I slid down the side of the building to avoid being seen.

Robert. Why was Robert arguing with Piper like that? What had they been talking about? And why was Piper worked up enough that he was physically attacking someone else?

Jace’s eyes were wide as we both crouched down under the window and shared a look of confusion. He jerked his head toward the main street soundlessly. It was obvious what he meant. We needed to get out of there before someone spotted us.

We crawled to the front of the school building and then stood and walked briskly back to the street, waiting until we were safely away from the school before either of us spoke.

“That was Robert, right?” Jace finally asked as we passed the surveillance building.

I nodded, deep in thought.

“Okay, that’s what I thought. Though, it was hard to tell after Piper rearranged his face like that,” Jace added.

I managed a chuckle, but it didn’t actually seem very funny to me. Robert was a huge jerk, sure, but what could he have done to elicit that type of reaction from Piper? Was he always so quick to anger? If he could treat an Edgewood team member that way, how did he treat our enemies?

I thought anxiously back to Mica and the other execs. Piper had promised me that they were being well taken care of. So had Nathan and Corona. But the Piper I had just seen wasn’t patient or even-keeled. He was impassioned and brutish.

“Why was Robert even in there?” I asked.

Robert was a tech guy, but I realized suddenly that he hadn’t been part of the tech team that we saw working on Artemis that morning. In fact, I hadn’t seen him working on Nathan’s tech teams at all. Why?

“Maybe they convinced him to take an etiquette class,” Jace joked.

I forced a smile in return, but I was having a hard time seeing any humor in the situation. What we had just seen wasn’t sitting well with me.

We entered the dorm building, and I peeked into the dining hall as we passed by.

“You already know where they are,” Jace teased.

I did. I knew if Team Hood wasn’t in the dining hall, they were in the room I shared with Nelson. Waiting for Jace and me.

Sure enough, our room was so full of people that I accidentally bumped Kory with the door when I tried to enter.

“Sorry,” I said, squeezing past him and into the room.

“Geez, Jace. Is your girlfriend always so aggressive?” Kory asked with a grin.

I blushed. I knew it was apparent to everyone that Jace and I were more than friends at that point, but we hadn’t exactly started using those terms yet.

Jace picked up on my discomfort and kindly changed the subject. “What’s the story in here? Have you guys decided who is and isn’t allowed to volunteer yet?” he asked, raising his voice so the rest of the room could hear him.

“Yep, and so far we have decided that absolutely no one is allowed to volunteer,” Ant said.

It was obviously a joke, but it didn’t seem too far from the truth. I couldn’t imagine anyone agreeing on a mission team after the conversation I had listened to in the dining hall. But that wasn’t the first thing on my mind right now. Instead, I steered the conversation in a new direction.

“Hey, does anyone know what team Robert is on?” I asked.

Everyone turned and looked at me in confusion. I’d known it would seem like a really random question, but I wanted to know what he was doing in the school building—and what he had to do with Piper.

“Oh, I forgot that you guys weren’t here for that,” Gabby said in a quiet voice.

“Here for what?” Jace asked.

“Robert was on the extended tech team,” Nelson added. “Meaning like, a backup team. It’s where Gabby and I started when Nathan said we could begin training with his tech team when we first got here.”

That made sense. But it didn’t explain why he was in the school with Piper.

“But I think now he’s working in the school,” Nelson finished.

I shook my head in confusion. “I thought he was on the tech team, though,” I said.

“Well, he was. Until he threw a massive fit when Nelson and Gabby were chosen to work with the main tech team for the Artemis job,” Zion said from the corner of the room.

“Yeah,” Alexy added from beside him. “I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. I didn’t know anyone had the nerve to talk to Nathan like that. I thought he was going to get kicked out of Edgewood.”

“Which he should’ve been,” Abe interrupted. “But instead, Piper said he’d put him on the teaching board at the school. So now he’s teaching code, I think.”

Teaching code. Robert had to be the new tech teacher Rhea complained about.

“It was a pretty public meltdown,” Nelson said. “And Nathan explained Piper’s offer to us the next day when we all noticed that Robert was no longer on the team.”

“Why do you ask?” Jackie inquired.

“We overheard Robert and Piper having a less-than-civil conversation in the school,” Jace said.

That was probably all we needed to say. I didn’t like Robert under any circumstances, but it felt cruel and gossipy to tell the others that we had just watched him get smacked in the face by his new boss.

“Well, are you surprised?” Jackie asked. “I mean, that guy is a jerk. He’s lucky Piper was even willing to deal with him.”

I supposed she was right. I couldn’t see anyone getting along with Robert. He just must have done something seriously crappy to bring out that kind of reaction in a person.

“In any case, it’s been a busy day, and I’m ready to hit the sack,” Nelson suddenly said in a no-nonsense tone. “So if you guys want to keep talking, you need to find a new place to congregate.”

