Gretchen McNeil - 3:59

“Josie?” her mom breathed immediately. Her eyes darted around Josie’s face. “How? Where?”

Josie hugged her mom again, tighter this time. Emotion clogged her voice and she fought to keep back the sob threatening to erupt from deep within her. This was her mom. Finally.

“I’ve seen you,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “In my dreams. You’d be at home doing your homework just like nothing had happened.”

The nightmare Dr. Byrne had. At exactly 3:59. Dear God, they were sharing visions of each other’s lives, just like Josie did with Jo. That must have been even worse for her mom than being tortured by the Nox.

“Mom, I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, Josie. The dreams I’ve had . . .”

She wanted to tell her mom everything—the mirror, the flash, her and Jo—but something stopped her. If they had her mom locked away, it was for a reason. They had to be careful. “Call me Josephine,” she whispered into her mom’s ear. “They might be listening.” Then Josie cleared her throat and spoke in a clear, loud voice. “I’ve missed you, Mom.”

“I’ve . . .” Her mom paused, then Josie felt her arms encircle her back. “I’ve missed you too. Josephine,” she added.

Thank God. Whatever they’d done to her, Josie’s mom still had her wits about her. Josie gave her mom a squeeze, then sat back down. “I’m sorry I haven’t come to see you sooner,” she said. “I’ve been really busy. School. Daddy. You know.” She spoke deliberately, in a slightly stilted manner and hoped her mom picked up on the fact that they were, in all likelihood, being watched.

“Of course.” Her mom nodded. “I understand.”

Josie sat down on the edge of the hospital bed and leaned her head against her mom’s shoulder. “I’ve missed you, Mom.”

A sob racked her mom’s body. Suddenly, her arms were around Josie, frantically pulling her close. “You have to get out of here,” she said. “This place is evil. There are things. Evil, horrid things.” Her mom’s voice got louder and louder, and she barely got the words out between sobs.

The door slid open immediately and two orderlies rushed in. They pried Josie’s mom away, pinning her arms behind her back. Her mom stopped fighting and went limp almost immediately, but tears streamed down her cheeks and her eyes never left Josie’s face.

“Don’t come back,” she said. “Don’t. Don’t come back here.”

“I think that’s enough for today.” Dr. Cho stood in the doorway. She gestured for Josie to follow her.

She started to follow Dr. Cho out of the room as her mom sobbed quietly in the arms of the orderlies. It broke Josie’s heart to have to leave her mom there, but she needed time to figure out a plan with Nick. And no one could guess their secret until then, which meant her mom was going to have to play along too.

She ran back to her mom, and threw her arms around her neck. “Play along,” she whispered. “Give them what they want until I figure a way out.”

She pulled away and looked her mom in the eye, trying to look and sound as confident as possible. For an instant, the fear drained from her mom’s face. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Josie turned to leave. “And I’ll be back soon.”

4:10 P.M.

JOSIE COULDN’T CONTROL THE TEARS AS SHE raced back to Bowie. They poured down her cheeks, stinging her eyes and blinding her as she drove. She didn’t care about the speed limit. She didn’t care about her own safety. All she could think about was getting her mom out of that horrible place. Stat.

But a special agent she was not, and the security at Old St. Mary’s Hospital was like breaking into Langley. There was no way Josie could just waltz in there, overpower a few armed military guards, and carry her mom out.

The image of her mom—emaciated, tortured, and desperate to keep Josie out of harm—was burned into her brain. Her mom had always been so strong, physically and mentally, and to see her broken like that was devastating. Josie wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to calm down. She had to focus her mind. She had a problem; she needed to find a solution. It was that simple.

She had to find a way if she was going to save her mom.

Okay, so if she couldn’t break into Old St. Mary’s Mission: Impossible style, she’d have to find another way to get her mom out. Who was the most logical person to do that?

Dr. Cho.

Josie set her jaw as she thought of the fake kindness in Dr. Cho’s face. She wanted to shove her into a room with the Nox and lock the door. A taste of her own medicine.

Still, Dr. Cho had the power to transfer Josie’s mom out of the hospital. But she’d have to want to do so. That was the only way.

How could Josie make that happen? She had no idea. She needed help.

Josie hit the hands-free button on her steering wheel and scrolled through the address book to Nick’s number. Come on, Nick. Please answer.

The phone barely rang before the voice mail picked up. “You’ve reached Nick’s cell phone,” his voice said. “You know what to do.”

Josie hung up before the beep. He might still have been at practice, but Josie remembered the warehouse. No cell phones there. Ever.

It was worth a shot. Josie needed to talk to him. She couldn’t wait.

It took some trial and error, but Josie was finally able to recognize the exit to the warehouse district. Nick’s route the other day had been so erratic, Josie was surprised she could re-create it at all, but she remembered train tracks, and she remembered the lonely off-ramp with no other buildings in sight. And it wasn’t too long before Josie found herself slowly driving down the abandoned street toward Nick’s off-the-Grid home away from home.

The roll-up gate was locked, and unlike Nick, Josie didn’t have a key.

So she knocked.

After a minute or so, she heard the sound of sliding metal. “Shit,” someone said under their breath. The gate rolled up partway, and Josie found herself face-to-face with Madison.

“What are you doing here?” she asked coldly.

“Looking for Nick,” Josie said.

“Nick’s not here.”

Yeah, like she was going to take Madison’s word for it. Josie gazed over Madison’s shoulder, trying to see if Nick’s SUV was in the parking area. “Any idea where he is?”

“Maybe you should try calling him. Phones are magical like that.”

Josie rolled her eyes. “He’s not answering.”

“Ever occur to you that maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to you?” Madison said with a half smirk.

“Ever occur to you that you’re a raging—”

“J-Jo?” Penelope shoved her head around the side of the wall.

“Damn,” Josie said with a side glance at Madison. “You guys don’t waste any time, do you?”

“Nick asked me to bring her over after school,” Madison said drily. “If it were up to me, neither of you would be here.”

Josie looked her straight in the eye. “Then I guess I’m lucky it’s not up to you.”

“Whatever.” Madison shoved the door. It rolled up so quickly it clattered to a stop, bouncing against the top of the frame from the violence of her push. “Get your car inside before someone spots it.”

Josie smiled as she climbed back into the black BMW. So Nick had overruled Madison on the issue of helping Josie get home. Considering what Josie assumed about their dating history, that was only going to make Madison hate her even more.

Madison relocked the gate but refused to acknowledge Josie’s presence, let alone talk to her as the three of them walked to the living-room area of the warehouse. It was almost ironic, really. The same anger Josie felt toward the Madison who had betrayed her, this Madison seemed to harbor for Jo. Was it all because of Nick? Suddenly, Josie’s and Jo’s realities seemed more parallel than ever.