“I need to lie down.”

“I’ll be up in a minute, Father,” Nathaniel said.

He didn’t offer to help him.

He watched his father walk slowly into the elevator, the metal doors sliding shut behind him.

Then, Nathaniel turned to look at me.

He looked at Ruby, then back at me.

“Claire,” he said.

“I am so sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize to me,” I said, holding Ruby’s hand tight.

“I just want to go home.”

“I know,” he said.

“But your home is not safe.”

“The mold, the heat…”

“We’ve survived twelve years,” I said, my voice hardening.

“We will survive another night.”

“You shouldn’t have to just survive,” Nathaniel said.

He walked over to the security desk and picked up the black leather wallet Ruby had found.

He looked down at it, then held it out to me.

“This belongs to me,” he said.

“But everything inside it is yours.”

“I don’t want your money,” I said.

“It’s not just money, Claire,” he said.

“There is something else in there.”

“Something my father took from you twelve years ago.”