Chapter 80
Room Four
The Mercy sailed without a wake.
Claire watched the water behind the vessel. The propeller turned, but the lake—or the sea beyond it—closed immediately, leaving no mark. The captain with Owen's face stood at the bridge window and smiled at the dark.
“We are not on the lake,” Mara said.
“Where are we?”
“Between records.”
Ada moved along the bridge controls. “The compass has no north.”
The screen showed a map of Bellwether, but the boat's position moved through the courthouse, the school, and Claire's house rather than across water.
The live feed of Lena remained on the center monitor.
“Room Four,” Claire said.
The captain nodded. “The family room.”
“Where is my sister?”
“Which version?”
Claire reached for the emergency controls. The captain locked them.
“The vessel responds to the owner.”
“Everett is not here.”
“He is in the system.”
On the monitor, Lena stepped toward the spare-room camera.
“Claire,” she said. “The boat keeps the things families cannot carry.”
“Are you alive?”
Lena looked down. “That is not the first question.”
“What is?”
“Who remembers me?”
The ship lights went out.
The door below deck opened by itself.