"What's my Dad doing here?" Katie said again, her voice cracking.

The rest of us sat in stunned silence for a moment, not sure what to say.

"I thought your Dad worked out of town," Cody whispered. Leave it to Cody to say what everyone was thinking.

"I thought he did, too."

"Then what is he doing here?" Cody whispered again.

We all watched as Mr. Kirk and two other men loaded boxes onto a dolly and wheeled them into the bay. There was a name stamped on the boxes, but I could only make out the first word. King.

I felt Katie's weight shift beside me. As she stood, I grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing Katie? Get down!" I said, trying to pull her back.

"That's my Dad. I'm going to find out what he's doing here."

"We're not even supposed to be here," I argued, struggling to hold her in place. Katie was pretty strong. "Please Katie! What if the people here had something to do with Sydney's disappearance? What do you think they'd do to us?"

That seemed to get her attention. She looked down at me with tears in her eyes. She finally stopped fighting and sat back down, legs crossed, and buried her face in her hands.

"What do we do now, Cody?" Adam asked.

Cody didn't answer - he seemed to be studying the fence. "Look, see that? " he said, pointing towards the door. "There's a camera. Katie, they would have seen you as soon as you got to the gate." I looked and he was right. It was pointed downwards at an angle towards the gate, but it didn't appear to be able to see us where we were hidden. I was grateful Katie had changed her mind.

"What are we going to do?" Katie asked.

"Obviously nothing right now," Cody replied. "We can't get past this gate and even if we could, we could never get in the building without being seen. This place looks like it's under constant surveillance. Something's going on here, but I think we need to get out of here right now before they see us."

He didn't have to do much convincing. We grabbed our stuff and started the long trek back to the front of the park.

When we had almost made it back to the rusted gate, I thought I heard something behind us.

"Shhh, do y'all hear that?" Everyone stopped talking to listen. It was faint, but the sound was unmistakable: tires on gravel.

"Quick...hide!" I yelled. I dove into the underbrush and felt someone else slide in beside me. It was Katie.

A few moments later, a vehicle approached from the direction of the facility. I crawled through the brush towards the road to get as close a look as I could without being seen. It was the white van. I was too low to make out who was driving and probably wouldn't have been able to tell anyway; the windows were tinted a dark black, just like the van that had stopped for Ethan and me. After it passed, I heard Adam say something from the other side of the trail.

"We're fine...stay there," I shot back in a strained whisper.

After about 10 minutes had passed, I was pretty sure we were in the clear. I got up and dusted myself off and watched as the others followed suit.

"That was close," Cody admitted, shaking his head. He still had leaves strewn about his hair and he was rubbing a spot on his arm where his shirt had been torn by a briar. Katie walked over to him and brushed him off, laughing.

It was early afternoon when we made it back to the front of the trailhead. We were tired and hungry and still had miles to go on our bikes. When we got to the gulley where we had stashed them, we made a curious discovery.

"Ho-ly crap. Where are our bikes?" Adam had both his hands on his head.

They were definitely gone. Looking around, it was easy to see the mistake we had made. At night, the gulley appeared to be far enough from the trail to be hidden from prying eyes, but now that the sun was up, I could see that anyone who looked in this direction from the trail could easily have seen what was inside. I silently cursed myself for not finding a better hiding place.

"This is bad. Really bad," Cody said, breaking a twig off of a nearby tree and then tossing it to the ground . "My parents just bought me that bike. They're gonna kill me."

I had an idea. "Adam, you're pretty good friends with Luke Baumer, aren't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He has his driver's license. You think he would come get us if you called him from the guard station at the trailhead?"

"I guess. But I don't know his number."

"Let's go see if they have a phone book." It seemed as good an option as any. We trudged the 30 yards or so back to the trail and then headed towards the guard station.

When we finally made it, an older man in a green uniform came out of the station to greet us.

"Hello kids," he said, smiling. "What can I do for you?"

"Uh, do you have a phone book?" Adam asked.

"I sure do. You need to call someone?"

"Yes, we need to call our ride."

"Your parents aren't here with you, eh?" He'd stopped smiling. "You know it's not very safe to be up here alone."

"We know," I said. "We're sorry."

