By the time Nate returned to the ridge, the agents were gone. He stayed low as he rolled down the cliff and across the road into the woods. The officers had left Hajji's car. But Nate hadn't seen them leave, so he couldn't be sure they weren't camouflaged and hiding in the woods. He didn't think so because there was no reason to monitor, the car's movements could still be tracked using GPS. But there was no way they had given up that easily. They probably had people at key times and many more would probably come soon. It occurred to him that perhaps they had already searched the house. Nate turned and headed towards the farm. He looked wearily at the back porch as he approached, wondering if an officer was inside. He entered through the kitchen and searched from room to room. The coast was clear. It was one o'clock and his grandparents hadn't come home. He still hadn't cleaned up the kitchen like he'd promised and went downstairs to do it. At two thirty, Nate started to worry. Suppose the agents took his grandparents while he was gone and are holding them for questioning because a terrorist's car was found on their property? Could federal agents do this? Should he call his parents? Nate went to the music room and dialed first his mother's cell, then his father's, but he received an out-of-area message for both. Now he knew why his mother didn't want to give up their landline. It was the only way to establish a connection between her and her parents. He dialed their home phone, but got the answering machine. He didn't want to worry his parents and simply left a message saying he had called and they should call back if they had the chance. He slumped into the chair next to the phone and jumped when it rang. "Oh, Nathan, there you are. Where have you been? We were worried... middle of paper... they find this place, I think they'll have both exits covered, but you're right, it's worth better stay in the middle." "We should probably turn off the lights too. You stay here, I'll get some flashlights. Nate went down the steps and rushed to the laundry room. -parents were guarding there. As he returned to the kitchen, he grabbed a bunch of bananas and put an apple under his arm. When he returned, Hajji was sitting on the floor on the middle landing and, going up, turned on a flashlight he handed Hajji the second flashlight, then also turned off the light on the central landing. He walked around Hajji then handed him the fruit Nate leaned against the wall that supported the central landing. and slid to the ground Just as his rump hit bottom, the wall behind him moved inward...