3:59

FIFTY-ONE

4:21 A.M.

SCIENCE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PROVE IT, BUT there are moments when time actually slows down. The exact second you cross the event horizon, for example. Due to the tremendous gravitational pull of the black hole, once you passed the point of no return, time would elongate to such an infinite level that a second might last a year, and if you looked back toward the lip of the black hole, you’d actually be able to see yourself as you crossed into oblivion.

Theoretically, of course. No one had ever experienced the inside of a black hole firsthand. But what Josie felt at that moment was as close to time standing still as she would ever get. It was as if she felt every nanosecond of time from the instant Jo dropped the bomb. Her brain tried to come to terms with the information she’d just heard. The room faded into the background, the mirror and the vial a distant memory. All she saw was Jo, who stood before her tense and edgy, a wildebeest in a Sahara full of cheetahs and lions, ready to bolt at the slightest hint of danger.

“What do you mean?” Josie repeated.

“He sent your mom there. He knew right away she wasn’t his wife.”

Panic gripped Josie’s stomach, twisting and turning it like a wrung-out dishrag. “I don’t understand,” she said lamely.

“You weren’t supposed to trust him,” Jo said. “He’s known about the portal all along. About you and about my mom. He’s the one who made me switch places with you, to try and find the injectable my mom supposedly brought with her when she accidentally zapped into your world. What he wants more than anything”—she pointed to the vial on the bed—“is that. He’ll do anything to get it.”

“He was the traitor. He sabotaged your mom’s experiment. He was going to sell the formula to the Grid.”

“Exactly. He’ll kill anyone that gets in his way,” Jo said. “Anyone.”

Josie’s mind whirled. She could go to the authorities with what she knew, show the antidote, and hope someone would actually listen to her, but that seemed unlikely at best.

No, there was only one way to get her friends and family back. One thing Mr. Byrne wanted more than anything else.

The vial.

“Jo,” she said. “Would your father really kill anyone who got in his way?”

“Without blinking an eye,” she said.

“Even you?”

Jo looked confused by the question. “I—I don’t know.”

“Do you want to save Nick?”

The mention of Nick’s name seemed to brace Jo’s courage. “Yes.”

“Then let’s find out how far Daddy would really go.” She pulled out her cell phone, dialed Mr. Byrne’s number, and handed it to Jo.

“What are you doing?”

“Just act like you’re on his side. That you’ve caught me and have the vial. I’ll prompt you.”

Mr. Byrne answered on the first ring. “Princess!”

“Save it, Daddy,” Jo said. “It’s me.”

“Jo?” He sounded genuinely surprised.

“Of course.” She glanced up at Josie and covered the mouthpiece.

“Tell him you came back to find the injectable,” Josie whispered.

“I came back,” Jo started. Her acting skills were impressive. She sounded cold and confident. “Like you told me. Mom doesn’t have the vial.”

Josie gave her the thumbs-up.

“Doesn’t matter now,” he said. All the fake warmth had vanished from his voice. “I’ve got everything I need.”

“Not everything,” Josie whispered.

Jo echoed her. “Not everything.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Byrne snapped.

Josie held up the vial.

“Josie had the original vial,” Jo said. “I’ve taken care of her. I have the antidote now.”

“Well, well, well,” Mr. Byrne said. “I guess you’re my daughter after all.”

“Ask to exchange it for Nick,” Josie whispered again, lower this time.

Jo nodded. “More than you know. I have what you want, and you have what I want.”

Mr. Byrne laughed. “The boy?”

“Yes.”

“I thought I taught you to think bigger than that.”

Jo didn’t take the bait. “Do you want to make the exchange or not?”

There was a pause before Mr. Byrne spoke again. “Where did I take you for your seventh birthday?”

Jo winked at Josie. “That’s a trick question. You never took me anywhere for my birthday. Parties make you weak.”

“Very well,” he said slowly. “If you want the boy, you can have him. Meet me at my office at dawn.”