanted to trust the woman. She needed someone to trust, to talk with, to be there in case she was caught doing what she was about to do.
But deep down, Adeline sensed that there was something off about Daniele. Try as she might, Adeline couldn’t put her finger on it.
She had to admit, however, that Daniele’s plan was good. It might actually work.
She took out her laptop and composed an email.
Dear Constance,
I’m doing therapy to help me deal with my father’s departure.
I don’t know if you’d be open to it, but my therapist suggested I spend time with the people who knew him best, to talk about him and get to know the side of him I never saw. She thinks it will help.
I understand if you don’t want to participate, but I know you were important to him.
- Adeline
The next morning, a response was waiting in Adeline’s inbox.
My dear girl, of course. Anything you need is yours.
Where and when?
~ Connie
Adeline typed out a quick response:
Thank you!
Today if possible. If not, I can make any time work.
I really want to get out of Daniele’s house. I can’t go back to mine for… reasons.
Can we meet at your place?
Adeline chewed a nail as she hit send.
At breakfast, she told Daniele the news.
“Good.”
“What if she doesn’t want to meet at her place?” Adeline asked.
“She will. Trust me.”
Daniele led Adeline to the basement, into a room with a hard rubber floor and a stack of free weights gathering dust in the corner. It had been designed as a home gym, but it seemed Daniele had never filled it with equipment. Or used it much.
It was, however, full of boxes. Daniele opened the closest one and drew out several bubble-wrapped items: picture frames, soap dishes, a small decorative plate, and a painted porcelain figurine of Adeline’s father. Seeing the physical likeness of him sent a sharp stab of sadness through Adeline, as if she had been walking around the basement in the dark and stepped on a nail with her bare feet.
Daniele drew a laptop out of a carrying case, booted it, and opened the surveillance software. One by one, she activated the frames and figurine and soap dishes and tested them to make sure the audio and video came through clearly.
“When did you order all this?” Adeline asked.
“The day he told me he was going to confess.”
Adeline picked up the items and studied them, looking for the tiny cameras and microphones. It took her a while to find them, but she did. She wondered if Constance would realize she had made the swap.
“So we’re really doing this?” Adeline said, still studying the surveillance items.
“We really are. The frames match the ones in Connie’s house exactly, but you’ll have to switch the pictures out. You’ll have to do it quickly.”
Adeline swallowed. “Okay.”
“If you think about it too much, it’ll only make you nervous. Put it out of your mind until the time comes.”
Adeline nodded, but she didn’t feel any less nervous. She wasn’t a secret agent. She wondered if she could really do this.
Daniele gripped her shoulders. “Relax. You can do this. And if there isn’t an opportunity to deploy the devices this time, we’ll figure out another way.”
“You said the timing was important.”
“It is. But so is your safety.”
“If she catches me—if she is the killer—”
“I’ll be listening,” Daniele said. “If something happens, I’ll come. I promise you.”
She reached into the box and unwrapped a handheld electroshock weapon.
“And just in case, I want you to carry this.”
Adeline took the weapon, held it up, and depressed the button on the handle. An electric arc crackled between the two electrodes, causing Adeline to jump.
“This is crazy.”
“It is. But we have no choice.”
Daniele took the weapon and placed it in a backpack. “We can’t be too careful. We can’t take anything for granted, Adeline. What we’re working on here is extremely complex. It’s a mystery of past, present, and future. And you and I are going to solve it. No matter what it takes.”