I was surprised by Nelson’s straightforwardness. But truthfully, I was also ready to start winding down for the night. We’d have plenty of time to talk again tomorrow when we got more details about the new mission.

“We should all get to sleep,” Zion added. “Tomorrow will undoubtedly be another busy day.”

No one argued with him, and a moment later people were beginning to rise and say their goodnights. Alexy and Zion left first, followed by Gabby, and then Ant, Abe, and Jackie. Kory lingered to walk back with Jace, who hugged me goodnight before leaving. Then Nelson and I were finally left alone.

“Thanks for advocating for us back there,” I told her. “I don’t think I could’ve handled much more activity today.”

Nelson sat on her bed and stared straight ahead at me. “Actually, I had some things I wanted to talk to you about privately,” she said.

I looked up at her in confusion. “Is everything okay?”

She had a strange look of sympathy and reticence on her face, like she was about to deliver bad news. It made me feel uneasy.

“I couldn’t find the time to talk to you about it earlier, but I’ve been doing some work on our personal archive files,” she said.

I sat down opposite her on my own bed, starting to feel fearful. Whatever news Nelson was gearing up to share with me, it didn’t seem to be good.

“I wanted to find out more about our families. More about Rylo’s and Hope’s adoptive parents, Jackie’s sister’s new parents, Ant and Abe’s parents, and your parents, too. So I was searching public records after my tech shifts.”

“Okay,” I said uneasily. “And what did you find out?”

Nelson paused uncomfortably. My heart was beginning to race.

“Well, Rylo’s parents are pretty much what I expected: wealthy business owners. Old money types. But Hope’s adoptive parents weren’t accessible by public records.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“It means they have some sort of security clearance that precludes inclusion in public records. On a hunch, I searched the personnel files we have access to through Artemis, and…”

She had drifted off, but I kept my eyes glued to her.

“And what?” I asked.

“And, well, it was Hope’s adoptive mom, Mavis Preston, who had the security clearance. For work purposes.”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand,” I said slowly.

“Robin, that means she works directly for the regime. She’s a government executive,” Nelson finished.

My vision suddenly went fuzzy, like there was a blackness in my peripherals that was threatening to overwhelm me, and I fought to keep hot tears from rising. Hope’s adoptive mother was a government executive. My head shook side to side involuntarily. How would I ever reclaim her now? How could I expect to take my daughter back from the most protected and wealthy class of people in the country? If I hadn’t already been sitting, I felt as if I would’ve fallen to my knees.

Nelson stood and quickly walked toward me, kneeling beside the bed once she reached me. She grabbed my hand reassuringly.

“Robin, we’re not going to let that stop us. We’re going to get her back,” she said.

But I couldn’t look at her. I wanted to run far away and be alone. I closed my eyes tightly, and the tears began to pour over.

Nelson stood and wrapped her arms around me, and as much as I wanted to be alone, I was grateful for her support and affection. She held me for a couple of long minutes while I cried. When she finally pulled away, I tried to straighten myself up on the bed and get composed.

“It’s okay,” I said, wiping tears off of my face.

We weren’t going to let that stop us. Even if our mission had just gotten a lot harder, I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from getting Hope back.

But it wasn’t just about how much more difficult the mission had become. I was also more worried about Hope’s wellbeing now. Who was Mavis Preston, the woman who had adopted Hope? Could she possibly be a loving mother? Or was she an evil government stooge working for the dictator who had toppled our country, enslaved the poor, and kidnapped generations of children? I didn’t see how the two possibilities could possibly combine into one person.

Nelson sat beside me on my bed and put her arm around me, and I leaned against her. Even in the face of awful news, I was so grateful to have her in my life. I wouldn’t know any of this without her. And the missions wouldn’t have even been possible without her help.

“Robin, I know that was a lot to take,” she said softly. “But I have something else I need to tell you.”

I pulled back. I could’ve laughed at that statement. It seemed so comical to me. What else could she possibly say that would be any worse than what she had already told me?

I nodded. “Let’s get it all out in the open,” I said, forcing a weak smile.

She paused again, and then resumed speaking. “I did find your parents in public records. And it looks like Juno was still living in Millville right up until the Helping Hands evacuation. Which means she might be with the townspeople we’re hoping to find on this new mission.”

I considered the possibility of finding Juno in some secret lair where the government was stashing poor people for an unknown reason. The thought was so far-fetched that it seemed silly to entertain. Despite the fact that I’d been entertaining it ever since I found out about the new mission.

“But I found Culver, too,” Nelson continued. “The records don’t say much, but I did find out that he, um—”

I knew what she was going to say before she said it. A part of me felt like I’d known back in Millville, when I hadn’t found his employee folder. I had secretly been bracing myself for it all along. But my heart still sank into my stomach when she finally said the words I had been fearing.

“Robin, he passed away almost twenty years ago.”