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“You think the guy who tipped us off gave him up?” Sean asked.

“No. And Kate agrees. We both think WREN had eyes on him from the moment he escaped his compound. Likely watching to see what he would do. If he had been able to capture you two again, that would’ve bought him a way back in. Since he didn’t succeed, they chose to eliminate him.”

“I’m surprised they left survivors,” Sean said. “They’re not known for compassion.”

“I don’t think compassion had anything to do with it. It’s easier to disappear one dead man than it is nine of them.”

“True. You need us to do anything?”

“No. We’re good. Sorry to interrupt your trip, but I knew you’d want to know,” Ash said.

“Thank you, Ash,” Serena said. “I’m so glad Kate’s people are okay.”

“Yeah, me, too. Have a safe trip. See you tomorrow.”

After the call ended, Sean and Serena just stared at each other as they absorbed the surreal news. They had been working so hard to find Kingsley, wanting to see him pay for his crimes. But now, all it seemed to her was just another tragedy. No, Kingsley hadn’t been a good man, but if they could have contained him, he might’ve given them the information they needed to destroy WREN.

And that was why he was dead.

“You’re sad for him,” Sean observed.

“Not sad for him specifically. He was a true monster. But I could never be happy for anyone’s death. Not even his.”

Taking her hand, he squeezed it gently. “I know that…and that’s one of the things I love most about you.”

Then, blowing out a breath, he said, “Well, that kind of took the wind out of our sails, but we’re headed to a destination I know nothing about, and I think you have something to tell me?”

Regrouping for the reason for their trip was jarring, but she had no choice. They still had a little over four hours left on this flight, and she would need every moment.

With a deep, steadying breath, she began again. “After you left to look for Kingsley, I had some wild imaginings, things I couldn’t stop thinking about. About Brenda. About the dreams she had about Emma. I know grief can do all sorts of weird things to your thinking. Hoping Emma was alive was her mind’s way of dealing with the pain, but she seemed so persistent, so sure.

“And then I wondered about all the different people who had assured her that Emma was still alive. I know there are charlatans out there who’ll do anything or say anything for money.

“And you know I don’t believe in psychics or visions, but I do believe that God works in mysterious ways. I got to thinking that just because the answers Brenda received were wrong, could there be something to the question itself?

“So I wrote down a wild, seemingly impossible hypothesis. I kind of threw it out into the universe and told myself to follow it down whatever rabbit hole came along.”

She was aware that Sean’s entire body had stiffened, and his face was devoid of all emotion. But his eyes—they were killing her. She had never seen that look in them. Darker but blazing with a fiery sort of brilliance. If she didn’t hurry the story along, questions were sure to come flying at her at maximum speed.

“At first, I followed Brenda’s path. It wasn’t hard to find the places she had visited, as well as the people she talked to. And you were right—they were all either fake or just silly superstition. But I couldn’t let it go. So I went straight to the source of all of this.”

She cleared her throat. Pushing aside the anger she’d felt that day when all the awfulness had been revealed, she explained, “I went to Corley, Oregon, to talk to Russell Stewart, Joe’s father. He’s under hospice care now. I didn’t know that when I arrived. I just showed up at his door and asked to see him. One of his nurses asked what I wanted. I told her I needed to talk to him about Emma. She disappeared and then was back in seconds and led me to him.

“He’s in a bad way, and more than anything, I think he wanted to confess.”

“Confess what?” Sean asked hoarsely.

“It’s complicated and messy. But here’s the gist. Joe wasn’t Emma’s father. He and Bridget faked the DNA results to make Joe’s father believe he finally had a grandchild. They were hoping for a big payout. Somehow, Russell caught on, had another DNA test run, and when he discovered the truth, he threw some money at Joe and Bridget and tossed them out. That’s why they left town.”

Sean opened his mouth to speak, but when nothing came out, she hurriedly continued, “They didn’t move out of the country, like you’d been told. Bridget had some relatives in Texas. They stayed there for a few months, but the money ran out, and apparently, the love did, too.

“It wasn’t long after that that Bridget died in a car crash.” She took a deep breath and then added, “She was alone in the car.”

“That’s not possible,” Sean burst out. “I saw the death certificates. I read the accident report. I saw the photographs of the wreckage…the bodies.”

“The photographs of the accident—the car and Bridget—were real. But the one of Emma was from another accident. Of another child.

“Bridget had left Emma with a babysitter. With Bridget dead, Joe was left with a child he didn’t want. Instead of doing the decent thing and returning her to you, he decided to make some money. So he sold Emma.”