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“Where are my two kittens?”
    Maria huddled more tightly against Lena under the blanket of the twin bed. Already nine years old, she had her own bed, but she and her sister always slept together until their mother came home. Though they never knew their father, sometimes Lena would take down a photo album. They would stare at his face and make up stories of where he went, why he left them when they were babies. Sometimes he was the hero of those stories, sometimes the villain.
    “ Do I hear purring under those blankets?”
    Lena giggled, which set Maria off, too.
    The blanket was peeled away, bringing with it the fresh scent of peach soap. Their mother always washed her hands after coming home.
    “There are my kittens,” she said, sinking to the bed, plainly tired after working two jobs: at the liquor store around the corner at night and at the crosstown Costco during the day. She hugged them both deeply, then gently encouraged Maria off to her own bed.
    Maria and Lena spent most of the day alone in the apartment. Babysitters cost too much. But they were taught to come straight home from school, then lock themselves up tight. Neither of them minded—at least not much. They had each other for company, playing games or watching cartoons.
    Once Maria was nestled in her own bed, her mother kissed her forehead. “Back to sleep, my little kitten.”
    Maria tried to meow, but ended up yawning instead, drifting back to sleep before her mother even closed the door.
    A loud tapping drew Maria back to the present.
    She turned to the observation window. Jack waved to her, lifting the end of a leash in his other hand.
    She cleared her throat and called to him, “C’mon in!”
    She tried to compose herself, to push aside her misgivings about Lena. Still, the memory reminded her how quickly life could change, how love could vanish in a moment. While they were in their sophomore year at college, there had been a midnight call to their dorm room. A robbery had left their mother dead on the linoleum floor of the liquor store.
    From then on, it had been just the two of them.
    Another sharp pang of anxiety rattled through her.
    Lena, you’d better be okay.
    As Jack headed toward the door, Baako hooted, bouncing on his hind legs, growing excited—not so much at Jack’s arrival as at who usually accompanied the student at the end of that leash.
    Still, Maria saw that the student was trailed by another man, someone far less welcome. The bald head of the field station’s director appeared behind the window. Word of the early-morning commotion must have drawn Dr. Trask from his offices across the station’s campus.
    Maria straightened, girding herself for the confrontation to come. Jack entered first, then pushed through the cage door and unhooked the leash from his charge.
    Baako huffed in excitement as the Queensland Heeler pup bounded across the distance and slammed into Baako. The pair rolled across the floor. Tango was a ten-month-old Queensland, a teenager like Baako, with speckled gray fur and a black mask. Half a year ago, Baako had picked him out of a group of young pups. The two had since become best buddies.
    Dr. Leonard Trask scowled as he entered. “I heard there was a problem with your test subject.”
    “Nothing that couldn’t be handled.” Maria pointed to the joyous greeting. “As you can see.”
    Trask crossed his arms, ignoring the pair. “You read the board’s recommendations for your subject as it grows more mature. Safeguards should be in place already.”
    “Like locking him in a cage when he’s not under direct supervision.”
    “It’s for the subject’s safety as much as for those working here.” Trask waved to Jack. “What if it had broken through the window and gotten loose?”
    “He’s not strong enough—”
    “Not yet.” Trask cut her off. “It would be better to get the subject accustomed to being caged at this pliable age rather than later.”
    She refused to back down. “I’ve