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“Bronwyn.” Seamus has gone very still, which is usually his warning sign.

“Is that right?” Not a question. I'll deal with Bronwyn in person. Clearly, Seamus has been letting things slide. Valentina is delighting in the way she's talking to me.

Bronwyn frowns. “We just wanted to make sure Valentina knows that the McCarthys weren't the ones who took her.” Her brow knits beneath her face mask. “Listen, Valentina, I don't know what I can do to help prove this, but I promise you, my family had nothing to do with it.”

Valentina nods. “Alright. So your family was here the night the impostor was revealed. They knew what happened. They can vouch for you, right?” she says, giving me a sidelong glance.

“Aye.”

I recognize Cavin's voice in the background. He comes on the screen. “Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were⁠—”

“No,” Valentina says. “This is perfect. Another McCarthy?” She's enjoying this, it seems.

Cavin comes into view again, and Bronwyn waves her fingers. “So nice to meet you, Valentina,” she says as Cavin effectively pushes her out of the way. He gives Valentina and me a curious look.

“What's the story, brother?”

“Please tell Valentina your name,” I say shortly.

“Cavin McCarthy.”

“Do you have any ID?” she asks Cavin.

“I do,” he says. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a wallet. He holds it up to the screen. I watch the confusion on his face.

“Checks out,” she says with a nod.

I’m getting tired of this. “We need to go, Valentina.”

“I know, I know,” she says. “Go on, then. You can drive. I'll continue talking to your family.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“Might be a good idea, Tor,” Seamus says dryly.

I tap the directions. “I can't do that because you're using my phone.”

“Right. Well, if you gave me a phone of my own, that wouldn't be a problem,” she says sweetly.

Seamus coughs, as if covering up a laugh. “Call Mam,” I tell him. “If she talks to Mam, she'll know the truth. Everybody knows she doesn't lie.”

“Is she around?” Valentina asks.

“She's in the garden,” Seamus says. “Right, go on and fetch her, Cavin, will you?”

A few moments later, my mother appears on the screen.

Her hair is tied up in some kind of woven cloth, and she's wearing gardening gloves. The garden’s her favorite place to be. It used to be mine too.

My throat tightens. I look at a tree with rust-orange leaves and swallow hard.

“Torin, love,” she says, her eyes warm and welcoming as always, “so pleased to see you. And is that the real Valentina?”

Valentina smiles. “I like being the real Valentina, just so you know,” she says.

“Mam. Introduce yourself, please. We don't have a lot of time here.”

My mother nods. “Right, I'm Caitlin McCarthy. I'm the mother of these lads here.” She smiles. “Looking forward to meeting you in person.”