We went through a door marked NO ADMITTANCE and made two more turns, until we came to a short hallway ending at a locked door with no markings.

Trax waved his palm across a reader pad, and the door unlocked. I practically knocked him over as I ran inside.

It was a windowless office space, with little furniture other than a filing cabinet and some worktables. A small cot was by the wall, a pile of blankets rumpled on top. I pushed them aside.

It was empty.

I fell to the cot and smelled the sheets. Tyler had been there. His imprint was still on the bottom sheet.

"He's gone," I said. "He took him. That Old Man took him."

The marshal carried out an inspection, checking the closets and bathroom, opening file drawers. It was useless and we all knew it.

I started crying. I couldn't help it. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I'd done everything I could, everything for him. And he was gone. I knew where he was. He was on that heli with the Old Man. I had been that close. And I'd lost him.

"He was here earlier. Really," Trax said.

He and Senator Bohn stood there, staring in different directions. I sat on the edge of the little cot. It didn't matter what anybody thought or how stupid I must have looked with my nose running. It was so completely hopeless. I had been dragged through the mud, had done everything I could, and I still couldn't find my brother.

Dad, I know I promised you. I tried. I did.

My insides were scraped hollow. He was alone and scared, stuffed inside a bag. With the Old Man. My body started shaking as my sobs got louder.

Trax reached out to comfort me. "I'm so sorry."

"Leave me alone," I said, lashing out at him. I stood and struggled for air. "There's nothing you can say to help. All you body bank people, you're all responsible. How could you do this to him? He's just a kid. A kid who never had a chance to be a kid." I swung around, looking at Senator Bohn. "All you Enders, it's all your fault. Why didn't you vaccinate everyone? We wouldn't be in this whole mess if you hadn't been so cheap."

The senator looked pained. He put both hands around the back of his neck.

The marshal came into my view from his little inspection of the rooms. He shook his head to Senator Bohn. "He's not here."

Something about those words, out of a marshal's mouth ... I had hidden many times from the marshals, watching, hoping they wouldn't find me or my friends or any other Starter. But this time I was hoping he would find my brother.

The problem was, I realized, if my brother saw him, he wouldn't come out. He'd be scared to death. He'd hide.

We always hid in places marshals never thought to look. Like in the walls. Like in plain sight. Like up.

I scanned the room.

The Enders watched me with wary eyes, as if they were afraid of what I might do. I stared at the ceiling. If my brother saw the marshal but not me ... and didn't hear me ...

I went into the bathroom and looked up. The Enders followed me, crowding in the doorway. The toilet seat was closed. That was my first tip.

I stepped on top of it.

The men rushed forward, arms out as if they might have to catch me from a fall. I climbed onto the sink. I saw fingerprints on the ceiling panel and I pushed on it.

"It's okay, Tyler," I shouted to the ceiling. "It's me."

I lifted the panel and slid it over to the side. Tyler peeked out like a shy fox.

"Callie?"

My heart leapt to my throat. "Tyler. Come here, you."

I bear-hugged him out of his hiding place and handed him to the marshal. I climbed down from the sink, and then grabbed my brother as tightly as I could in my arms. I kissed his head, breathing in the sweet scent of his baby-soft hair. My chest felt so light, it was like a truck had been lifted off it.

He was crying. I was crying. The men were crying.

And I wasn't letting go.

After much hugging and kissing, and after determining that Tyler was in good condition, the Enders brought us down to the lobby, where the noise level had ratcheted down from a ten to a five. We introduced Tyler to Lauren. Senator Bohn grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my brother.

"Is he all right?" Lauren asked me.

"He fed me, the Old Man, and gave me medicine," Tyler said.

I doubted that was for altruistic purposes, but I didn't say anything to him. Then I remembered Florina. She'd been with Tyler when they were taken from the hotel.

"Tyler, what happened to Florina?" I asked.

"They pushed her out of the car."

"What?"

"When they picked us up, they drove a couple blocks. Then they made her get out."

"I hope she's okay."

He nodded. "I saw her get up." He thought for a moment. "Did you know she's got a great-aunt? In Santa Rosa?"

I shook my head.

"She talked about her. Maybe she went there," he said.

The senator rubbed Tyler's head. A marshal showed the senator a list pairing up renters with donors, who all began to walk into the room. He gestured to one side, and they had each renter stand beside their donor. Madison stood by Rhiannon. Tinnenbaum was by Lee, Rodney by Raj, and Doris by Briona. Michael was standing by a decrepit Ender with a big nose and a potbelly. He must have been two hundred. That was the guy who had licked me when he was in Michael's body? I wanted to gag.

The line of Starter donors and Ender renters snaked down the hallway. Lauren, Tyler, and I walked the line, scanning every face, but I didn't spot anyone who resembled Emma. Lauren did not find her Kevin.

"I knew it was a long shot," Lauren said. "But you never give up hoping."

"We'll keep searching." I touched her shoulder. "This won't be finished until we find them."