"You don't happen to be missing anything, do you?" He crossed his arms across his chest.

We looked at each other awkwardly, not sure whether to mention the bikes or not. Finally, I spoke up.

"Oh, yes. Our bikes. Have you seen them?"

Without a word he turned and walked behind the guard station, out of sight. When he came back around, he was wheeling Cody's bike. Cody walked over and grabbed it from him.

"A hiker reported these this morning. We found them piled in a gulley." He stopped for a minute and looked us over. "You kids look like you've been camping and your parents obviously didn't bring you up here. What have you been up to?" I'd heard the rangers were having problems with seniors from Elias Shaw coming to the park at night to drink and smoke, but I had a feeling that's not what he was worried about.

When we didn't answer, he walked back around the building and began wheeling the bikes around one by one. Before he returned them, he asked each of us for our full names, threatening to detain us and call our parents if we didn't. Everyone gave their real names.

"I don't want to see you kids up here again without your parents. Understand?" he boomed when we all had our bikes. We all nodded. "People get hurt and go missing in these woods all the time. I'd hate for that to happen to good kids like you."

Each of us mumbled our agreement before jumping on our bikes and leaving as fast as we could. As we rode off, I could feel his eyes burrowing into the back of my head. I stole one final glance over my shoulder at him, but I sort of wish I hadn't. He was pulling the radio from his hip.

***

We stopped on the way back at the Smoky Mountain Campground store.

Cody jumped off his bike and let it fall to the dirt. "Guys, they have our names." He ran his hands through the sandy blond hair that dangled in his eyes.

"Who's they?" Adam asked, propping his bike on its kickstand.

"The park people. Katie's dad. Whoever," Cody replied.

"I saw the guard radioing someone as we rode off," I admitted.

Cody cursed under his breath. "What if they were radioing the people in the facility? Your Dad, Katie."

"If so, I'm totally screwed," Katie cried.

"We all are!" Cody yelled. He walked over to his bike and straightened it."We don't have much time left to figure this out. Katie, does your Dad have an office at home?"

"Yeah, why?" She looked like she was about to throw up.

"Okay, good. Because we have to get in there. He's the only person we have access to and there may be something in his office that will tell us more."

"Are you serious?" she cried again. "I'm already going to be in a ton of trouble for even being out there. Now you want me to let you snoop around in his office?"

"Katie, he's right." I said. Everyone looked over at me. "How else are we going to find out what's going on? Plus, if he knows we were out there, he may suspect we already know something and try to get rid of any evidence. If we're gonna do it, we have to do it now."

Katie was openly sobbing now. I know part of it was that she was scared of getting in trouble; we all were. There was more to it than that, though: the idea that her dad might actually be involved in Sydney's disappearance, maybe all the disappearances, somehow. Finally, she agreed, and we all jumped on our bikes and started pedaling towards town.

As we reached the edge of town, a sheriff's deputy blew past us with his lights and siren on, heading in the direction of the National Park. I turned my head and watched in disbelief as the brake lights lit up and the patrol car turned into a side street about a quarter mile away from us. I couldn't believe what was happening; he was backing up. The words from Cody's dad's map flashed across my vision, a red warning against the blue sky:

Sheriff – cover up

"Guys, he's turning around! Run! Meet at Katie's!" I screamed.

"After us? We haven't done anything!" Adam squeaked, not moving.

"Go!" I yelled. I tore off without looking back, the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I churned the pedals on the bike as fast as my legs could move them. I didn't dare look behind me, focusing only on the road ahead and the blood thumping in my ears. I turned off the main road and headed towards a small office park that was surrounded by a good many trees. I cruised around the corner of a building and dropped my bike in the grass.

I stopped and listened – the sirens had stopped. The deputy hadn't followed me. Cody and Katie had been right behind me for a moment, but they were nowhere to be seen. They were smart enough to know that we couldn't all stay together or we'd all get caught. I wanted to believe I'd been imagining there was a deputy after us at all. However, when I walked back around building to check the main road, reality came crashing back.

The deputy's vehicle was parked on the side of the street closest to me. Adam was about ten yards in front of the patrol car, still on his bike. The deputy was questioning him. I could see Adam explaining something, his arms waving in the air. A moment later Adam got off his bike, which the deputy placed in the trunk of the car. I watched as he escorted Adam towards the vehicle and placed him in the back seat, then took off towards town.

