Great fucking timing. Tobias peeled off his condom in record time, then yanked on his pants, cursing himself six ways to Sunday. Why'd he have to choose that moment to blurt out what was in his heart? He knew Carolyn was under incredible strain from being back at the Light Keepers. Her stress level screamed from every tense line of her body. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

And now they didn't have time to finish the damn conversation because they had an eavesdropper.

Time to shove all their personal issues away and focus on the mission.

Softly, He stepped to the window and opened the curtain the tiniest crack. A little girl stared back at him. Dressed in a pinafore-type dress, her white-blond hair in two pigtails, her blue eyes big as saucers, she was the spitting image of Carolyn—at the age of eight or so.

"It's a little girl," he whispered to Carolyn, who was busy buttoning her sweater, color still coming and going in her cheeks. "It might be your mystery sister."

She hurried to his side. "Open the window and get her inside before someone spots her."

He unlocked the window, reached down and hauled the girl in by the armpits. He planted her on the floor, where she blinked at him as if he were Superman. He gave a quick check to make sure no one was chasing after her. The sun was just sinking below the horizon, bathing the fields and all the Light Keeper buildings in a luminous orange glow. He saw no one in the vicinity, so he closed the window and the curtains.

Carolyn was staring at the little girl as if she were a ghost.

The girl stared back. "Are you my sister?"

"I'm Carolyn Moore. My father is Levi Moore. Who are you?"

"Sarah!" the girl said ebulliently. "My daddy is Levi too. My mamma was Lilith but she died when she had me. The midwife couldn't save her."

Carolyn's expression shifted. "I'm sorry. I know how sad it is when your mommy dies."

Sarah looked her up and down, a frown on her little dimpled face. "Pariahs don't look so scary."

Looking self-conscious, Carolyn tucked the loose strands of her hair back into her ponytail.

"I don't mind if you're a pariah," Sarah added cheerfully. "It's okay. They say I'm going to be one too when I grow up, if I don't behave. But I don't like behaving."

Carolyn shot a quick amused glance at Tobias. His tension eased a bit; that was the first normal interaction they'd had since setting foot on Light Keeper property. "I know just what you mean," she said seriously. "I'm very happy to meet you. I didn't know I had a sister."

"I did," the little girl said proudly. "I knew you'd come someday. Even though you're a bad person, I still like you. I don't have any other sisters, and the other girls are mean to me sometimes."

Tobias stiffened at the phrase "bad person," but Carolyn gave him a little head shake to warn him off.

"I'm sorry to hear about that. I know how it feels, but you can't let it get you down." To Tobias, Sarah didn't seem the kind to let anything get her down. "Sarah, do you mind telling me something? Do you live in the longhouse with the others?"

The girl interlaced her hands behind her back and rocked on her heels. "I'm not supposed to tell you anything or even talk to you. If they catch me, I'll be in biiiig trouble." She pulled her lower lip between her teeth, looking extremely anxious all of a sudden.

"We don't want to get you in trouble," said Carolyn quickly. "I just want to know where to find you if I come and visit."

"You can't visit. It's not allowed." Sarah glared at her sternly. "Besides, I'm not going back there. I'm coming with you."

Carolyn's gaze flew to meet Tobias’s quickly. He shrugged, just as caught off-guard as she was. "What are you talking about?"

"We have to sneak away. I'm scared, sister Carolyn. They put us in the bunker and said we can't come out. None of the kids can. We don't like it and we're scared. Then Mark heard one of the Elders talking and he said your name and that you were here. That's why I came to find you."

Tobias jammed his hands in his pockets. So all the kids were being held in a bunker of some kind? This was worse than he'd imagined.

"Who's Mark?" he asked her.

She cast her eyes downwards, obviously unused to talking to male strangers.

"This is Tobias," Carolyn said. "He's my friend. You can trust him."

Sarah turned and gave him a skeptical up-and-down glance. "You're very tall and kind of scary," she declared.

"You don't look scared."

"I'm not scared of things, not like the little kids. Except for spiders. I really, really don't like spiders."

"I'm with you there," he said seriously. "Except Spiderman. I like him."

She looked at him blankly. Of course--they didn't have movies and TV here. She had no idea who Spiderman was.

Carolyn smiled at the little girl. "Sarah, I need to talk to Tobias for a second, okay?"

They stepped a few feet away, out of the girl's earshot. "What can we do, Tobias? They're being held in a bunker!"

