I found cereal in the cupboard and pulled out a box of Lucky Charms that was tucked at the back, behind the healthier stuff. I poured a bowl and a glass of orange juice before Cassandra got Gabrielle to the table.
"Can you tell us what happened?" I asked after she'd eaten a few mouthfuls.
"A man came," she said. "From Mr. Nast."
"Mr. Nast?"
She nodded. "The young one. The old one came once, to see Larsen, but the young one comes a lot. He's nice. Mommy and Daddy like him, so they weren't mad even if it was past our bedtime."
"She means Sean," Davis said as he walked into the kitchen, phone still in hand. "He's the executive in charge of their case. He comes by once a month. But he didn't send anyone last night."
"Easy enough for someone to say Sean had sent him," I said.
Gabrielle, who'd been following the conversation, shook her head. "Uh-uh. He has to know the secret word."
I looked at Davis.
"It's a code," he said after a moment. "The Dahls trust Sean. Only S
ean. Anyone bringing a message from him has to use the right code. You're asking the wrong questions."
He crouched beside Gabrielle. "Tell me about that room you were in. It's for Larsen, isn't it? In case someone comes to get him."
When she looked confused, Cassandra murmured, "Her parents wouldn't tell her that. It would frighten her." She looked at the girl. "Is it for storms? Earthquakes?"
Gabrielle nodded.
"And your parents told you to go in it last night? Only you?"
"It's supposed to be for me and Larsen, but Mr. Nast's men said they needed to take Larsen into the city. Mommy told them I was sleeping at my friend's house. Then she put me in the room and said when they were gone, I was supposed to come out and call the special number."
"What special number, hon?" I asked.
She took a dirty piece of paper from her pocket. In big, thick letters, it spelled out a phone number.
"I was supposed to call when it was quiet," she said. "But I couldn't really tell if it was quiet, so I waited, and then I heard people in the house, so I waited some more and then I dropped the flashlight and it broke, and I couldn't see, and the door wouldn't open and--" She took a deep hiccupping breath as tears trickled down her cheeks. She wiped them away. "Mommy said if anything went wrong, not to worry because you'd come."
"We'd come?"
She nodded. "She said when she didn't call today, someone would come. That's you."
Cassandra looked at Davis. "What exactly is the child-rearing agreement with the Nasts?"
"That the Dahls get Larsen until he's eighteen," Davis said. "After that, they can continue to act as his family and guardians."
"But the Cabal can't"--she glanced at the girl--"recruit him until he's eighteen."
Davis nodded.
So the Dahls built the hole for the children, in case the Nasts ever tried to take Larsen early. They were to hide in there and phone for help, probably extended family. If the Dahls didn't make their daily check-in call, that person would come looking for the children. Except when someone from the Cabal did come, saying they were from Sean, it caught the Dahls off guard. They couldn't hide Larsen in time. Just Gabrielle.
"I'm supposed to tell you what happened," Gabrielle said. "Then you can help Mommy and Daddy and Larsen."
"That's what we're going to do," Cassandra said.
twenty-seven
We had Gabrielle tell us exactly what happened last night. Someone had come to the door. A man. He said Tom and