***

When I cruised into Katie's empty driveway about fifteen minutes later, I saw her and Cody's bikes were already in the grass in the front yard. I walked mine around and parked on the side of the house before walking back and knocking on the front door. I knew Katie's parents weren't home, but I was still terrified. There was no telling when Mr. Kirk would be coming back.

I heard two clicks and when the door inched open I saw Katie's anxious eyes starting back at me behind her dark glasses.

"Carson! Where have you been? We thought they got you. Where's Adam?" She pulled me in and quickly shut the door, locking the dead bolt and chain.

"Adam got caught. Arrested, I guess," I said, slightly out of breath.

"Holy crap," she said. "This is so bad." She took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. Her hair was messy and several strands of it were stuck to her forehead.

"Where's Cody?" I asked, looking around.

"Upstairs. We found something. Come on."

I followed her up the stairs and into a room that appeared to be an office. There was a large desk in the middle of the room whose glass top was supported by two a-frame iron legs. Cody was sitting in the chair typing frantically on the keyboard.

"Can't get in. He has a password," he said, shoving the mouse awaw. When he saw me, he got up and threw his arms around me. "Dude, I thought you were a goner. Where's Adam?"

"They got him." Katie said, looking down at her feet.

Cody's face contorted into one of shock and disbelief. "What?" He dropped his arms and shuffled back around to the back of the desk. "Where is he?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said. "All I saw was him being taken off in the deputy's car."

Cody pulled the chair out and sat back down, a forlorn look on his face. Then, he straightened up. "Even more reason to get these guys. Carson, take a look at this." He reached down and picked up the mouse pad, holding it up so I could see it. Katie was looking at me anxiously.

King Medical Supplies

"King," I gasped. "So that's what the boxes at the facility said."

"Yep," Cody replied. "Also, look at these." He stood up and handed me a small stack of paper.

The document on top was some kind of medical paper. Even after all these years, I still remember the word "pluripotent" in the title as well as the date: 1981.

I shuffled to the last page, which contained half a page of notes written in a man's lazy script.

Patient: A.S.

Diagnosis: brain tumor

Trial 18: unsuccessful harvest of brain stem cells. Potential move to pluripotent cells (endoderm/mesoderm?/ectoderm) rather than differentiated? (success=teeth, liver, heart, skeletal muscle). Where can we get live embryos?

I didn't know at the time, but stem cells had only just been discovered in the early 1980's. It wasn't until 1996 that Dolly the Sheep came along, which thrust stem cell research into the public eye.

"What does all of this mean?" I shook the paper in front of me.

"Not sure," Cody replied, "but its medical. This person – A.S. - has a brain tumor. Maybe they are trying to fix it?"

Katie had been standing quietly at the edge of the room beside the door when I saw her almost jump out of her skin. She leaned over and placed her ear against the door, then bolted upright and ran over to me, grabbing the papers out of my hand.

"Someone's here!" she whispered. "Front door! Give me the papers. Y'all have to get out of here!"

As we opened the door to the office, we heard a voice from downstairs.

"KATIE! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

It was followed by several metallic thuds, one after the other. It was her Dad. The thuds were the sounds of the door straining against the chain that held it closed.

"What do we do!?" I yelled, panicked.

"My bedroom!" she whispered. "You can go out the window and onto the carport!"

"Cody, let's go!" I said, pushing him out the door and into the room across the hall. As I flew into the room, I tripped on some roller skates in the middle of the floor and almost fell headfirst into Katie's nightstand. Cody grabbed my arm and pulled me up, simultaneously trying to raise the window, which wouldn't budge. I noticed the latch at the top of the window and spun it open. When both of us pushed from the bottom, the window finally opened with a hideous squeal.

We climbed out onto the hot asphalt and half-walked, half-scooted down the incline of the carport roof. The pine needles that covered it made it tricky to keep our footing, but soon we were at the edge. There was nothing to climb onto, so we had to jump the final eight feet into the grass below.

Cody yelped as he hit the ground. When I got up he was laying there, rocking on his back, holding his wrist.

