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didn’t at first. I think it was just one of those noises I was so used to hearing that it barely registered.”
    â€œMaybe we’ll get lucky and hear it again,” I say. “We’re going back on the air now. Robin, give Gabe whatever it takes to keep him on the line. Listen for that sound. Try to identify it. It’s the only hope we have.”
    She doesn’t move. She seems frozen.
    â€œAre you all right?” I ask.
    Robin Harris runs her fingers through her shining auburn hair.
    â€œI’m fine,” she says. “I just hate that Gabe is being allowed to control the situation.”
    I’m dumbfounded.
    â€œThis isn’t about control,” I say. “This is about finding your daughter. If you gave me your daughter’s class picture, I couldn’t pick her out. All I know about Kali is that she has pajamas that she believes are magic and she knows how to sing ‘You Are My Sunshine.’ She’s a stranger to me, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep Gabe Ireland on the line because as long as he’s talking to me, he’s not telling your daughter that the injection he’s about to give her won’t hurt a bit.”
    Robin Harris stares at me, absorbing what I’ve just said. Then she extends her hands palms up in a gesture of helplessness.
    â€œI don’t know how to do this.”
    I shake my head.
    â€œYou are the proverbial riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” I say. “Dr. Harris, I don’t get you. How difficult can it be to make Gabe believe that you love your daughter? That your life will be destroyed if anything happens to her? That a six-year-old child deserves to live?”
    She turns, so that once again, I’m confronted with her perfect and distant profile. I’m not a guy who feels he needs to make a point by pounding the table, but tonight, confronted by the lack of comprehension on Dr. Robin Harris’s lovely face, I pound the desk.
    â€œJust say the damn words, Robin.”
    â€œI can’t beg.”
    Disgust rises in my throat.
    â€œThen fake it,” I say. “Because we’re back on the air.”

CHAPTER TEN
    T he music fades, and I flip on my microphone.
    â€œMy name is Charlie Dowhanuik, and this is ‘The World According to Charlie D.’ If you’ve been listening, you know that we have a situation here, so for a while, we’re just going to keep our focus on Gabe and Kali. You know what that means. No phone calls. No emails. No texting. No nothing—unless you’re sure you can help. So, Gabe, how’s it going?”
    â€œFine. Kali and I are playing Candy Land. Kali just drew a snowflake card. That means she’s earned a visit to Queen Frostine’s iceberg.”
    I’m hoping if I keep it light, I can gain some traction.
    â€œSo for those of us who’ve never been to Queen Frostine’s iceberg, is that good or bad?” I ask.
    Gabe laughs softly.
    â€œWhy don’t I let you talk to the expert? Kali, my friend Charlie wants to hear about how we play Candy Land. Can you help him out?”
    â€œSure.” Kali’s voice has the sweet fizz of soda pop. “Hi, Charlie,” she says. “So what do you want to know?”
    â€œI need to know pretty much everything.” My words to Kali seem to form themselves. “I think tonight I need to find Candy Land again,” I say, and the raw yearning in my voice shakes me.
    As she explains the game, Kali’s voice has the breathless cadences of the schoolyard.
    â€œIt’s a board game, and it’s kind of baby. It’s for kids who can’t read, and Gabe taught me to read when I was five. Anyway, it’s still fun. I’ll read you the box. It says that Candy Land is ‘a sweet little game for sweet little folks.’ Gabe and I each have a little gingerbread person, and we take our person down the rainbow path, through the