The message came while Caleb was eating soup with his good hand.
His mother had made it too thick on purpose. More potato than broth. More meat than she could afford to put in it twice in one week. She kept pretending she had found a sale.
Caleb knew the price of everything in that kitchen.
His phone buzzed beside the bowl.
[Hacker]: Come to the office. Forty second floor. Bring the arm. Leave everyone else home.
Another line appeared before he could answer.
[Hacker]: I saw Holt at the yard. We are going to kill his claim before he comes back with a truck.
Caleb read it twice. The Hacker's invitations usually came as numbers dropped into his life, followed by silence before he could ask what she had done to get them. In four months she had told him to come in person exactly once.
He set the spoon down.
"I have to go see Kimmely."
His mother kept stirring the pot.
"Wear the good coat."
"I'm not going to church."
