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Lenna feels focused. Still.Calm.This is what they should have done from the very start.
She wakes up her screen and hits the phone icon. Her fingers slide on the keypad, and it takes her two tries to key in the three numbers correctly. She touches the round, green button at the bottom of the screen to make the call. Another window appears, announcing that the call is being made.
But then…nothing.
A redXappears on Lenna’s screen.Call failed,it reads. She tries again.Call failed.
“It’s not working.” Her vision is starting to narrow.“Why is it not working?”
“It should work on the Wi-Fi,” Sarah says, but then pauses, eyes wide. “Unless…unless someone has blocked outgoing calls?”
“You candothat?” Her hands start to shake. “Okay.Okay.We can just get out of this Wi-Fi bubble and into actual cell phone range. Then we’ll have service, right?”
“Presumably. But that would mean we’d have to leave the ranch. And what are we supposed to do, climb the barbed wire?”
For the second time in a span of a few minutes, Lenna hits on the answer. “Chiricahua Peak,” she whispers. “I had service at the top.Realservice.”
Sarah nods. “We have to get up there.”
29
Lenna
October
Present day
Sarah throws sweatshirts into a backpack in case they’re stuck on the mountain for hours. When the sun goes down, the temperature drops—though hopefully it won’t come to that. Lenna fills up water bottles and laces up her shoes. She brings extra sunscreen, diapers, a hat for the baby, a hoodie. Her cell phone is only a quarter charged, but it will have to do.
Coral has left her post at the door to prepare some food, but Matilda is still sitting in the same spot, laying out cards for Solitaire on the floor. The rest of the women, including Amy, are back inside.
Marjorie sweeps through the living area, announcing that it’s almost time for midmorning yoga. Before Lenna knows what’s happening, Marjorie sidles next to her.
“I’m very sorry, again, about not being able to get you out of here today,” she says. “And of course, with the dust storm, that will set us back a little further. But if you’d like to join us for yoga, I’m going to lead us in a practice right now.”
Lenna’s mouth wobbles.Are you trapping us?she wants to ask. But she can’t make sense of why. All she wants is to get out of this house.
“Wait,” Sarah whispers when Marjorie heads toward the yoga studio. “That’s it.”
“What?” Lenna asks.
“They’ll be distracted. No one will be watching the door.”
“Duringyoga? Are you serious?”
But sure enough, when Marjorie bangs the gong to announce that yoga is beginning, Matilda rises from her chair and drifts down the hall. Lenna exchanges a look with Sarah. Could it be that easy?
“Ladies?” Marjorie pops her head into the hall. She’s staring at them. “Coming?” She smiles at Lenna. “The baby is welcome, too.”
Lenna looks at Sarah. Sarah gives her a tiny nod as if to sayJust follow my lead.
They head into the studio. Ann, Amy, Naomi, and Melissa are already sitting on mats. Gia comes in, too, wearing a linen tunic and slippery-looking leggings. Her makeup is perfect, her hair is smooth. Her gaze darts to Lenna and Sarah, but then she looks away. Lenna’s stomach twists. Every cell in her body is screaming at her to jump up and demand to know where Rhiannon is. Only, what if itisn’tGia? Then she’d give away to whoever is the real perpetrator that she’s on to them.
Sarah nudges her to grab a mat. Before sitting, she lays Jacob on a blanket on the floor. He lets out a cry, and she thinks that’s that, but then he seems to focus on the whirring ceiling fan and calms down. Still, Lenna hates the idea of him even breathing the same air as the traitor who is keeping them hostage. She stares at the crisscrossed tank top Amy wears, the messy braid in Melissa’s hair, the easy way Matilda bends forward and her glasses slip to the tip of her nose. Maybe it’s all of them. Maybe it’s none of them.
“Lie back,” Marjorie orders. “Let your body feel heavy. Close your eyes. Shut off all outside distractions.”
Reluctantly, Lenna lies on her mat, listening to the noisy air-conditioning unit in the window. She doesn’t dare close her eyes for even a second. The children settle, including some of the littlest. She eyes Teddy lying next to Melissa, his hands splayed out at his sides like he’s done this plenty of times.
