The Cartographers(101)

“This is my fault,” Wally cried as he fought me. “Let me go, you have to let me go—”

Just as Francis and Eve lost control of Daniel and he lurched toward the blaze with a howl, something moved from within the flames.

“Tam!” he screamed.

And she was there—stumbling, coughing, and carrying you. You were covered in ash and there were scorch marks on your clothes, but you were alive. Your mother had somehow spared you the worst of the deadly smoke, but it had taken its toll on her. Her face was covered in black soot, streaked with lines where her tears had run down and then evaporated in the heat, and her hair was crisp and frayed. She was wheezing, barely able to breathe.

“Tam!” Daniel called, running for her as she emerged. “Tam, here!”

She cleared the doorway, one foot on the sidewalk, strong enough that I thought she might make it to his arms. And then as the roof collapsed in behind her, she fell.

Daniel lunged to catch her. Together, you all hit the ground, Daniel first, trying to cushion you against his chest from the blow, and Tam last, crumpling softly on top of you and him.

We all ran forward, to pull the three of you back from the flames—but just as we were close enough to grab hold, suddenly everything disappeared. The stoplights, the sidewalks, the little shops with their awnings.

The whole town, vanished.

We were back in the empty field, crouching in the grass, County Road 206 somewhere behind us.

And in Daniel’s arms was only you, Nell.

Tam was gone.





XXI




After Felix finished talking, the silence lingered for what felt like a full minute. Naomi, Priya, and William were all staring at him, stunned.

“A folding gas station map,” Priya murmured at last.

“I know,” he said. “It sounds totally impossible. But it all adds up, as strange as it seems.”

“And this old friend of Dr. Young’s named Wally is still after the map all because . . . it has a copyright trap on it?” Naomi asked. “An Easter egg, like we sometimes put in our code? That’s really what Nell’s parents’ friends said?”

“Yes, although I don’t know why that actually makes a difference,” Felix replied.

He’d told them everything he knew so far—except what Nell had said Francis revealed was the real reason the map was so valuable. Because that last part was just too unbelievable to be true. And if he had any hope of convincing William that the Haberson Map had gotten close, but was wrong, and that they needed to help Nell, he needed to give him facts. Not fantasy. “But after everything that’s happened, I do believe that they really were telling the truth when they told Nell that if she kept looking into it, Wally would come after her.”

“And you’re positive she still has this map now?” William asked.

“No,” Felix replied. “But I do know she still had it up until at least last night. I saw it with my own eyes, at her apartment. She’d been planning to give it to the chair of the library tonight, but she changed her mind.” He shuddered. “And now Irene is dead.”

William glanced down at his tablet as it dinged again, and he rubbed his temples. “I need to call Ainsley and tell her what you just told me, but I’ll be back soon.”

“What can we do?” Felix asked.

“Stay here,” he said. “I’m going to have her send an officer over to take your statement.”

“But—”

“Nell’s not answering her phone, and you don’t know where she is.” William didn’t allow himself to be interrupted. “The police won’t like that we’re about to rescind our best lead and will likely keep pursuing her anyway—the more background you can give them, the faster they’re going to understand. This is your best chance of helping her.”

“He’s right, Felix,” Naomi agreed.

Priya nodded. “We’ll wait with you.”

William started for the elevators, moving briskly, his phone already ringing in his hand. “Thank you. Just hang on—Ainsley will get an officer here within half an hour.”

The door slid shut after him, and the office plunged into stunned silence again.

“Do you need anything?” Naomi asked Felix.

“No,” he replied. “You don’t have to stay, really. Is Charlotte still down there in the lobby? She must be worried.”

“She’s at home. As soon as the news about the murder broke, I called her,” she said. “We’re here for you.”

Felix tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. “I just wish there was more I could do than sit here. What if the police don’t believe me?”

“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it,” Priya said.

The thought did little to comfort him. Frustrated, Felix spun his chair back to his computer, where he began clicking through the server to his personal files.

“What are you doing?” Naomi asked. “How can you work at a time like this?”

Felix shook his head. “I’m not.”

“Is that a security video?” Priya asked, leaning closer. “Of the library?”

“From the night of the break-in,” Felix confirmed. “Nell gave it to me when she showed me the Agloe map.”