The long night wore into the morning as everything was wrapped up. Grandparents came to reclaim their grandchildren. They were surprised to see the unclaimed minor renters disappear into the dark morning, but I understood. They didn't trust the Enders.

Tyler was asleep on a couch in Doris's office. Michael and I slumped in chairs around her desk. We were drained and half asleep ourselves. At least, I told myself that was why Michael seemed distant.

"So Florina's got a great-aunt in Santa Rosa," I said.

"Yeah. She said she would claim Florina."

"Lucky girl."

"Florina said I could go with her. Not as claimed, of course."

"Why didn't you?"

He shrugged. "Too cold up there."

I nodded.

"So I guess we're not going to get paid," he said.

"Wouldn't count on it."

"All that." He shook his head. "We risked our lives ... for nothing."

"Hey, it wasn't for nothing. We've got these state-of-the-art chips in our heads out of the deal." I laughed. What else could we do? I was happy to have my little tribe back together, even if we had no place to go. Goodbye, mattresses and showers; hello, hard concrete floors and water buckets.

Lauren stepped into the doorway.

"Callie, could I see you for a moment?"

I looked at Tyler's sleeping body. Michael nodded and said he'd watch him.

"I think you're going to want to hear this," she said with a smile.

She took me to Tinnenbaum's old office, where her attorney sat at the desk. It gave me the creeps to see the water fountain that had earlier impressed me so much.

"Mrs. Winterhill left a will. You're named in it."

I looked at Lauren. She motioned for me to sit in one of the chairs facing the desk. She took the other one.

"But when did she ...?" I asked.

"She did this before she started the rental. She felt she owed it to the girl whose body she was risking," the lawyer said.

"She's left you half of her estate," Lauren said, "including the main house and a vacation home."

A home.

I couldn't speak.

The lawyer read from a paper. "She says: 'I don't know you, but I'm sorry for having to use you in this way. And I'm sorry for the world we've left you.' "

A home? I was exhausted. I had to be dreaming. I touched my cheek and felt the very real stitches.

They could tell I didn't believe it, so they repeated it for me. And explained the details. But all I heard was one word: "home."

So. Helena had kept her word.

I looked at Lauren. She nodded; yes, it was all true. Her eyes glistened as tears welled in them. Me, I closed mine, and somehow the tears came out anyway.

A home.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE.

That morning, I took Tyler to live in his new home. I knew I would never forget the look on his face when we walked into the mansion, escorted by Lauren and her attorney. While they took Eugenia aside to explain the conditions of the will, Tyler stared at every piece of furniture and decoration with wide eyes.

He paused at a bronze statue of a dog on a side table. "Can I touch it?"

I nodded. "You can do whatever you want. It's yours now."

He picked it up and cradled it to his chest. Although it must have weighed a couple of pounds, he insisted on carrying it around with him. When I tucked him into the big bed in the master bedroom, he still had it in his grasp, determined to sleep with it. I put it on the end table, inches from his face.

"Where's Michael?" Tyler, his lids heavy, caressed the dog's head.

"He's getting his stuff from the building."

"He's coming to stay here, right?"

I smiled. "Yup. He's going to turn the guest cottage into an artist's studio."

"I wonder what he'll draw now. Now that we're not on the streets." Tyler's voice slowed.

Then he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Over the following days, our lives were rebuilt.

With Lauren as my legal guardian, I was protected from anyone contesting the will on the grounds that I was an unclaimed minor. Half of Helena's estate and her two homes would be mine forever. The other half was being held in trust for Emma, once I found her. I would find her. I owed Helena that.

The money was far beyond what I had hoped to gain by signing up for the body bank, and I was profoundly grateful. Tyler was getting the best medical care money could buy, and growing healthier every day. I had my tooth replaced, and my cuts and bruises would heal in time.

Michael moved into the cottage on the property but immediately took off. He didn't explain, so I went into the cottage to see if he'd taken his belongings. I knew he was coming back when I saw the walls covered with the drawings he'd created from our year of living on the streets. Starters and renegades, sad and mean and hungry-they were all there, in his special style. So much emotion; he'd captured it all. Spread out on all four walls was my life after the Spore Wars. My past life.

I figured he must have left town to see Florina. I was disappointed, but I didn't have a right to be. Losing Blake had left a huge void in my heart. It wasn't until things calmed down that I realized just how big.

A week after we moved into Helena's house, I heard on the news that Senator Harrison was recovering from a "hunting accident." The fallout from the Prime body bank scandal would play out in the coming months. After the elections, we'd know whether Enders could reelect a man prepared to doom teens to a living death.

The senator was keeping Blake on a short leash. I tried sending messages, tried calling. He never responded. I decided that before I gave up on him forever, I would go see him in person. If I could just explain everything, I might persuade him to give us a second chance. If not, then I would move on.

It wasn't hard finding the senator's home. I had to drive by it several times before I found Blake's sports car parked outside. When I finally spotted it, I felt my heart race and had to calm myself before getting out of the yellow rocket.