"Do you know anything about it? Where it is?"

"No, there was nothing like that when I was here. I think they've gotten crazier since I left."

He eyed Sarah, who was now curiously poking around the little guesthouse. "It's hard to believe she's spent her life here. Why isn't she meek and obedient? Isn't that how the kids here are supposed to be?"

"Supposed to be, sure, at least around adults. But one good thing about living on a farm is there’s freedom to run around and play. So she obviously has that side too." A certain softness came over her as she watched her sister. " She reminds me so much of myself."

"I can see the family resemblance, that's for sure." Sarah was now bouncing on the bed, her face bright with joy.

"We can't leave her here," Carolyn said firmly.

"But how can we take her? They'll never let her past the gate. We're unarmed, we have no backup, no standing to take her."

"But they're being held in a bunker. That's abuse. You're a Night Stalker. Are you telling me you can't figure out a way to get her out?"

He spun away from her and scrubbed a hand through his hair. He forced himself to think logistically about the situation. The element of surprise would be crucial. They'd have to act fast. And they'd need backup. Even if they managed to get beyond the fence, they'd need help on the other side. He’d have to contact Will, and probably the authorities, too.

"We'd have to leave tonight," he said, almost to himself. "They're up to something with that ploy to make us stay for a week. The faster we act, the better."

"Yes. Thank God you agree. Let's get out of here asap."

Tobias scowled and paced the floor, running through various scenarios. Would it be legal to help all the kids escape? They were here with their parents, after all. He went back to the little girl and crouched next to her. "I need to ask you a few questions. Do you mind?"

She nodded solemnly.

"Where is this bunker?"

"It's behind the barn," she whispered conspiratorially. "But it's supposed to be a secret."

"Did you leave the note on the fence, the one for Carolyn?"

"Yes, but Mark helped me put it there. He wants to leave because he thinks we're going to die. But I heard the Elders talking and they didn't say that."

"What'd they say?"

"They said we're going to do a standoff. That's not the same as dying, is it?"

Sometimes it was, but Tobias didn't want to scare her. "No, it's not the same as dying. But it could be dangerous." Was that why they were keeping the kids in the bunker, to protect them from this "standoff?" Maybe. But he didn't know enough about these people to be sure. "Coming with us means leaving your dad, and the bunker, which might be the safest place for you to be."

Sarah shook her head vigorously, eyes filling with tears. "I hate it there. I like to run and play and practice cartwheels, even though I'm not supposed to. In the bunker we can't do anything fun."

His fury grew. How could anyone choose a course of action that required kids to be kept in a bunker? If this crazy group wanted a standoff, they could have one. But they shouldn't be allowed to drag kids into the middle of it.

"How did you get out of the bunker?" he asked her. "To come and find us?"

"Mark showed me a tunnel."

"A tunnel? What kind of tunnel?"

"It's under the ground, and it has wires and pipes and stuff. Mark found a way to crawl into it."

Tobias looked up at Carolyn. "A utilidor. They found their way into a utilidor."

"What's that?"

"It's an underground corridor to bring in utilities, power, water and so forth. Maybe sewer. They're usually big enough for workers to access them." He turned back to Sarah. "How wide is the tunnel? Can an adult crawl through it?"

She surveyed him dubiously. "Maybe my sister can, but you're much too big."

Ah. There went that idea. "Do you know where else the tunnel goes?"

She squinted into the distance, as if trying to picture it, or remember. "No," she confessed. "Mark knows. He told me how to get here."

Carolyn cleared her throat. "It probably goes to the power station, which is at the western edge of the property, near the solar array. There's no other source of power out here."

Yes. That made complete sense. An idea began to form in Tobias’s mind. A daring, terrifying idea. One in which a lot would depend on Carolyn.

Carolyn was asking Sarah about Mark. "Is he a good friend? He seems to know a lot of things."

"He's really smart. I wish he could leave with us, but he said I should ask for help after we leave. We can do that, right?" She gave Carolyn an enchanting smile and twined her hand in hers. "I hope we can because he's really nice. I hope we can help him find his mommy."

Tobias froze as her words sank in. Find his mommy? Did that mean his mother wasn't part of the compound?

He shot a glance at Carolyn, who looked just as thunderstruck as he was. She sat down on the edge of the bed, still holding the little girl's hand. "Is his mommy missing?"

