She let the agent draw her arms behind her back, her jaw clenched as the steel closed around her wrists.

Across town, in the medical facility behind Fort Campbell, the digital clock on the wall read exactly seven o’clock.

Richard pulled the hard wooden chair six inches nearer to the edge of the narrow bed.

Emily lay with her hands flat on the thin green wool blanket, her eyes open and fixed on the white-painted window frame.

“Michael just called in from the driveway,” Richard said.

Emily didn’t turn her head, but her breath caught once in her throat.