Sofie stands above Megan, her eyes meet. Saif is by the window, watching them. His men waiting for Sofie to finish her speech.

  The buffalo belongs to the person who holds the stick. Am I the human here, or the buffalo? Saif turns away from the sisters and watches the people on the street outside instead.

  “That the lingering nostalgia makes me say this. Du kunne aldri skade meg.” Sofie closes Megan’s eyes.

  You could never hurt me. Meaning she forgives Megan.

  Megan’s tears run down her face. Jeg ville aldri skade deg. I would never hurt you. Meaning she’ll do better next time.

  Saif turns to his people, telling them to start moving Megan. As soon as he orders them, his heart starts beating slower. His vision blurs. The room spins around and he falls to the ground.

  “Sir!” One of the men says before also falling.

  The same happens to the other two. Sofie focuses on them while shaking her head.

  “Oh, Saif, I’m terribly sorry!” She pats her right hand on her forehead. “Silly, silly me! I completely forgot about the gas. One second!” Sofie goes near Saif and puts a pillow under his head.

  The men grasp for their breath.

  “Take it easy!” She says. “Your entire body is under a lot of pressure now. I don’t think…” she clicks her tongue. “Ouch, yes. I don’t have enough pens… This was a mistake… You see…” She moves past Megan and heads to the kitchen, opening and closing several cabinets. “Where is it? I wasn’t so sure about the specimen. I figured it was better to leave the gas open. Assumed you’d have figured it out and taken the protection before coming here.”

  Saif’s eyes focus on Megan. She’s on the floor with her eyes still shut.

  What’s happening? Megan still can’t move.

  “Of course! Stupid! It has to be on the fridge.” She laughs while opening the door and taking one injector pen out of it. “You’ll call the others for backup, Saif. This will do! Everything is fine!” She smiles.

  Good. Saif keeps focusing on Megan. Peacefully lying on the floor.

  Sofie heads back and sits next to Megan. She takes off the pen’s protection and raises Megan’s sweater.

  What are you doing? Saif looks at her. Their eyes meet, and Sofie smiles at him.

  She sticks the pen on Megan’s belly and sets an alarm on her smartwatch.

  What’s this? Megan still can’t move or open her eyes.

  No. Saif tries to activate his ability. Nothing happens.

  Sofie grabs two backpacks from her room, puts the hoodie on Megan, who remains barely conscious, and removes her bracelet.

  Megan finally has the strength to open her eyes. Too fragile yet to move.

  “Saif,” Sofie gets up with the bracelet in her hand. “Dear, dear, Saif. How I wish Marianne was here. Well, since she isn’t, do me a favor, okay?” She goes near him and faces him. “Tell her that I only believed her lies for a month… tops.” A genuine smile shows. “All those sleepless nights made me realize that my sister couldn’t have done it.” She turns around and looks at Megan. “She would’ve killed herself right after. Tell Marianne that I know she’s the responsible for his death. This?” She laughs. “This is for my father.”

  Sofie puts the bracelet on his wrist. “No hard feelings, yes? This is,” she takes a deep breath in and out, “is personal, Saif. Just not against you.” She smiles again.

  You’ll regret this, Sofie. Saif remains floorbound.

  “Let’s go, M!” Sofie heads to her, helps her get up and puts both backpacks on her back. She grabs two helmets and they leave through the emergency ladder in the back. A motorcycle is parked there.

  “Are you capable of driving?” Sofie asks.

  Megan just nods. They hop on and drive off.

  ***

  Thomas is organizing everything in his new office. Making sure things are as he pleases. He puts a photo on his desk of him, Mary, Joshua, and Emily. It was taken on Emily’s latest birthday. How much has changed since that. You were so happy here. He notices Emily’s smile.

  Edward opens the door without knocking.

  “Yes?” Thomas looks up to meet him. He notices Edward is sweating.

  “The last contact with Saif happened over thirty minutes ago. He was picking up the Angel of Death on Sophie Myers’ apartment.” Edward paces around the room. “They haven’t said anything since. I don’t think they are on their way to the lab. Prep a team, Thomas. Shoot to kill if necessary.”

  ***

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  Two hours later, ánh is in the basement, when one of her alarms on the computer sets off.

  “What’s going on?” She asks the computer.

  “This motorcycle has passed by the house two times already.” An automatic voice replies.

  “Rachel!” ánh shouts and Rachel immediately comes down the stairs.

  “Is everything okay?” She asks.

  “A motorcycle has passed two times already.” ánh shows her on the screen.

  “Two people have entered our perimeter. Front door.” The computer says.

  ánh and Rachel see them in the images.

  The two people dressed all in black are outside their door. They ring the doorbell. Megan removes her helmet and ánh and Rachel look at each other. Smiling.

  ánh runs upstairs. Emily, Abigail and Alex are in the hallway facing the front door.

  “Who’s there?” Alex asks.

  “Megan!” ánh laughs.

  ánh opens the door and hugs Megan tight.

  “Careful now, love.” Megan gently pushes her away and gets in.

  Rachel is now in the hallway too. Megan comes in and smiles at the sight of them. Sofie removes her helmet.

  “Who’s that?” Alex asks.

  “My sister. Sofie.”

  Marianne’s daughter. Alex’s eyes glow immediately.

  Is that Marianne’s daughter, Megan? Rachel takes a closer look at the woman. She recognizes her straight away. The human that Megan followed around. Rachel remembers the only time she followed them and saw it. Here they are, the red shoes, again.

