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first time since Connie had sounded the alarm.
    “What did he do to her?” He told him that they’d knocked her out, and since drugs didn’t last long in her system, they had to work fast. Rider let him down on the floor and took his hand. They moved into the hall and let the doctor’s work on his mom.
    “How old are you?” Max told him what his mother said all the time. “Yeah, your mom was like that too. Too old for her age. But being an old eleven is better than you think. Murph is a great person. I’ve missed her.”
    “She missed you too. You’re the only person she ever talked about and had that funny look in her eyes. Like she would trust you above everyone else.” Rider nodded. “Will she be okay? I can’t…I don’t have anyone else.”
    “You and she have us now.” Max nodded. “I bet you’re hungry. Do you want to go down to the cafeteria and have some lunch? My mom is down there with my sister-in-law, Hannah. They’ll love you.”
    Max went with him because he could feel his mom’s pain. He knew they were working on her, but the hurt was killing him. He moved to the elevator with Rider and stepped inside before he did. As they rode to the basement, he thought about the men who had come into the apartment.
    The gunshots were loud in the small place. The alarm should have given him just over two minutes, and in that time he had to grab his bag and get out of the house. But they were in before he could get out…less than one minute after it was triggered. He knew almost immediately that it had been a set up, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it then or now.
    He’d heard the first body hit the floor. Then when there was a fight, he knew that it was Connie. She’d been going to classes to learn to defend herself for years, and it had done her little good against the man who had eventually shot and killed her. Max had to get out, do just what his mom had told him to do, but he’d had to get calm first. And that had nearly got him caught.
    “This is my mom, Maribel Lanning, and my sister-in-law, Hannah. This is Max Murphy, Murph’s son.”
    The older woman moved over so he could sit with them, and Rider went to the counter. Max had no idea what to say to these people, so sat as quietly as he could so as not to draw attention to himself.
    “Your mother is going to be just fine, young man.” He nodded at Hannah. “She’s very strong and…well, I’ve never known anyone who can curse like she does.”
    “Hannah.” The older woman, Mrs. Lanning, scolded Hannah. “Of all the things to say to a young man. I’m sure your mom doesn’t normally curse like a sailor on leave when she’s not in pain.”
    “You’d be surprised.” Mrs. Lanning laughed then, and then looked at Hannah when she did as well. “It’s mostly at her job. She can’t stand stupid people. And when they really mess up where she might have to shoot one of them, that really makes her cuss. One night when she thought I was asleep, she said some words that I never heard before. And then there’s my grandda. She really hates him.”
    “We don’t know a great deal about your family. Just the few things that Rider told us about Murph. I never met her, of course, but she and my son were very close in college.” Max knew this but didn’t volunteer anything. So far as he knew, his mom didn’t trust them any more than she did most people. “Keeping it close to your vest, are you? Well, that’s good. You figure out if you can trust us or not, and then we’ll get to know you better.”
    Rider set a burger and fries in front of him. There was a bottle of water, too, but he made sure that the seal hadn’t been broken before he took a drink. He looked up when someone cleared their throat. It was another man, and he was staring at him while he spoke to the rest of the people at the table.
    “Lana and the girls are all settled in. I’m invited for dinner tonight, but I told them I had this family thing to do.” He looked