I took him from Jake’s arms and held him close, rocking him in the cramped backseat.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“We can’t go back to the house,” Jake said. “Walter has people watching it.”

“And we can’t go to a hotel,” Reyes added. “They’ll track your credit cards the second you swipe them.”

“We go to the old cabin,” Jake said.

“The cabin by the lake?” I asked. “The one your grandfather owned?”

“Walter forgot about that place years ago,” Jake said. “It’s not listed under the family trust. It was deeded directly to me when I turned eighteen.”

“Is there wood for the stove?” I asked.

“There should be,” Jake said. “I stacked some there two years ago before my deployment.”

Reyes turned the SUV down a winding two-lane road that led deeper into the woods.

The tall pines shielded us from the worst of the wind, but the snow continued to fall in heavy, silent flakes.

We drove in silence for twenty minutes, the heater blowing hot air that defrosted the side windows.

My mind kept going back to the decryption files.