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“I’ll get it.”

“I need to get it.”

“Sage—”

“The letters are inside.”

Nothing is more important to her than those letters.

I understand. They’re all she has left of the women who raised her—and possibly the only connection we have to Hayley.

“All right. Stay behind me.”

I take a handgun from the secured drawer beneath the kitchen counter and lead Sage into the hallway. She keeps close enough that I can feel her fingers gripping the back of my shirt.

The house remains dark.

The security lights outside haven’t activated. Taylor disabled them so the men at the gate won’t know we’ve seen them.

We reach Sage’s bedroom. She slips inside and pulls her backpack from the floor beside the bed. The brown wig and glasses lie on the dresser.

She reaches for them.

“Leave those.”

“They can’t see me.”

“They won’t get close enough.”

“You don’t know what these men do.”

I turn toward her.

“No. They don’t know what we do.”

She searches my face, almost as if she’s trying to decide whether I’m telling her the truth.

I open the closet and press a hidden switch. A section of the back wall releases, revealing a narrow stairwell.

Her eyes widen.

“When did you build this?”

“We finished it last month.”

“Why does your guest room have a secret staircase?”

“Every bedroom has one.”

Taylor’s voice comes through the small radio clipped to my waistband.

“One man approaching the call box. Driver remains inside. Possible third man in the rear seat.”

I press the radio button. “Copy.”

Sage stares at it.

“Go downstairs,” I tell her. “There’s water, food, and another radio inside the room. Lock the door behind you.”