"Which was?" Tim asked.

"You guys showed up from wherever you'd been. He wants Paul, because Paul's the Pontifex and because of ACE, I'm sure. How did you guys know to show up?"

I got "really?" looks from all of them. The flyboys laughed. Reader sighed. "You broadcast a 'help me' emotional signal. The empaths with us mentioned that this was even better than the one you did when Mephistopheles was going to town in the Science Center, much more refined, clear, and accurate."

"Funny you mention that, because you know LaRue and Ronnie Junior still want to follow in Daddy Mephs' footsteps."

"Playbook," Buchanan said. "You've done it before and they know about it, so they knew you'd do it again."

"I agree," Armstrong said. Tito nodded.

"I as well, Missus Martini."

"Okay, great. So they've been anticipating our moves because they know us. Clarence was a traitor from at least the time I showed up, probably longer, and he's part of the extended Martini family and used to work for the Diplomatic Corps, so he knows all they did, too."

"Your moves," Tito said. "They're anticipating you more than anyone else."

"Maybe so, but I'll bet cash money they're busy anticipating as many of the rest of you as they can."

"So, maybe they anticipated you'd call for help in some way and we'd come running, but why pull us all away here?" Tim asked. "I mean, if Paul was the only goal, why not do something to make you want to get him to you alone?"

I could feel it. Tim's question was dead on for what was happening. But I didn't have answer yet. "What were you all doing, before my emotional cry for help rang out, I mean."

This question made them all uncomfortable, and some of them looked downright worried, my mother included. I took the logic leap. "You were trying to figure out where Jeff and Chuckie disappeared to, weren't you?"

Reader nodded. "Trying to determine how long they'd been gone, who'd seen them last, where we could look to determine if they were okay or not."

"They've been gone longer than you realize, they saw Clarence last, is my big guess, and I doubt they're okay, in that sense." They all looked uncomfortable, still, and none of the flyboys were making eye contact with me. Whatever news they had clearly wasn't good. "What?"

Silence.

"I want to know. I'm a big girl, and I've been aware that they were in danger and missing longer than any of you. Tell me whatever it is you don't want to tell me."

"Do it," Mom said quietly. The news moved from not good to potentially catastrophic. I steeled myself.

Reader came closer to me and took my hand. "Kitty . . . once we realized we couldn't find them, I called Christopher. He filled me in on what he was doing and said he'd been spending his spare time at the Dome searching for both of them."

"And?"

He swallowed. "He can't find any trace of either Jeff or Reynolds. And by any trace, I mean he's looked to the extent of his range."

Unlike Serene, Christopher's range wasn't fifty miles. His range wasn't even Planet Earth. Christopher's range went to the outer reaches of the Alpha Centauri system.

Meaning Jeff and Chuckie were really gone. Or they were dead.

CHAPTER 55.

"OKAY. Back to the current situation."

I could tell I shocked everyone. "You're handling this . . . very well," Reader said.

"Look, I want to freak out, but I'm trying to think ahead here. Malcolm's right, and those of us on my team all discussed this earlier-they know us, so they're anticipating what we'll do. My natural reaction is to move Heaven and Earth to find Jeff and Chuckie. But if I do that, I think we all lose. And by lose, I mean likely die."

"She's right," Mom said. "Well done, kitten. So, what's your next move?"

"Well, what were you guys doing to find Jeff and Chuckie, since Christopher was out?"

"We were with Naomi and Abigail," Paul said. "Now that most of the major political players are gone from the Festival we can have them use their talents to search."

Reader stared at me. I stared at him. "Oh, snap." We said it in unison. I'd worry about the unison thing later.

"Where are they now, right now?" I asked as Reader dropped my hand and got onto his phone. So did the others.

"No answer from Abby," Jerry said, looking worried. The other flyboys were texting. "Trying Naomi now." He shook his head. "No answer."

"I've checked with the main field team contacts I had assigned under me for this," Hughes said. "None of them have eyes on either of the girls." The rest of the flyboys confirmed that their field contacts were also without Gower girls visual, audio or physical.

Reader cursed. "We have a problem. Superbeing formation in rural France. Because of this event we're short-staffed, Dulce had to send support to Euro Base, and Gladys can't spare the focus to find the girls."

