vacation.

He had planned ahead.

She opened the shared cloud account they used for family photos and began reviewing its login history.

A device she didn’t recognize had accessed their files repeatedly during the previous month.

Nevada.

Florida.

Sacramento.

Then Miami.

Rachel stared at that final location.

Miami.

Brandon was there now.

Which meant whatever he had been doing had continued after leaving home.

Her phone buzzed again.

Brandon was calling.

She let it ring.

A second call came.

Then a third.

Finally, he sent a message.

Please answer. This has gone far enough.

Rachel read it twice.

Then typed:

I agree.

His response arrived instantly.

Thank God. Unlock the card.

Rachel almost laughed.

With everything happening, that was still what he believed this was about.

The hotel.

She slipped her phone into her pocket.

“Mom?”

Rachel turned around.

Lucas stood behind her holding two ears of corn.

“You okay?”