‘Phone for you. Sylvia was holding it.’
‘Ah crap, thanks.’ Emma leaves the basket, reverses course.
Downstairs, Sylvia is waiting by the communal phone in the dingy hall, holding a palm over the receiver but still talking sotto voce. ‘He said he couldn’t leave a message.’
‘Thank you, much oblige.’ Emma takes the phone. ‘Hello?’
‘Emma.’
A voice she hasn’t heard in three months. It stops her cold and warms her at the same time. Five whole seconds pass until she gathers herself. ‘Travis?’
‘Listen. I didn’t want to call you. I’ve been … I’ve been trying to get them to leave you alone.’ His voice is low and urgent.
She’s immediately alert. ‘What is it?’
‘Special Agent Carter’s on his way to you. Don’t freak out, okay? He’s an okay guy. Emma, they want to take you into protective custody.’
All the hairs on her body prickle up. She hears herself take on a tone she never uses in the dorm. ‘Travis, what’s going on?’
‘Have you been reading the news, Lewis?’ He pauses. ‘Read the news.’
He saidprotective custody. Emma makes herself follow the logical thread of that, gets a bitter taste in the back of her throat. Braces her hand against the wall. ‘What about my family?’
‘They’re sending people out. Lewis, are you with me?’
‘Yes.’
‘Stay in the dorm. Carter needs to find you. He’ll tell you some of it. The rest of it … I’ll be there, okay? At the Pittsburgh field office. You’ll have backup.’
Pittsburgh.They want her in Pittsburgh. She needs more information, which she’s unlikely to get over the phone. She’d prefer to know how bad it is, though. ‘Do I need backup, Travis?’
‘Yeah.’ He sounds deeply regretful. ‘I’m sorry, but yeah, you do.’
CHAPTER FOUR
Howard Carter lifts the black carry-on bag that Emma Lewis has brought aboard and stows it for her in the overhead bin. She’s already got the window seat. He sits by the aisle so there’s a seat between them. He thinks she might appreciate the space.
He needs to talk with her, and there’s not a lot of privacy in coach. But there are agents in the rows ahead and behind, and the rest of the flight is only half-full. He waits until everyone’s seated and the Delta staff are busy with pre-flight checks.
He keeps his voice quiet. ‘Miss Lewis, thank you again for agreeing to do this. I’d like to brief you a little more, if that’s all right.’
She is not looking at him at all, is focused instead on the wing of the plane out the window. ‘What’s happening with my family?’
‘I’ve got people at your parents’ house, and there’s an agent with your sister.’
‘Okay.’
‘We’ll take care of them. That’s what we do.’
‘Okay.’
He’s very aware of her lack of inflection. ‘Miss Lewis, we will do our utmost to ensure your safety and the safety of your family. I’msorry we’ve had to do this, in this way. But I’ll make certain they’re looked after.’
She nods. Her arms are tightly crossed, and she looks tense and closed off, a little underfed. She’s a small white girl, with a runner’s wiry build. Tiny silver hoops at her ears, no other jewelry, and her dark hair is buzzed.
He wasn’t surprised by her hair – he’s met her once before. But she was dressed formally then, for Ed Cooper’s funeral. Now she’s in jeans and a gray Henley and a green down vest, and she looks much younger.
She’s just a teenager, Carter thinks. But Carter has raised two children to adulthood. Emma Lewis is more self-contained than any teenager he’s ever encountered.