"And the girls don't have trackers installed," Tim said.

"What? Why the hell not?"

"They're not Field agents," Reader said. "And they're not supposed to act in Field capacities. Reynolds has never pushed for it, either."

Meaning Chuckie hadn't wanted anyone to know where he did a lot of tests with the girls. Not a surprise, really, though it was proving to be a really bad idea overall. I chose to refrain from mentioning that the Gower girls had acted like Field agents a lot, including today. It wouldn't change things.

Time to go for the crazy. I opened my purse. Harlie and Poofikins were still there and still looked alert and ready to go. "Harlie, did you send the other Poofies to help Naomi and Abigail?"

Both Poofs purred at me.

"Can you take Kitty to them to help keep them safe?"

More purrs ensued. Good enough for me.

I looked down. "Bruno, my bird, I need whatever part of the flock that's free and able to get to Naomi and Abigail." Bruno gave me a look that said it was about time I was focusing on the big picture.

"Richard, hand Bellie off to someone she won't try to kill. James, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then trust me right now and don't ask questions, don't argue, just do what I tell you. We need to get all of the people here out of range and to safety. Paul has to go to the Dome, and once in he's not coming out. ACE is guarding it, and only it, from what I've gathered. Get Paul safely into the Dome, get everyone else to Andrews and get Andrews onto some form of high alert, and tell Gladys that we need all we can get on Diversion Superbeing, because I think those are actually supersoldiers out for a playdate. Oh, and tell her to watch Paraguay, all of it, but the Chaco in particular, for the same activity."

"What are you going to be doing?" Reader asked.

"Getting to the Gower girls. Jeremy, Jennifer, you're with me and Richard. Malcolm, I need you to make sure they do what I just said. Mom, see you shortly."

I grabbed White's hand as Harlie and Poofikins jumped out of my purse and onto Bruno's back. I decided to accept that politics and danger both made strange bedfellows for all of us, Peregrines and Poofs included, and just go with it.

Bruno took flight, and we followed.

Bruno was flying at hyperspeed. I could tell based on how fast the four of us on the ground were moving. He led us on an erratic path, not straight the way you always hear the crow flies.

Of course, Bruno wasn't a crow. He also wasn't stupid. He was spotting the best path for us to take to avoid running into people, booths, and buildings and leading us on it accordingly.

We ran past the Washington Monument, around the World War II Monument, and alongside the Reflecting Pool. Either we were headed for the Lincoln Memorial or we were headed for the Potomac.

"Please, not the Potomac again."

White chuckled as we ran on. It was less crowded by the Lincoln Memorial, but that merely meant everyone who wasn't attending the International One World Festival was here instead. Or maybe it just seemed that there were hundreds of people around.

The Lincoln Memorial wasn't secluded. In addition to all the tourists, a road ran around three-fourths of it, and there were other roads leading to it, some that ran through the Mall and some coming from other directions. However, it also had clumps of big, dense foliage around it.

Sure enough, Bruno headed for the biggest, densest clump of trees and bushes, which was around the side and toward the back. He dove into the trees, and we lost sight of him. No problem, we ran into this little forest, too.

After the way the rest of this weekend had been, I wasn't really sure what we were going to find. My only hope was that we wouldn't find nothing.

So that worked out for me.

CHAPTER 56.

OF COURSE, I'D EXPECTED TO SEE some Poofs and Peregrines mixing it up with Clarence or even LaRue and Ronaldo. What was there, however, was the Gower girls. They had their backs to us and were facing . . . something.

I mean, I had to assume from their body language-which said "we've been at DEFCON Worse for a while now"-that they were facing something other than the trees around the Memorial. But there was nothing I could see.

Well, that wasn't quite true. As with Mona and her undercover bodyguards, something was going on, based on the fact that the trees and bushes were moving in the way they would if someone or something was being thrown into and against them. Either that or we'd found the Living Apple Orchard from the Wizard of Oz. The way things were going, I didn't rule that possibility out.

The Gower girls were holding hands, which was normal for them when they were really focusing their talents. However, it looked as though Abigail was holding onto Naomi and trying to pull her back, rather than them doing their Wonder Twins thing.

