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outside the orbit of Jupiter.”
    “No. What I mean is, if you were to point to it, which way would you point?”
    “Right now?”
    “Yes,” she said, feeling a little silly.
    “I actually have one of the astrophysicists here right now,” McGraw said. “Why? Is it important?”
    “Oh, it’s probably nothing. I’ll tell you about it later.”
    McGraw put her on hold for two minutes. He came back and said, “Pretty much straight down.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    May 28, 2018
    In his jazz club, Jake played “Lullaby of Birdland,” achieving his favorite feeling of “flow” as he moved into the bridge. Nice! He played best when he wasn’t trying to make it sound good—when he was simply listening. The club was eight steps below street level with an atmosphere suited to alcoholics and die-hard jazz fans. It was shabby-chic, with a faint odor of cigarette smoke left over from a more permissive time. Like an old woman hiding her wrinkles with makeup, Jake kept the lights low but put a spotlight on the Steinway grand. Six regulars watched him play.
    Jake liked to escape into the persona of a 1940s jazz musician. He wore a dark suit with a narrow tie. His clothes were usually rumpled, as if he’d been to an all-night jam session. His salt-and-pepper hair and rough face suggested a life of tough gigs in dark bars. Had he been a smoker, the image would have been complete.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Jake caught Stephanie rushing over. Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Stephanie reached him and poked him in the thigh with the cordless phone. He shook his head.
    She put her hand on his forearm and leaned over to his ear. “This sounds really, really important. She says it’s an emergency.”
    He nodded, improvised a quick ending, and took the phone.
    “Jake, Sophia has been kidnapped.”
    “Renata?” Jake froze and frowned as he switched gears between his new life and the old. Images of working with Renata at his security firm ran through his head. He closed the keyboard cover on the piano and talked quietly for several minutes.
    When he hung up, Stephanie was still standing by the low stage.“What is it? What happened?”
    “An old friend of mine needs my help.”
    “Did she say someone was kidnapped? And did she call you ‘Jake’?”
    “Do you remember the four-year-old I took care of for three months last summer?” Jake stepped off the stage and walked over to the coat rack.
    “Of course. Sophia. Your goddaughter.”
    “She’s been …” He cleared his throat. “She’s been kidnapped in Mexico City, and I have to go help rescue her.”
    “But how can you …” She became silent and looked straight ahead.
    “It’s a long story, Steph.”
    “You were some kind of black-ops person, right? I knew it.” Stephanie followed him out the door to his car.
    “Not exactly. I’ll fill you in someday, I promise.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I have to go. Please have Darius fill in for me. And take care of Cat Stevens?”
    Jake drove home to pack his things. How could he think, even for a split second, about how this episode would disrupt his quiet, isolated life—his year of not trying? What’s wrong with me? Perhaps his hermit tendencies were indeed getting too strong. He’d expected the threat to his new reality to come from the sneeze thing, but it came from a totally different direction. Life’s full of surprises.
    * * *
    May 29, 2018
    A week after the sneeze, Charli removed her heels and tucked her legs beneath her. Because of her daily stretching routine she could be comfortable in almost any position. When Chandra Bark entered the office, Charli uncoiled and put down her tablet.
    “We’ve located Jake Corby.” Bark sat down in the chair in front of Charli’s desk. “He’s in a small town in far Northern California.”
    Charli made a fist. Finally. This was the moment she had been waiting for. “What is he doing there?”
    “He owns a club called ‘The Take