Chapter 28
Jane’s phone rang, and she looked at the name. It was Molly. Jane knew instantly that it was an emergency, because Stewart and Molly had never done this before. She looked at the message.
It wasn’t exactly from Molly. “Jane?” The voice was Brian Finlay.
“Yes.”
“I had to get in touch. I realized I had made a terrible mistake.”
“What was it?”
“The night I got to your house I knocked on the door and a woman’s voice answered from inside. I asked to be let inside, and I said, ‘Karen Alvarez sent me to you.’ ”
Jane froze. “What did she say?”
“I don’t remember exactly, but she let me in right away.
She didn’t ask who that was, just asked a lot of questions about me.
As soon as I remembered this afternoon and realized what danger I’d put her in, I tried to call her, but so far, I haven’t reached her.
Calling you was all I could think of to do next. ”
Jane froze. He had told that terrible woman that Karen Alvarez was her friend.
She said, “You did the right thing, but only call me again if you reach her. I’ve got to go now.
” She ended the call and touched the name in her phone’s directory for Karen’s cell phone.
It was 7:00 in New York, but 4:00 A.M. in California.
Karen certainly wasn’t in court or something.
Jane hoped her phone wasn’t turned off to protect her sleep.
Karen didn’t answer, so Jane left a message.
“This is urgent. Call me.” She left the same message on Karen’s private office phone.
Jane’s mind raced. During the night drive away from her house, she’d had Brian tell her his whole story.
When she was sure he’d told her everything important, she had started giving him lessons about how to stay alive.
She should have grilled him longer and harder, and maybe she could have jogged his memory and found out this one essential thing he had told that woman.
During the time since then, he must have been going over and over what had happened, and the one small sentence he’d said in a moment of desperation had come back to him.
This time he had realized how important it was.
Jane walked back into the bedroom carrying May as Carey was getting up. She said, “Good morning. I love you.”
“Something’s wrong. What is it?”
“I just found out that Brian, my runner, has remembered that he told the Russian woman that the one who sent him to my house was Karen Alvarez.”
“Oh my God,” he said. “But wait a minute. That must have been four, maybe five days ago. Maybe she didn’t hear it or realize what it meant, or something. Have you already tried calling her?”
“I called Karen to warn her, but it’s night there and she probably has her phone off. I left messages on her phone and her office.”
Carey said, “I’ll take May while you get the first shower.”
“She’s hungry. I’ve got to feed her first.” Jane fed her, burped her, and then handed May to Carey, gathered fresh clothes from her suitcase, and took her phone into the bathroom with her. When she came out, she took May back while Carey took his shower and dressed.
Part of Jane’s mind kept returning to the dream she’d had just before she’d awakened.
She had let the lifeboat get too full. Now Karen was in danger and might not even know it.
Whatever Harry was—a manifestation of guilt that she’d had a runner she’d failed, a spirit guide sent to give her a message, a personification of her mind’s disquiet—what he had warned her about was happening right now.
When Carey came out, she took May to the kitchen and began making breakfast for Carey and herself.
When they had eaten and loaded the dishwasher, Jane sat back down at the big kitchen table with May, set the phone on the table, and looked at the screen.
“Carey,” she said, “I’m going to need you to drive me to the Pittsburgh airport.
Give me a little time first to see what flights are available today. ”
Carolyn Striker came in and saw their faces, and said, “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Yes. Please keep giving my family a safe place, at least until I get back.”
“I owe you everything,” Carolyn said. “You’re all welcome to stay forever if you want.”
“Thank you.” She saw Katie was awake and coming down the stairs.
Jane said, “Katie, sit down with me while I do this.” When Katie was seated, she handed May to her.
“I want you to get familiar with how to think about this. I need to get from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. When I went on a plane to Oklahoma, I was Nora Jean Gibbs. When I built her identity, I had her live in Los Angeles, so it’s tempting to use the same name now, but complications made Nora memorable, so this time I’ll be someone else with another name.
She has a good American Express card, and she’s from Chicago.
This is one reason why I set you up with a couple of extra names.
We’ll have to keep them up and keep their credit good.
There will need to be a different residential-sounding address for each one, and when I set mine up years ago, I needed the addresses to be mailing services that would forward them to me.
Now you can do almost everything online: no bills in the mail. ”
She looked at the schedules of two of the biggest airlines, made her selection, and had the QR code for her boarding pass appear on her screen. “Now I’ve got to do a few things to get ready. Will you help me by keeping May happy?”
“Sure,” said Katie.
“Thanks.” She got up and beckoned to Carey. They went into their first-floor bedroom and closed the door.
“Karen hasn’t called.”
“I figured.”
“I can’t just keep waiting. I’ve got to start moving in that direction as soon as I can. If Karen already knows she’s in danger and has herself in the protection of the police or the FBI or something, I’ll get on the next flight back here.”
Carey said, “I’m pretty sure I know what happens if this trip goes wrong. I never see you alive again. What happens if it goes right? If it goes perfectly? Are you going to take Karen on as another runner?”
“It will take me about seven hours to get to the airport, board the plane, and fly to LA. There’s a lot that can happen in seven hours.
If she needs help of some kind, I’ll try to help her.
Then I’ll come back. I don’t know enough to give you a decent answer.
You’re the man I’ve chosen for life. If the only way to get back to you is to walk back, I’ll start walking as soon as I can, and I’ll be eager to start.
I know you’ll take care of our kids, and I know you’ll be strong, so I’ll try not to worry about you. Try not to worry about me.”
“When do you want to leave for the airport?”
“I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
Carey held her close, and she knew that she was doing something that she would probably regret when her eyes were closing for the last time. “Come on,” she said. “We’ve got to get started or I’ll miss my plane.”