"I don't know. But I got something that will help us." I patted my pocket.

"What?" Lauren asked.

"A computer key. It has Redmond's notes about my chip, how he determined it was permanently installed."

"Excellent," the lawyer said. "Good work."

He was happy. But I felt terrible for Redmond. Had I led Prime to him? Was all this my fault? First Sara, then Redmond. Who else was going to suffer because of me before this was over?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

A day later, I walked up to the body bank as if I were reliving a nightmare. I had thought about this place so many times, with such fear and dread, wondering if Helena was inside, if my brother was, if the Old Man was. I'd been afraid then. Helena had warned me they would kill me, and so I had stayed away.

It was different this time. This time, I was ready. This time, I had backup.

But they were keeping their distance, as planned. Sewn into my pocket was a small alert device, half the size of a grain of rice. We had worked out a three-stage approach. And stage one consisted of one person-me.

As I approached the high double doors, the doorman's smile melted. It curved farther downward into a frown the closer I came. He looked frightened, either because of my bruised, stitched face or because he recognized me.

Maybe I was notorious. I almost laughed.

I had to open the door for myself as the doorman stared at me. I kept staring right back at him, even as I passed through the portal.

As soon as I stepped inside, another guard came over and waved a weapons detector over me. My alert device was supposed to pass this test.

"I have no weapons," I said. "Other than my big mouth."

The guard seemed satisfied.

Mr. Tinnenbaum ran out of his office and pointed. "Grab her!"

The guard pulled my arms behind my back and held me.

"So you've changed bodies, I see," I said to Tinnenbaum. "What's the matter, Lee's body got boring for you?"

He scowled.

I widened my eyes in innocence. "You know, the first time I was here, everyone was all smiles."

Doris came out of her office. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Doris. This face suits you so much better than Briona's," I said.

"Talk about faces." She squeezed my cheeks together with one hand. "All the work we did on yours. Wasted."

I jerked my head away. "Now all we need is Rodney, and the trio's complete."

Tinnenbaum got right in my face. "You look awful. What do you want?"

"I want to see him," I said. "The Old Man."

Doris and Tinnenbaum exchanged looks. She shook her head. Their reaction, with the slight delay, only confirmed for me that he was there. I knew what they didn't: the Old Man was dying to see me.

"I'll wait," I said.

Fifteen minutes later, the guard and Tinnenbaum escorted me up an elevator and down a long, winding hallway. This didn't look like the way to a CEO's office. I stopped.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked.

"You asked to see him," Tinnenbaum said.

"His office is here?"

"He likes to do things his own way."

I didn't like this. Eventually, we came to a metal door. Tinnenbaum spoke to an invisible panel on the wall.

"We have her here, sir."

The door slid open, disappearing into the wall. It was dark inside, almost completely black, but a small overhead light shone down on us as we stood in the entranceway.

"Come in," the voice said. I recognized the metallic synthesized voice of the Old Man.

"Sir?" Tinnenbaum said.

"Leave her."

The guard let me go.

"We'll be right outside," Tinnenbaum said.

The door slid shut, making it even blacker. I heard footsteps. They sounded a long way off. This room had to be very large, bigger than any office or conference room. I saw a spot of light before anything else, an eerie beacon across the room. As it approached, I saw that it was the electronic mask the Old Man wore. The face displayed was not human.

It was a snake's head. With glossy scales and huge dark eyes. A red-and-black forked tongue whipped out.

My heart beat so hard it hurt. I slipped my hand into my pocket and pressed the silent alert to let the others know I'd flushed the Old Man out. Now all I had to do was stall.

"Why come now?" he asked. "You could have come the other day, on the transport with the other boys and girls."

"I want to offer a trade."

"A trade? What kind of trade?" The snake opened his jaw, displaying his fangs.

The Old Man's images were chosen to frighten me. I struggled to keep my voice steady. "My life for my brother's."

"Tyler?"

"Yes." I waited for his reaction to confirm my hunch that Tyler was there somewhere.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. How do I know you won't run away?"

"I'm sure you'll figure out a way to keep me."

The face suddenly changed to a woman in extreme agony. It made me gasp. He laughed.

"Who is that?" I asked. The woman was crying, wailing.

"Just a very sad lady. I think someone killed her children," he said. "Maybe her husband."

"That's horrible," I whispered.

"But we weren't talking about her, we were talking about Tyler."

I shivered just hearing his metallic voice say my brother's name again. "If you will bring him out, and I can see him, I will trade my life for his."

"Your body for his?"

"Yes."

"That doesn't seem quite fair. He is younger."

"But he's not well."

"Good point."

The face changed to a woman who'd gone to prison for poisoning her family.

"Could you stop that?" I asked.

"I like your spunk, Callie. I accept your offer."

"You do?"

"Yes. But I'm not bringing him out here. You will just have to take my word on that part."

Now it was my turn. "That doesn't seem fair."

"I don't think 'fair' ever came into the conversation."

"Yes, it did," I said. "You brought it up first."

"You're clever. I admire that."

"You'll have to give me something."

"What?" he asked. "What do you think is fair?"

"Take off your mask," I said quietly.

He was silent for a moment. The woman's face froze. "Take it off?"

"Yes." I spoke up. "Let me see your real face."

He changed the face to a famous mime's, in full makeup. "Here it is."

"I don't think so."

"That's the best you're going to get."

"Then there is no deal."

He paused. When he spoke again, his voice sounded more assured. "I don't have to make a deal with you."

"But the difference is, I keep my word. So if we come to an agreement, you'll have me here of my own free will. Forever. Me, for a brother I can't see, for one look at your face. That's all."

"You still don't see you're at the disadvantage here, in my facility, with my people." He paused and looked down. "You'd do this because you love him that much?" he asked.

"I'm all he has."

All the faces I'd seen before flashed across his, in rapid succession, left to right. Then top to bottom, scrolling up. Then all the bits mixed up, so faces flashed by: a war criminal, a mass murderer, then a burn victim and a woman sobbing from some unspeakable pain.

It broke up into quarters and finally stirred and swirled until it became a terrible stew of misery, all the more horrific against the hollow silence of the room. My ragged breathing was the only thing I heard.

"This is what you want, Callie? You want to see the real me?"

"The real you, not some electronic collage."

"The real me." His voice was quiet. Resigned.

"Yes." I breathed out the word.

"All right."

His electronic face dimmed and died to blackness with a metallic click.

I waited in the dark.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.