Nora’s footsteps clicked down the hall, becoming more distant. Worried she might overhear what he had to say, Matisse stuck his head out the door to make sure she was gone.

“What did you find?” Cai asked, pinning him with a worried stare.

“You were right.” He still couldn’t believe everything he’d found. He’d spent the entire afternoon combing through the doctor’s reports, studies, and contracts. “Tyler was systematically broken down, test-by-test, interview-by-interview, until he doubted everything, and mistrusted everyone.”

“Go on,” Cai urged through clenched teeth.

“Daniel Murray works for the university and for the Department of Defense. This study isn’t only academic; it has a practical implication. Dr. Murray’s team is attempting to transform personalities—”

“What does that mean?” Cai asked.

“It’s related to so many things,” Matisse said. “There’s shit in there I should never have seen. If they can transform a person, for example a terrorist, into a loyal American, think of the implications? What if they could make a person withstand interrogations or torture? Do you see what I’m saying?”

His friend’s face went from white to red, but as he opened his mouth to reply, the doctor walked through the door. “Cai Josephs! Ready to go home?”

Eyes remaining on Matisse, it took Cai a moment to reply. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “Yes.”

“Then let’s get you cleared.”

The doctor’s timing was awful. Matisse needed to confide in Cai. He could barely process what he’d read and had stumbled from the house to the hospital completely unaware of his surroundings. He’d made it here, the words ready to burst out of him. From the look on Cai’s face, the wait had been painful for him as well.

“All right,” the doctor finished. “Here are your discharge papers and your prescription, and you’re set.” The bespectacled man smiled widely at Cai, who shook his hand.

“Thank you,” Cai said as an afterthought. The door swung shut behind the doctor, and he lasered in on Matisse. “Talk quick. What does this mean for Nora?”

“They were—are—attempting to do the same thing to her. Cai, they are beating her down. Isolate. Humiliate. Attack. Accuse. That’s their system. He’s published article after article about brainwashing. He’s a fucking expert.”

Swallowing thickly, Cai tried to respond but couldn’t. He shook his head. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he ground his teeth together. “Brainwashing. This is what they did to Tyler?”

Matisse couldn’t imagine what Cai was thinking at this moment. He’d made a commitment to the kids at the youth center going beyond work hours. Patiently, he’d worked to earn the trust of each and every child in his care.

“We have to tell her. Tell the others—” Cai started when a knock on the door stopped whatever it was he was about to say. He opened it to reveal Nora, hands clasped in front of her.

“Do you need more time?” she asked.

“No.” Cai’s voice was rough, and like Matisse had earlier, he swept her into his arms and kissed her. Matisse understood what he was going through; he’d felt the same way. They’d dodged a bullet. How many years would it have taken Dr. Murray to drive Nora mad the way he had with the others?

The man was evil. No matter what his reasons for his study—protecting America, rehabilitating terrorists—there was no excuse for what he wanted to do to Nora.

His conscience didn’t bother him in the least for hacking the study. In fact, he hadn’t hesitated to save the information he found. Dr. Murray needed to answer for what he’d done.

“We can go home now.” Cai’s voice interrupted the turn his thoughts had taken, and he glanced at Nora in time to see a wide, happy smile graced her face.

“Finally!” she crowed and pulled away from his friend in order to do a little dance in the doorway.

It felt phony to smile, but Matisse forced it to his lips. Sometimes, he’d learned, he should smile to put other people at ease, not necessarily because he was genuinely happy. He didn’t want Nora to see how worked up he was or ruin what was a joyful moment for her. They’d all worried about Cai, but she’d been a constant presence at the hospital—staying over more nights than any of them, learning the nurses’ names and their schedules. Cai’s health and recovery took her focus and energy.

“I’m going to text the guys—we’ll have dinner. Are you hungry?” Words and ideas tripped one after the other off her tongue. Her hair flew across her face as she examined the room. “Where the heck is my coat?” she mumbled.

“Here.” Matisse tugged the jacket from the chair and shook it out.

“Thanks.”

He held it up, waiting for her to put her arms in before he settled it around her shoulders. When she turned, he zipped it up to her chin and pulled her forward to rest his forehead against hers. “You’re welcome.”

In her pocket, her phone chimed. She took it out, frowning when she read the text. “Dr. Murray wants me to come to the lab.” She typed something and shoved it back into her pocket. “Not today.”

Cai narrowed his eyes at Matisse. Danger. His friend was barely holding it together. Still healing, whatever patience he usually had was gone.

“That’s good,” Matisse cut in quickly and hoped Cai understood what he was doing. “Having a night together. Getting Cai settled in.” He texted the other guys to them know they were headed back. Apollo responded first, texting right away he wanted to pick them up. “Apollo’s on his way.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Nora wrap her arms around Cai. She rested her cheek against his chest and squeezed him tightly before stepping away. “There’s not much to pack,” she said, fisting her hands on her hips and examining the room. Her phone vibrated, and she jumped but didn’t take it from her coat. Matisse wanted to know what Dr. Murray was demanding of her. Their plan had been to isolate her. What would that look like? Was it starting now?

Fear welled up inside him. The doctor wanted to take Nora away from them. Matisse had read Dr. Murray’s past research summaries. Alone, she’d be vulnerable to their suggestions about her worth.

It struck him suddenly how alone Nora had been before Ryan brought her home. On the surface, she seemed like the perfect subject—no family, ostracized by the community. Reed had a girlfriend, and Tilly had come from, on the surface at least, a stable home. Then there was Tyler. He had Cai and the entire youth center staff to back him up.

How much longer would it have taken for the doctor to break Nora?

His fear had him reaching to gather her into his arms. The persistent vibration of her phone zinged his hip, and without hesitation, he reached into her pocket for it, stared at the screen a split second then shut it off.

“We’ll call him later,” he said to her.

To his surprise, she didn’t argue. Nor did she ask for her phone back but simply nodded and hugged him more tightly.

“If we don’t hurry, Apollo’s going to be stuck going around and around the traffic circle,” she said after a moment.

“I’m ready,” Cai said as he swung his bag onto his back.

A slim brown hand slid the strap off his shoulder. “I got this.” Nora backed away when he attempted to take it from her. “Please.”

Huffing a sigh, Cai gestured for her to lead the way, and she flashed a smug grin across the room to Matisse. Over her shoulder, she threw a grin back to where Cai waited. “Sneaky,” Cai said, and kissed her head as she edged by.

Following closely behind her, Matisse caught the look she flashed Cai—one of utter devotion and love. But the thing that really made his heart seize in his chest was that when she peered over her shoulder at him, it was still there. What would happen after she learned what he’d done?