"Come on Cody!" I yelled grabbing him by the other arm and pulling him up.

I jumped on my bike, which was only a few feet away. Cody ran beside me down the driveway and then veered into the front yard to grab his bike. Luckily, it was on top of Katie's. He got a running start and hopped on it just as I heard the front door crash open and Mr. Kirk come barreling out of the house. Everything happened in slow motion. Mr. Kirk's face oozed with rage as he reached for Cody's arm to pull him off of the bike. Cody twisted ever so slightly, causing Mr. Kirk to grab his sleeve instead of his arm. The grass must have been slippery because when he pulled, Mr. Kirk lost his footing and fell face first into the yard, letting go of Cody's shirt.

As we both furiously pedaled away, I could hear Mr. Kirk screaming obscenities from the street.

***

When I got home late that afternoon, my mother was beside herself with worry and anger. She had called Adam's house that morning and was told I wasn't there, which caused her to "lose her ever-loving shit". Her words, not mine. She didn't curse often, but when she did, I knew she meant business. She ended up calling the sheriff's department and reporting me missing before driving around town looking for me in our 1976 station wagon. I'm sure that was a sight.

After a good tongue lashing and some crying from both of us, I was sent to my room to await my father's arrival later that night. Also, I was grounded for two whole weeks.

Later that night, I was lying in my bed when I heard someone coming up the stairs. I swung my legs over the side and sat up, bending down and cradling my head in my hands. I was worried about what my Dad would say, sure, but I always wanted him to see that I was worried. Things always seemed to go better with him when I appeared contrite.

I'd been wrestling with a question since I got home: What do I tell my parents?" My first inclination was to tell them about all of it: Sydney, the book, the facility, Katie's dad, everything. It sounds like the easy solution now, but trust me, it wasn't. I didn't even know what was going on - though I had an overwhelming sense that it was something. Would they even believe me? Also, if I said something, would my parents forbid me to look into anything further? I might lose the only chance I had at figuring out what happened to Sydney. I resolved to not say anything at all - at least not yet. I wanted to talk to Cody and the others first.

"Hey, bub," my Dad said as he sat down on the bed next to me. I was confused at the tone of his voice – he didn't even sound angry. When he placed his arm around my shoulder, all of the emotions I had been holding in since Sydney went missing flowed out unabated. I cried, a lot. I ended up telling him everything. He sat and listened, never interrupting. When I was finished, he breathed in very deeply, then out again, before saying, "I believe you."

My brain really couldn't comprehend it; it was the last thing I expected him to say.

"You believe me?" I turned my tear-streaked face towards his.

"I believe you," he said again. We both sat in silence for what felt like minutes.

He finally spoke. "Carson, you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Never speak of this again." The look on his face was something between solemnity and terror. I had never seen it before and it shook me to my core. I finally shook my head in agreement. We sat in silence for a moment and then he made his way slowly out of the bedroom. He didn't even punish me further. It would be some time before we talked about it again.

The next two weeks were excruciating. After everything that happened, it was awful not being able to contact Adam or Katie to find out if they were all right. I wasn't allowed to use the phone at all and I couldn't go to any social functions where I might see them. Also, my Dad's curious response to what I told him was driving me crazy. Did he know something about the disappearances? Why couldn't we talk about it?

When the two weeks was finally up, the first call I made was to Cody. His Dad answered the phone, then I heard him hand it to Cody.

"Hey Carson," he said, his voice low.

I had so many questions. "Cody! What's up?" I was so excited to finally talk to one of my friends again.

"Not much." I could hear his dad saying something in the background. "Carson, I...."

"What happened after you went home? Did you get in trouble? Have you talked to Katie or Adam?" I asked, interrupting him.

"..I just can't hang out with you for a while. My Dad says."

My heart sank. Can't hang out?  "Cody, why?"

His dad was already back on the phone. "I'm sorry, Carson," was all he said before the line went dead.

It was the last time I would ever speak to Cody.

Five days later, my parents broke the horrible news to me. Cody's parents hadn't been able to find him for several hours. When they finally searched the woods behind their house, they found him. His body was already cold, dangling motionless from a rope tied to the lowest branch of his favorite tree.