“Okay.”
“Well, long story short,” she said, glancing over certain details like your real wife’s in a parallel dimension and she might be a traitorous fugitive, “the explosion wasn’t an accident. It was sabotage and . . .” Oh man, was she really going to lie to Mr. Byrne about this? The truth was stranger than anything she could make up.
“Yes?” Mr. Byrne prompted.
“And she needs us to prove that she didn’t do it.”
“Princess, how do you know all this?”
“Tony Fiorino,” she said.
“Dr. Fiorino passed away,” he said slowly, like he was talking to a three-year-old. “Remember?”
“No, he didn’t.” Time to go for broke. “Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but Tony isn’t dead. He survived the explosion, but he’s altered. Atomically altered. We saw him tonight, Nick and I. He saved us from a Nox attack and—”
“A Nox attack?” Mr. Byrne roared.
“Yeah, we’re fine. I promise. But Daddy, I think the Grid sent the Nox. I think they knew we were going to try and help Mom. Tony saved us and he says he knows a way to help Mom too.”
Silence on the other end.
Nick gave Josie a thumbs-up, but guilt ate at her conscience. Here she was, asking Mr. Byrne for help with something that might get him into a ton of trouble, and she was lying to him. She’d told him part of the truth. The important parts, more or less. It was true that they needed his help to save Josie’s mom, and it was true that the experiment had been sabotaged. It was even true that Tony was still alive. Leaving out the other details was just her way of saving him a tremendous amount of confusion and grief. Wasn’t it?
“What do you need me to do?” Mr. Byrne said at last.
“We need to use the X-FEL laser. The one up at Fort Meade.”
“When?” Mr. Byrne asked.
“As soon as possible.”
She heard Mr. Byrne let out a slow breath. “All right, princess. Whatever you need. I can probably get them access for a few hours.”
“Actually,” Josie said, wincing at what she was about to ask, “we need to get the laser out of Fort Meade.”
Mr. Byrne cleared his throat. “You want me to steal the X-FEL prototype from a highly secure military base?”
“Um, yeah.” It sounded so awful the way he said it.
“You realize I could be charged with treason if we’re caught.”
Josie sighed. “It’s the only way to save Mom.”
More silence. Josie bit her lip. Her entire plan hinged on whether or not Mr. Byrne could help them. What was she thinking? There was no way in hell he was going to help them smuggle a top secret laser out of Fort Meade. This was the stupidest idea she had ever had and now they’d have no way to—
“Okay, princess. Just tell me when.”
Josie’s heart raced. “We’ll be there in ten minutes. I . . .” She hesitated. “I love you, Daddy.”
And she meant it.
FORTY-NINE
3:57 A.M.
JOSIE GRIPPED THE VIAL IN HER HAND. SHE wasn’t sure what to expect. Clearly, Jo and her mother had no intention of letting Josie just waltz back into her own life. They wouldn’t be going back to their own world willingly, so Josie was just going to give them no other choice.
She checked the time on the bedside alarm clock. Another minute clicked by. Any moment now. Josie curled her toes inside her reclaimed pink tweed Converse. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing pulse. This was it.
By now, Mr. Byrne, Nick, and Tony were smuggling a multimillion-dollar experimental laser out of Fort Meade.
But Josie wasn’t with them. Mr. Byrne had insisted she stay behind out of fear for her safety—which was just fine. She had no intention of going up to Fort Meade that night.
Josie had a date to keep.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror as it began to ripple. The portal was opening. She had to play this perfectly, not let Jo suspect what she was really up to. She knew from experience that Jo was an excellent manipulator, but Josie wasn’t the same girl she was a few days ago. She was smarter, wiser, and most important, she had something to fight for.
All she had to do was keep track of the seconds. Sixty of them. If she timed it perfectly, she’d have the advantage. Finally.
As soon as Jo’s face came into focus, she gestured for Josie to pass through the mirror. Perfect. Much easier to stall when you could actually have a conversation. Josie reached her free hand before her and forcefully pushed her way through the gelatinous substance of the portal.
“Where is it?” Jo said the moment Josie’s feet were firmly planted in her old bedroom.
Josie pursed her lips. “I’m doing well, thanks. How are you?” Ten, eleven, twelve.