filled with a despai

red, her voice barely audible.

rtha," Elena

nsitive devices. A detail he' d shared on a rare evening when he was trying to impre

slowly. If it' s a simple pressure

a memory, a danger

agile. She couldn' t st

e chief. "I think I know what to do. O

icism warring with desper

hifting weight. Carefully.

ried out. "You can't!

stay there, Martha," Elena said,

hbors murmured, their f

u remember, Elena," Bill

ten conversation, the principle

It' s risky. Very risky. But if

back at Elena. "Okay. Ta

oice low and steady, relaying

utiously tow

, Martha," Elena said. "You need to

tly now. "My brave girl

do this. For Martha. Because her own parents had di

instructions to Martha, telling her

positioned herself, ready

ly by Martha' s ragged breathing

the

ransferred. A click? A groan of str

it was. And Martha was stumbling back,

collective gasp, a m

"I have to see him," she rasped, a new

and Mike, stepped forward

o, a cold dread settling in her stomach. She knew this