Meanwhile, miles away, Rae the scooter and Violet the girl stopped at the corner just up the street from Violet’s house. “Hey, why’d you stop?” Violet asked.

“Look at the driveway.” An unfamiliar black van was just pulling out of the driveway and heading away up the street. “There’s an 87% chance that’s a Marauder.”

“So? He’s leaving, let’s go.”

“Not a good idea. They’ll have left someone behind to wait for us.”

“What about my parents?” Violet asked.

Rae was silent.

“Rae? Answer me?” Violet asked, voice rising in panic. “Rachel Rose Hoffstadt, what have you done?”

“I’m sorry,” Rae said. “If they came here looking for us, they wouldn’t have left your parents behind.”

“They took them to be interrogated? Maybe we can—”

“No. They don’t interrogate people. They scan them. Like I did you, then you did me. And then they…process what’s left.” The silence stretched into long seconds as Violet absorbed this. “Your parents are gone, Vi,” Rae said. “And the Marauders now know everything they did about us.”