  “How are you even alive?” ánh asks Megan.

  “I’ll tell you.” Megan smiles.

  Who’s this girl? Emily focuses on Sofie.

  They head together to the living room. ánh’s smile is contagious. She looks back to share a glance with Rachel, who only pretends to be happy.

  ***

  On one of the suites on the Ortiz Hotel, the Council and their advisors meet. Everyone is waiting for Thomas Roberts and Saif Ahktar to arrive. It’s close to midday so they order in lunch.

  “Dr. Olsen, you haven’t touched your salad.” Aymee sits next to Marianne.

  Marianne refuses to face the girl. Instead, she dryly replies only with no. Padma watches their interaction.

  What happened? Padma tries to notice Marianne properly, but her fringe makes it impossible to see her eyes.

  Aymee grabs her burrito and moves next to Padma.

  “What happened?” Padma takes another bite.

  “Something went wrong with the extraction team. Roberts headed there to retrieve Ahktar and the others. I don’t know a lot, but apparently… the specimen is gone.” Aymee looks at Edward Hall. How relaxed he seems to be.

  Thomas and Saif finally walk through the door. The security details close the door behind them.

  “Let’s begin.” Edward Hall orders.

  Aymee gets up and sits behind Marianne. Thomas and Saif take their places.

  “Today was the extraction of the Angel of Death from the apartment of Dr. Sophie Hemming Myers to our new lab. After the destruction of our former lab, the specimen headed there. Care to explain why, Dr. Olsen?” Edward faces her.

  Marianne raises her head and looks around the table, “Dr. Sophie is under a new identity. Her name is Sophia Olsen Bergen.” Marianne pronounces it with an American accent. “The specimen grew up with her. Sees it as its sister.”

  What, Sophie Myers is your daughter? Padma looks at Marianne.

  “Saif arrived there. We lost contact with him. So, I sent Thomas here,” Edward looks at Thomas, “to see what happened. They are gone. The Angel of Death and Sophie Myers.”

  Everyone across the room focuses their gaze on Marianne.

  How can you be so calm? Padma tries not to show her apprehension.

  Megan wouldn’t hurt her… would she? Did she kill her? No, Megan wouldn’t. Maybe she did. Felt betrayed and acted out. No, not Sofie, please, God… No. Marianne keeps her gaze fixated on Edward Hall.

  You are troubled, Marianne… Aymee notices how straight her back is.

  “Thomas, when you arrived there, what did you see?” Edward continues.

  “When I arrived, Saif and the other three operatives were on the floor. Incapable of moving. We identified it as our pathological agent and immediately put a mask over our mouths and noses in case it was airborne.”

  “What else?”

  “We identified the source of the agent as a gas that was leaking from a kitchen appliance. It was hidden. We shut it down and brought the operatives and Dr. Ahktar to the lab, so they’d be treated.”

  “Saif. What happened?” Edward faces him.

  “Edward, let's talk elsewhere. Alone.” Saif avoids looking at Marianne and focuses on Edward.

  Jessica and Madeleine share a glance.

  “The Council needs to know what happened.” Edward gets up and goes closer to Saif. “What happened?”

  “Spill it!” The President of the United States shouts and slams the table.

  “Sophie Myers set everything up. It was a trap.” He finally says.

  What? Marianne focuses on her wristwatch.

  Padma covers her mouth while looking at Marianne. Madeleine and Jessica’s eyebrows immediately raise. Madeleine’s face doesn’t show much expression because of all the work done. Still, one can tell she’s surprised. Thomas can’t hide his smile.

  “What? Her daughter?!” The President points to Marianne.

  “Her words exactly were ‘tell Marianne that I believed her lies only for a month. This is for my father.’”

  She knew? Marianne focuses on her watch still. Counting the seconds in her mind.

  “When we got there, she asked me to say goodbye to the specimen just to buy time for the gas to act.”

  “And you let her?!” the President shouts.

  “Madam President… you must understand-”

  “Dr. Ahktar! All that I understand is that the specimen, a terrorist, a war weapon is gone!”

  “Do we know where they went?” Edward asks.

  “We’re analyzing the traffic cameras. Our best guess: they've rejoined the terrorists.” Laurence says.

  “This is a disaster.” The President of the United States shakes her head. “Edward. You. Have to fix this.” She gets up and leaves the room.

  “It is a disaster.” Edward counts to ten internally.

  “Sir, Dr. Olsen isn’t fit to be here,” Thomas says.

  “Come on, Thomas! That is ridiculous!” Saif Ahktar shouts.

  “Dr. Sophie betrayed us all. Dr. Olsen included.” Edward says. “Enough of this. This is a setback, but we’ll recover. We’ll deal with the Parkers, right, Laurence?”

  “Yes, Sir.” Laurence nods.

  “We’ll make sure the bracelet is approved nationwide! Laurence, we need a plan. Solid one. Jessica, I need the people not to forget about Emily Roberts. Have her face showing up everywhere. All the time.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Jessica says.

  Edward adjourns the meeting and everyone gets up to leave. Saif and Padma try to reach for Marianne, but she is the first to leave the room.

  Aymee rushes to meet Padma in the lobby.

  “Paddy! Where are you going?”

  To see Marianne. “Home, Aymee. Aminu is waiting for me.” Padma smiles.

  Go home. Don’t think about Marianne until tomorrow morning.

  Padma grabs her phone and orders a driver to pick her up. She heads home, while Aymee heads to the nearest Ortiz Hotel, the one where Marianne lives.