Audrey fell asleep almost as soon as Aiden’s BMW sped onto the I-95 but Sage waited until she was certain the young girl was out before addressing him in a hushed tone.
 “Where are we going?” she asked, and he glanced at her through his peripheral vision.
 “First, Catonsville to get my sister.”
 Sage’s back stiffened.
 “Sarah?” she murmured. “Isn’t she in Spring Grove?”
 “Yes.”
 His tone told her that he didn’t much feel like discussing it, but Sage knew she had a right to know what was going on.
 “Aiden, maybe that is the best place for her,” she said, cautious not to annoy him. She could see he was already on edge.
 “Normally I would agree with you, but things have changed, and she needs to be with us until I can sort this mess out.”
   Even in the dark, she could see his expression harden as he thought of the danger Sarah might be in.
 “Aiden, who were those men? I heard them say they were your family.”
 He snorted.
 “So they claim.”
 They drove for a few more minutes in silence and Sage wished she knew how to extract the information she wanted without having him shut down completely.
 I just have to wait until he’s ready.
 She hoped it wouldn’t take too much more time.
 Despite the rashness of her decision to go with him, she felt no apprehension, even though she was behaving in the most opposite way normal for her. It was like she had saved all of her spontaneity for when she met him. God, it’s like he brings out something in me – like when we’re together, I feel like I’ve always been in his arms. How can this be real? Who starts to fall in love this quickly? This was crazy. Maybe she should just go home and think about this rationally – like a professional therapist would, she scoffed at herself. It was like the world had turned upside down. Two weeks ago, she had never even heard of this man and his family, now she was fleeing with him and his daughter.  
 Jennica’s words were still ringing in her ears as they drove through the night.
 “What the hell do you mean, have Rebecca cancel your appointments indefinitely? Are you okay?” the psychiatrist demanded. “Where are you? I’m coming over!”
 “No!” she said quickly. “No way! I – uh, I just have a family matter to attend to and I need the time.”
 A dead silence followed and Sage pulled the phone away from her ear to see if she had dropped the call. She hadn’t.
 “Jenn?”
 “Does this have something to do with Aiden Van Hoyt or his daughter?”
 Goosebumps exploded over Sage’s arms.
 “What would make you ask that?” she asked, gasping in shock.
 “Oh shit, Sage, what did you do?”
 “Nothing,” she replied quickly. “Nothing. I told you, I just need some time. Don’t make a big deal out of nothing.”
 “Honey, listen,” Jennica said, her tone razor sharp. “I saw Aiden Van Hoyt when he came in for his appointment. I almost canceled the rest of my day, so I could masturbate in my office with the image of his face between my legs. I get it. He’s beautiful. And I saw the little girl too. She’s cute. But cute enough to fuck up your career over? I would say no. Whatever it is you think you’re doing, stop it.”
 “So you’ll tell Rebecca for me?”
 Jennica exhaled so deeply, Sage thought she felt the blonde’s breath through the cell phone.
 “Girl, you’re in over your head. I have a nose for this shit.”
 “Thanks, Jenn. I’ll…I’ll be in touch.”
 She disconnected the call, unsure if that was true or not.
 Will I see Jennica again?
 Sage turned her head to look at Audrey still asleep in the backseat.
 They pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the psychiatric hospital and parked.
 “I’ll be right back,” he told her, and she gaped at him dubiously.
 “You’re just going to walk in there and check her out now? It’s six o’clock in the morning, Aiden!”
 “So what?” he replied. “She’s here voluntarily. They can’t keep her here.”
 “Aiden, that’s not necessarily true – ”
 But he was already out of the car, heading toward the entranceway of the building and Sage shook her head.
 He’s going to be back here in ten minutes, disappointed. Is it wrong that I hope they don’t release her?
 She was instantly ashamed by the idea and her face blushed scarlet.
 She tried to tell herself that she feared for her safety; after all, no one knew for certain who had killed Charles and Lisa Van Hoyt.
 If Xander is free, does that mean that Sarah did it?
 “Dr. Pierce?”
 Sage whipped her head around to peer at Audrey.
 “Hi sweetheart,” she murmured. “Go back to sleep. Everything is fine.”
 “Are we running from Uncle Xander?” she whispered sleepily and Sage’s neck tensed.
 “What do you know about that, Audrey?”
 She shrugged.
 “Those other men are like me and daddy. They talk without speaking too.”
 Her lids were growing heavy but Sage didn’t want her to fall back asleep, not until she finished her thought.
 “What do you mean they talk without speaking, Audrey? How can you hear them?”
 She smiled sleepily.
 “I told you, Dr. Pierce. Daddy and I have special powers. I think those men do too. I think they are daddy’s brothers.”
 “Your dad has more than one brother?” she asked, turning her entire body to face Audrey head on. “How many brothers does he have?”
 “I don’t know,” she replied, yawning and allowing her eyes to close fully.
 “Honey, wait!” Sage cried out desperately. “What special powers do you and your daddy have? Can you show me?”
 Groggily, she opened her eyes again and grinned.
 “Okay,” she murmured. “I already told daddy that you know anyway.”
 Sage watched, half-skeptically, half-terrified of what she was going to learn.
 Suddenly, Audrey disappeared, and Aiden sat in her place, eyelids still drooping.
 “Hello, Sage,” he said, and she gasped, drawing back in shock.
 Audrey laughed in her own voice and fell back into her eight-year-old body, stretching out on the backseat like a cat.
 “Can I go back to sleep?” she asked plaintively and Sage nodded, swallowing the lump of fear in her throat.
 “Your daddy can do that too, Audrey?” she whispered.
 “No,” she replied. “He can do something else, but he’s never shown me. He says he doesn’t use his powers anymore.”
 Her words flowed into a garble and she was asleep, ending their conversation.
 Did I just see that? Am I losing it?
 Abruptly, the driver’s side door opened, and Aiden jumped in, his face twisted in anger.
 “I have to come back tomorrow at noon,” he growled. “They won’t release her unless I speak with her doctor. Bureaucratic red tape.”
 Sage could only stare at him, wondering if his face could become someone else’s, if he was even human.
 “We have to find a hotel room,” he sighed. “I don’t want to go back to the house. I don’t know if the others will be back.”
 “A hotel is good,” Sage choked, the thought of being among half a dozen men with supernatural powers dizzying to her.
 Aiden pulled out of his space, glancing at his slumbering daughter.
 “Did she wake up?” he asked.
 Sage shook her head slowly.
 “No,” she lied. She didn’t want him to know that she knew anything, not yet.
 Not until she could figure out what to do with the information she had learned.