Get your brother a place to stay for now. A hotel.

"Minors can't do that."

I will tell you where to go, whom to talk to.

"I can't go to him. The body bank knows the address. If they track me and see I went there, they'll say I broke the contract."

There's a fix for that. Open the top drawer and look for the blue box.

I pulled out a small blue box and opened it. Inside was a pendant, a circle with a blue and green stone.

"Pretty."

It's a reception blocker. It jams the signal. It's not always consistent.

I started to put it on.

Don't. We have to limit the time you wear it; otherwise Prime could notice they're being blocked.

"Who made it?"

My tech. Once I'm out of Prime, I'll take you to meet him.

There had to be a price. "Why are you doing this?"

I still need your help. I want to find out what happened to Emma. If I can learn that, I might have the proof I'll need to shut down that horrid place. And our deal still stands.

"How could we do something like that? Even if we found out what happened to Emma?"

We have an advantage now. No one knows I can talk to you. We are two brains in one body.

She sounded so different, calm and thoughtful. Her frantic tone was gone now that she'd given up on the assassination plot.

Get some rest. We'll start in the morning.

I put the necklace on top of the dresser and climbed back into her big, soft bed. But I didn't feel like sleeping. My mind was filled with images of Tyler in a hotel room, with a real bed and heat and room service.

I turned off the lamp, and moonlight cast the room in a silvery blue.

"Helena, what do you see when I dream?"

Nothing.

At least my dreams and my thoughts were still my own. I lay there in silence for a few moments.

Callie? What was your mother like?

My mother. I pictured her smiling face. I didn't know what to tell Helena about her-there was so much.

Was she like you?

"No. She was one of those people everyone instantly liked."

I'll bet people like you.

"Not the way they liked her. People treated her like their long-lost sister. She fit in everywhere. She was on the archery team in the Olympics one year." A little childhood memory flashed into my brain. "She used to make me macaroni and cheese when I was sick."

It was funny, the things you remembered.

"What was Emma like?"

Emma was headstrong and determined. Maybe all sixteen-year-olds are, but she was especially defiant. Knew what she wanted. It was hard for me, trying to take over raising her after the war. I couldn't be her mother or her father. And she was angry about all that. Who could blame her? You remind me of her, a little.

Helena didn't seem half as crazy as before.

I felt my eyelids close. I was exhausted.

Good night, Callie.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

I parked on the side street near Michael's building and checked the area for renegades. It looked empty, but anyone could be hiding in a doorway. I grabbed the pack of food, water bottles, and meds I'd brought and rushed out of the car. I hoped Helena's necklace really would work and prevent Prime from tracking me.

I entered the lobby. Would Michael and Tyler still be there? With life on the street, sometimes we had to bolt. I tiptoed to the reception desk to be sure no one was hiding, ready to attack.

No one was there. All clear. I turned to the stairs in the middle of the lobby.

As I climbed the windowless stairway, I realized I didn't have my handlite anymore. It was too dark to see. How could I have forgotten so quickly what it was like to live this way? I felt my way down the hall. Then I remembered-I had Helena's cell phone. I pulled it out of my purse and used it to light my path. When I got to the end, I looked at my choices. Was their room to the left? I turned and walked down the long corridor.

A scruffy guy popped out of a doorway, holding a metal bar. My heart skipped a beat until I realized he was just as surprised by my clean appearance as I was by his hairy one. You don't see clean, well-dressed people in dark squatter buildings.

"I'm a friendlie," I said. "Here to see Tyler and Michael."

He pointed to the end of the hall.

"Thanks."

The last time I had been there had been almost two weeks ago, when Tinnenbaum had allowed Rodney to escort me. But that felt like another lifetime. As I entered, I saw that they had made changes. They'd moved the furniture and collected a lot more stuff. It felt homier. There was a scrap of yellow fabric draped over the table and a jar with acrylic flowers. More fabric scraps were stapled over the windows, giving a muted golden glow to the room.