White and I ran to them. I grabbed Abigail around the waist, and he did the same with Naomi.

"Let me go!" Naomi shouted. "They're going to die if I don't go!"

Ah, so it was the Bad Guy Go-To Plan for All Occasions. The Evil Overlord types really revered the classics. "Jennifer, you help hold Abigail. Jeremy, you help Richard with Naomi."

Once Jennifer had a hold of Abigail and was helping her stay upright, I went in front of Naomi. "What in the world do you think you're doing?" I put my hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. She was really trying to get free, not that this surprised me all that much.

"They have Chuck. And Jeff. And they're going to kill them if we don't go." Naomi was practically crying. I'd never seen her this out of emotional control before. Then again, I could understand, and relate, to the feelings she was having.

I shook her, hard. "Look at me!" I shouted it, in the same tone of voice I'd used when giving orders as the Head of Airborne.

She blinked and looked at me, really looked at me. "What are you doing? Why are you trying to stop me?"

"Let me rephrase. Shut up and look at me!"

Naomi gaped at me, but I definitely had her attention.

"I don't know what Chuckie's taught you in all this time he's been working with you, but I'd bet all the money in the A-C coffers that it sure as hell wasn't to trot over and give yourselves up to the bad guys when they have a hostage."

"He didn't," Abigail said. "He told us if and when we were put in this situation to run like hell in the other direction. And to find you, I might add."

"And here I am. Isn't that nice? So, why, Mimi, when he needs you to listen to him the most, are you ignoring what Chuckie taught you?"

"But . . . they're going to kill him."

"Yeah? Like they didn't manage when we were in Paris? I mean, clearly it's time for the two of you to get some actual official field training and experience, because right now you, Mimi, are acting like the biggest noob on the planet. And you will be the reason they kill Chuckie and Jeff."

"What?" She sounded shocked. Naomi was far too smart to be falling for any bad guy's line. But she wasn't thinking with her head.

"Get it together, and get it together right now." I was snarling. Quietly, but still, snarling. Sometimes being nice didn't work. This appeared to be one of those times. "You and your sister, along with your eldest brother and my baby, are what these bastards want. They have Jeff and Chuckie as bargaining chips. As long as we don't give them what they want, then Jeff and Chuckie's odds of living stay at least fifty-fifty."

"Those aren't good odds."

"No. But if you go with them and hand yourself over on a freaking platter with a big bow wrapped around you? First they will torture them in front of you, so you do every evil thing they want you to do, which I guarantee will involve kidnapping your sister and brothers, my baby and all the other hybrid babies, and that's just for starters. Then, after you've stupidly done exactly what they wanted and expected you to do, they will kill Jeff and Chuckie in front of you and laugh while they're doing it. Or have you forgotten everything that happened in Paris?"

I made eye contact with Abigail. "Who's they? Clarence, someone else, Clarence and someone else?"

"Just Clarence," Abigail shared. "He's enough on his own right now."

"What's pulling Naomi toward him?"

"Just Naomi," Abigail said. She sounded disgusted. "You know, because she's decided that you, Jeff, Christopher, and Chuck are all morons."

"I don't think that!" Naomi sounded indignant. "I just-"

"You're just reacting emotionally instead of with any form of logic or sense. Yeah, I get it."

"You race off like this all the time," Naomi said. Only she sounded a little truculent . . . and a lot less frantic.

"Yeah, I do. Here's the key point, and I'd like you, in particular, to pay close attention to the next things I say. Per the very enemies we are fighting right now and my track record, when I do it, I'm right. Per the track record the rest of you have when you all run off like idiots, you're almost always wrong. Trust me, you're worse than wrong right now."

"But . . . they'll hurt them."

"No duh. You think I like this any more than you do? Or that Richard does? Or anyone else? This isn't the time or place for self-sacrifice. This is the freaking time to prove that all the damn time and effort Chuckie's put into training and prepping the two of you hasn't been a complete and utter waste of his time."

"Charles wouldn't want you to sacrifice yourself for him," White said gently. "He's not that kind of man. And you know it."