“Maybe too hot to be at the zoo,” Emme said.

“No, it's not,” Chloe held up her bottle and her mother twisted off the top for her. “It's going to be just right.”

“The animals might be a bit mopey,” Emme told her. “Some of them don't like the heat.”

“But some do, right?”

“I suppose some do,” Emme nodded and passed out the sandwiches, hers and Nick's on rolls, Chloe's on a biscuit, just the right size for a four-year-old appetite.

They chatted through lunch, and after they finished and cleaned up the table, Nick found an information stand that had a map of the zoo and several brochures.

“Here, Chloe, let's decide where we'll go first,” he said.

Emme checked her watch. Lori and Henry should be arriving any minute. She stood for a better view of the gate.

“Do you have the photo that Ali sent you?” Nick asked.

“No, but I remember what they look like,” she assured him.

“Look, Nick, giraffes.” Chloe pointed excitedly to the brochure. “I never saw a real giraffe.”

“Yes, you did,” Emme reminded her, never taking her eyes off the gate. “In San Diego, remember?”

“I was too little then.” Chloe shook her head. “I don't remember.”

Chloe turned her attention back to the brochure and the map, chatting happily about the animals they'd see.

“No sign of them yet?” Nick asked after another ten minutes had gone by.

Emme shook her head.

“How much longer before we can see the animals, Mommy?” Chloe tugged on her arm.

“Soon, sweetie. Just be patient for a little longer.”

“I have been very patient.” Chloe pulled on Emme's arm until her mother was bent at the waist and they were face to face.

“Yes, you have.” Emme smoothed back Chloe's hair. “But I think we have to wait a little longer. I don't know why they're so late.”

“You always say it's rude to be late.”

“And it is. Unless you're stuck in traffic, which they might be.”

“Then they should call you. You always say-”

“Chloe, how ′bout you and I go take a look at the Rare Animal Conservation Center.” Nick held up the brochure. “Look, here are some of the animals we might see there.”

He squatted down, the brochure open, and Chloe leaned over his shoulder. “What's that one?”

“That is a blue-eyed black lemur,” he read.

“Its eyes are very big.” She pointed to the animal. “Are they really blue?”

“How ′bout we go find out?”

“Mommy, can we go to see the… what was it again?”

“The blue-eyed black lemur.”

“That. Can we go see it?” Chloe asked excitedly.

“You and Nick go on. I'll wait here.” Emme crossed her arms over her chest. Chloe wasn't the only one feeling impatient. “But you must stay with Nick. Promise.”

“I will.” Chloe grabbed his hand. “Which way?”

Emme watched as her daughter disappeared into the crowd with Nick and felt just the slightest bit of unease. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of people she'd let Chloe go off with alone. Steffie, of course, and recently Trula. Other than that… had there been anyone else she'd trusted enough? She didn't think so.

She checked her watch again. Lori and Henry were now thirty minutes late. Of course there could be traffic-after all, they were driving down from Connecticut, and it was a Saturday in the summer. Lots of people on the road, heading off on vacation. They'd turn up sooner or later. She returned to the bench where they'd had their lunch and sat on the edge of the table.

After another twenty minutes had passed, she dialed first Lori's phone number, then Henry's, leaving a message for each and hoping that one of them would be listening to it before much longer. She was getting hotter and more annoyed with each passing minute. She took a bottle of water from the cooler and placed it on the back of her neck, cursing the heat and the fact that the website for Conroy, Pennsylvania, had neglected to mention anything about humidity.

To pass the time, she put in a call to Steffie. It had been several days since they'd spoken, and she wanted to keep an eye on what was being said in Silver Hill. The last she'd heard, everyone in the department was still buzzing about her abrupt departure. Steffie'd made up some story about Ann being very ill and staying with some friends.

“So does everyone think I'm still dying?” she asked when her friend answered.

“Pretty much, yeah, I'm afraid they do,” Steffie admitted. “At least if you die, they'll stop asking.”

“I guess that's one way of looking at it,” she muttered, still not sold on the idea. “But I'm not dead yet, right?”

“Right,” Stef cheerfully told her. “So we still have a little wiggle room as far as your story is concerned. I just want everyone to eventually stop asking me. I'm not real comfortable lying all the time but it was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I wish I could take it back, but it's too late now.”

“Stef, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I should have thought this all through so much more thoroughly. I was just in such a panic…”

“Hey, don't worry about it. Given the alternative, well, the lies are a very small price to pay for your safety, and for Chloe's.” Stef had assured her. “Really. It's okay.”

Emme was just about to apologize again when her phone announced that she had a text message.

“Stef, I'll try to get back to you later. I need to check on something.”

“Okay. Just keep in touch. And give my girl a big hug for me,” Steffie said before she hung up.

Emme pulled up the text message:

Having car trouble and had to turn back. Sorry won't be able to make it today. Will get in touch when we have wheels. Henry

“Well, could you maybe have waited a little longer to let me know?” she grumbled aloud, and shoved the phone back into her pocket. She was just about to hoist the cooler when she saw Nick and a very animated Chloe coming toward her through the crowd.

“We've been stood up,” she told Nick. “I just got a text message from Henry. Car trouble. They had to go back. He said they'd be in touch.”

“Funny he didn't call and talk to you,” Nick said, “but at least he let you know they weren't going to show.”

“He probably was embarrassed to speak with me after making us wait so long. Besides, it seems kids would rather text than talk anyway.”

“At least we're getting an afternoon at the zoo out of it,” he pointed out. “How about I take that cooler out to my car and then we head off to the African plains? Chloe and I have been reading about it.”

“I think they have giraffes,” Chloe said hopefully. “I'm pretty sure they do.”

“All right.” Emme opened the water bottle and took a drink. “If you don't mind hauling the cooler, we don't mind waiting here until you get back. And Chloe can tell me all about the rare animals she saw.”

He smiled, lifted the cooler, and winked at Chloe. “Five more minutes, kiddo,” he told her, “and we'll be on our way to the African plains.”

It had been so much easier than he'd imagined.

“What do you think?” he'd said, in his most concerned voice. “Do you think Belle really is missing, like this investigator says?”

“Yeah, I do,” Henry had replied. “We do. Did you see Lori's post on the message board? Lori and I are going to drive down to meet her and Belle's uncle today in Philadelphia.”

“Yeah, and it got me thinking, you know, about Belle trying to find Donor 1735 and her talking to Aaron and stuff. I hadn't said anything on the message board, ′cause Belle had asked me not to, but she thought she'd found him, and-”

“She did? She told you that?”

“Yeah. Do you think I should tell the investigator?”

“Absolutely. That's the stuff she needs to know. Tell me what Belle told you, and I'll be happy to pass it on to her and Belle's uncle.”