D.C. Descent: A Family's Fight

s of the silent, humm

I was used to the quiet. But the silence from home

encrypted messages were a lifeline, full of D.C. gossip and advice.

ssages got s

hey st

r' s brief, sterile updates. "Your mother is re

her wasn't a woman who reste

d, to redirect a surveillance satellite. I pointed its hi

illness, but fo

wling lawns were lit up. Tents were erected. An

od ran

erts. Beside him, a woman I recognized with a jolt: Sabrina Johns, hi

brina' s

olding a de

way from her debut. This was a fla

to the com

amily emergency, Code One. I need immediat

me, his face a mask of confus

snapped, my voice dangerou

ey less than an hour later, a silver needle ai

have been filled with anticipation, was

in my moth

g while my mother an

rm. I wanted them to see the fu