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“I had her bring you to me,” I say, looking to Levi. “A trade. Information for you.”

Elon shakes his head. “You don’t need to do this, Imogene, we can handle it.”

I step in front of him, reaching up to cradle his face in my hand. “I know you think that, but this is bigger than our pride. This will be over soon.”

He blinks, his tired eyes creased with worry. “What did you do?”

“What I should have from the beginning.” I turn to the agents. “Do they have to be handcuffed?”

“Yes,” Agent McNair says, gaze holding mine. “At least for now.”

For now.

That means there’s a chanceifI can give her what she wants.

“I brought them with me just like you asked. As you can tell, we’ve already done a clean sweep of these offices and removed anything incriminating.”

I turn and make eye contact with Levi. He and I worked most closely with Anex in this office—he as a teacher, me as his administrative assistant. “We need to show them,” I say. “Everything.”

Awareness flickers on his exhausted face, and I sense his hesitation. I get it. What I’m about to show them will prove the enormity of Anex’s crimes, but in the process, it’ll show how twisted and depraved he really is. He grimaces. “Are you sure?”

It’ll also show all of us, all of our friends and community members, in a compromising light. Him. Me. All of us.

“I need to do it,” I tell him. “Or we’ll never be free.”

Levi nods. “Then do it.”

I cross the room and enter the hallway, Agent Kane pushes in front of me, insisting on leading the way. Fair. I could be leading him to a room of booby traps. Instead, I point to a small storage room door, one that holds all the records. The lock is busted, and a quick look inside of the open, empty cabinets, I can see that the files have been removed.

“I told you,” Agent McNair says, “We got everything.”

“I don’t think so. Anex recorded everything,” I tell the agents. “Every meeting, every educational session, every midnight lecture, basketball game, ceremony.” I swallow. “Every Correction.”

“Correction?” Agent McNair asks. “What’s a Correction?”

I inhale deeply. “You’re about to find out.”

I nod at the bank of floor-to-ceiling cabinets attached to the wall and open one of the middle drawers. I press my fingers against the back wall, feeling for the right spot, but can’t find it. Panicked, I look back at Levi.

“Let me do it,” Levi says, stepping forward. He brushes past me, his arm warm against mine, sending shivers down my spine. He holds up his bound hands. “It'd be easier if my hands were free.”

Kane and McNair share a look, but ultimately, she nods. A moment later the ties are cut, and Levi rubs at his wrists. “That’s better.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Kane says, hand on his gun.

“It’s just a lever,” Levi says, reaching into the drawer. “I’m going to press it and it’ll release a latch.” A loud click follows, and he slowly withdraws his hand at the same time the cabinet detaches from the wall.

“What the hell?” Rex asks as Kane assists Levi in moving the cabinet. Next to him Elon shakes his head. Rex looks at me. “You knew about this?”

“Your father trusted me,” I reply. “And Levi. We were his most devoted followers.”

Just saying it makes me feel a pang—guilt maybe. There’s no time to dwell on it. With his gun drawn, Kane steps through the small doorway and into the hidden room. “Holy shit,” he mutters, then calls out, “It’s clear. You can come in.”

A moment later we’re inside—all six of us in the narrow space. The room is filled with a variety of electronics. Nothing I understand how to use, but I’m aware of their importance. Against the back wall are computers and monitors.

“He’s got everything,” Kane says, pulling on a pair of latex gloves. “VHS, CDs, tapes, flash drives.”

“He’s been documenting everything for the last thirty-five years,” Agent McNair says. She looks at Rex. “You really didn’t know about this room?”