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Apparently, what Maggie wanted was pretty reasonable, and what she was offering was a better life. Ella explains that Maggie’s goal was to get Mom to spend a couple of weeks at her facility to try to fix a “hole” in Maggie’s long-running research. All that was asked of Ella and Betsey was a plane ride, a long weekend in Colorado, and a few pints of blood and tissue samples. In return, Maggie would supply driver’s licenses, birth certificates, and Social Security cards for them. There was no mention of me at all.
“But if she waited until I left to come through the gate, she had to have seen me,” I say.
“Maybe she figured two was good enough,” Betsey offers.
“Or maybe she thought that once she lured Mom to her, you’d follow.”
I laugh bitterly. “I guess I did.”
Sean emerges, and when I catch his eyes, he smiles at me so warmly that I want to go crawl into his arms. Instead, he casually walks across the room toward the door.
“I’ll get us some food,” he says quietly, not waiting for a response before leaving.
“It’s nice he came with you,” Betsey says.
“Yeah, it is,” I say.
We’re all quiet a moment before I ask when Mom showed up.
“Maggie called her,” Ella says. “She told us to pack bags, then when we were ready, she called Mom and told her what was happening. She said, ‘Come home quick, or your chickens will have flown the coop.’ ”
“That’s when she ran out of the grocery store,” I say, putting it together.
“I guess,” Ella says. “Anyway, she came home in a hurry. They made us go in the other room; we heard them fighting for a few minutes, but then Mom just gave in. She came and got us and told us we were going to Colorado.”
“Did she say anything about me?” I ask.
“She didn’t,” Ella says.
“She probably didn’t think Maggie knew about you,” Betsey says. “She was probably trying to keep you safe.”
I frown at this, still wondering why Mom didn’t call me. Then I remember that she had no idea where I was. That she’d taken our phone, and believed she’d also taken my secret cell, too. I’d left her no way of getting in touch with me.
“I felt your panic,” I say quietly. “When did that happen?”
“When Mom and Maggie were arguing,” Ella says. “Before then, I was sort of stunned, but then it all hit me and I completely freaked out. For a few minutes, when she just gave in so easily, I started to feel like Mom was somehow in on it. I whispered to Bet that we needed to get out.”
“Which made me panic,” Betsey says. “But there was no time; it was too late. They came and got us before we had the chance to act.”
“Then you left with them?” I ask. “But Mom’s car was in the driveway when I came looking for you.”
“Yes, we went in Maggie’s BMW,” Ella says.
“Oh my god,” I groan. “Is it red?”
“Yes,” Ella says. “Why?”
“I’ve talked to her before, too,” I say quietly. “At the gas station. And I’ve seen her car around. I wonder if I’d have said something…”
“There’s no way you could’ve known,” Betsey says.
“Seriously, no way,” Ella echoes, but it doesn’t make me feel better.
“Tell me about the plane ride,” I say, wanting to change the subject.
Ella sighs. “Maggie and Mom made us sit in the back; they sat in the front, snapping at each other the whole ride. It was completely surreal.” Ella rubs under her eyes and smears her mascara a little. “Then we landed and there was a car waiting to pick us up. It took us to the dorm.
“Mom went in with us, but she only stayed a minute—she went to Maggie’s lab with her and stayed there all night. But before she left, she whispered into my ear, ‘Where is Lizzie?’ ”