"Tyler?" I called out.

I walked around the fort. He was sitting there with a girl bent over him. I dropped the backpack.

"What are you doing?" I said. My tone was accusatory. On purpose.

The girl turned her head to me. "Just handing him some water. Have a problem with that?"

I recognized her. Florina. The girl Michael had introduced me to just as I'd been leaving for the body bank. She looked like she was about to throw that cup at me, but Tyler called my name. I ran in and fell to my knees in front of him, throwing my arms around him and holding him close.

"I missed you so much." I stroked his soft hair.

"You're back," he said. "Finally."

I pulled away to look at his face. "I wish."

"Not again. You said that last time."

"I know, Ty, but this time we're almost done."

Florina looked at him. "You can be patient, can't you, sport?"

What was she doing, butting in like this?

"That's Florina." Tyler tilted his head toward her.

I looked at her. "We met before I left. Where's Michael?"

"Not sure." Her eyes focused on the floor.

An uneasiness turned in my stomach. But I ignored it because Tyler was there, playing with my hand. "And you. I have a surprise for you."

"What?" he asked.

"If I tell you, it won't be a surprise."

He groaned.

"How are you feeling?" I pushed his hair away so I could see his brown eyes. He looked pale, but it was hard to tell in this dim yellow light.

"We've had some rough days," Florina said.

So Florina had been taking care of him for a while. "You okay now?" I asked him.

He nodded and pinched my arm. "You got fat." He pulled on Helena's necklace I was wearing.

"No, don't touch that. Look, I brought your favorite yummies." I raised my brows to Florina. "So how long has Michael been gone?"

"He didn't come home last night," Tyler said.

That wasn't like Michael. I didn't want to ask the obvious in front of Tyler, but Florina and I traded looks. Had the marshals picked him up?

"We had a little spat," she said. "He stormed out."

"Then maybe he's cooling off somewhere." There were endless possibilities. Maybe he ran into someone he knew, maybe he was beaten up and lying in an alley. Maybe ...

"What did you guys argue about?"

"Nothing important."

"Then why didn't you go after him?" I asked. "Did you look for him at all?"

She shook her head. Then she motioned with her eyes to Tyler. I realized she couldn't have chased after Michael because Tyler would have been alone. I felt like a jerk for being so cool to her before.

"I'm grateful you were here for my brother," I said. "It means a lot to me."

She stroked his hair. "Of course. We're old friends now, aren't we, Tyler?"

"We play games," he said.

"I'll bet she beats you," I said.

"No way. I beat her."

After Tyler and Florina had eaten the little feast of cheese and fruit and sandwiches I'd brought, Florina and I sat on the stairs to talk privately. From this position, we could see if anyone entered the building, so we felt safe leaving Tyler. And with that hairy friendlie on our floor, Tyler had some protection.

"Last week Tyler ran a fever," Florina said. "We were able to get children's pain reliever-Michael had some money hidden away."

That must have been the money I had given to Blake to deliver.

"Still, it was bad. I kept changing the cold cloths on his forehead because they heated up instantly."

I put my head in my hands. "I'm getting him out of here, tonight."

Florina straightened. "Really? Where are you going?"

"To a hotel. You come too."

"But you said you weren't done. Where'd you get the money?"

"I got an advance." It was sort of true. "When Michael comes back, he can join you guys."

That put a smile on her face. "I'll leave a message for him."

It sounded like they were more than just friends. I'd been gone in total for almost three weeks. A lot could happen in that time-look at Blake and me. I felt a pang. I was a little jealous but knew I had no right to be.

We went back inside and packed up what was most important. Tyler was feeling energized by the food and my presence, so he was helping. He picked the things he most wanted to bring and packed them in a duffel bag.

"Where are we going?" Tyler asked.

"To a nice place where you'll have a big fluffy bed and an airscreen and lots of hot chocolate."

"No kidding?" His eyes opened wide. "Really? How long can we stay?"