She laughed merrily. "No, silly. He was rescued from his mommy, except he says he was stolen. Just like Charity and Grace were. They cry at night. Sometimes I cry with them because they're so sad. My mommy's missing too but I don't remember her. And now I have a sister." She beamed with such joy that it practically lit up the room. The resemblance between her and Carolyn did something to his heart, as if it was being wrapped with golden ribbons.

"Yes, you do," Carolyn said firmly. "And I think all those kids ought to have sisters and mothers and families too. Tobias and I need to talk a little bit more to figure out a good plan, okay? Is someone going to notice you're gone?"

"Nope, Mark said not to worry."

Carolyn gave her a last squeeze on the shoulder and hurried over to Tobias. They huddled their heads together. "They're kidnapping kids!" she said fiercely. "Why would they do that?"

"Does it matter why? This changes everything. If it's true, we need to call in the FBI."

"But what if that's what they want? She mentioned a standoff. Defying the feds, maybe that's their goal. They'll get famous, they'll be on TV. All the other fringe groups will love them. We can't play into their hands."

He cupped his hands around her face, feeling the pulse fluttering in her throat, a frantic beat of worry. "We can't do this on our own. But I have a plan. Want to hear it?"

Her eyes widened, the trust in them like a shot to the heart. How could she trust him in some ways—but not the most crucial?

"One of us has to get word to the FBI," he said. "Which means leaving the property."

"It has to be you," she said right away. "It wouldn't make sense for you to stay and me to go."

"I can pretend that I want to join the group."

“But you can’t fit through the utilidor. And you’d be surrounded by Light Keeper men the entire time. That’s if they agreed to let you join. They might not want new members right now.”

Good point. The Light Keepers were preparing for a big showdown. They might not want a new, unproven, unfamiliar member.

His heart sank. Caro was right. He had to be the one to leave. Which meant she had to stay.

In the place of her worst nightmares. The place where her father had just tried to hit her.

He ground his teeth together. It went against every protective principle he had to leave her here. He opened his mouth to object, then caught her fierce, resolute gaze. This was Caro, the woman who had knocked him off his feet in her borrowed office. She deserved his respect along with his protectiveness.

"Okay then. Here's the plan," he told her tightly. "We'll stage a big fight, a breakup. I'll leave in the Land Rover, with my cell phone. I’ll contact Will and Ben and we’ll handle everything on the outside. You'll make a big show of being heartbroken. You'll ask to stay in the comfort of your old home, where you grew up. You'll find your way to the kids, and locate Mark. He obviously knows the tunnels. You get Sarah to the power station, through the utility corridor."

She nodded, listening closely to every word. She was in warrior mode; he recognized it, that alertness, the determination.

"We'll meet you at the fence closest to the power station. I'll be out there as soon as I make contact with my brothers and the FBI, and I'll wait until you show up. If it's not tonight, then I'll keep waiting. But the FBI will probably want to make a move before long, so sooner is better."

A fierce light gleamed in her eyes. "It'll be tonight. Count on it."

He certainly wouldn't bet against her.

Carolyn glanced at her little sister, fear finally making an appearance. "They have all those guns, all that ammo. I don't even have a knife."

"It's better that way. You don't want a fight. If you run into trouble, tell them the FBI knows exactly what's going on. Tell them if anything happens to you they'll be in so much legal trouble that the entire place will have to shut down. If anything happens to a single child, the group is done. They know that. They're not stupid. You're smart and skilled, Carolyn. You're a warrior queen disguised as an art history professor. You can do this."

A slight smile brought that little dimple to life.

He couldn't help it; he touched her cheek. "Damn, I wish I could be the one to stay. You're getting the dangerous end of this."

She shook her head. "It wouldn't work, and you know it. They'd never allow you near the kids, for one thing."

A silence fell between them, a silence filled with the immensity of what they were about to attempt. He dropped his hand from her cheek, but she caught it before it got too far. Her gaze softened as she held his hand in both of hers. "Tobias…about before…" She trailed off. In her eyes he read regret, worry, gratitude.

But did that add up to love?

"Forget it." He turned away from her, toward Sarah, who was bouncing toward them.

"I just heard the bell for prayers before dinner," she said. "I have to crawl back, really quick!"

"I think it's go-time all-around," he said gruffly. "Ready for a fake fight with your fake fiancé, Caro?"

"Ready."