Page 210 of Johnny

I nod. Trying to be calm. Trying to pretend this isn’t what I think it is. “Yeah. So…”

“So… that means what my father and I have been doing to the leaders of the Way? We’ve been

doing it to the kids too, Johnny. And she mentioned Maisy. She said her name and—”

I turn away and stop listening.

No. No. This can’t be true. We’re so fucking close to winning. Megan has been holding on to the

ultimate trump card this whole time and she finally has a way out. She can get us all out but…

“She’ll die, Johnny. We can’t use this. I won’t be responsible for killing children. So I’m going to

go in there and just give myself up. Then—“

No!” I say. Spinning back around to face her. “No. Fuck that. I didn’t come this goddamned far to

lose you now. They’re not going to push you on this, OK! Trust me. Your threat is real. They won’t

take any chances.”

“But they won’t let me and my father go free. One of us has to be insurance. You know that. And…

and if my father goes with you he can work on a cure for Maisy. I can’t do that! I’m not a scientist. I’m

a freaking tech, OK! I’m not smart enough to find a cure. He can figure it out and—”

“No!” I say again. “You can figure it out. He’s not going to let you stay with them, Megan. He’ll

insist. We talked about this already. He will stay and you will come with me and—”

“I know he’ll stay. And I know he would want it that way. Believe me, we’ve talked about this. We

planned many scenarios if they ever found out what we were really doing. But that was before I knew

about the kids, Johnny. And he’s not in control right now. I am. And I’m going to stay and be their

insurance policy and he’s going to go with you and find a cure for what we’ve done and then maybe,

one day, he’ll come back for me and—”

“Fuck that!” Fuck that, no way. Logan is here and—”

“I know,” she says. “And that’s the only way you and my father will be able to leave, so I get it.

But Logan’s team…” She shakes her head. “It’s not going to be enough. They’ll have drones, Johnny.”

I look over at the island just as she says that and see them. Little dots floating above the beach.

They could be birds, but they’re not.

She’s right.

I turn to her. Take her face in my hands and look her in the eyes. “Listen to me, OK? I am not

leaving you on that island. I will not leave you behind. I made a promise last night and I mean to keep

it. If you go down, I go with you. That’s the only way we get through this.”