Its name was Biscuit.

She offered it to Everett.

“Biscuit makes people happy.”

Everett smiled and accepted the toy.

But when he gently squeezed it, something clicked inside.

Russell heard it too.

He examined the rabbit and noticed a small section of stitching along its back.

The thread was darker than the rest.

I remembered Mom repairing that exact spot a few weeks earlier.

“Mom fixed Biscuit,” I explained. “She said he needed something special to help us find our way home.”

Russell looked at Everett.

With Poppy’s permission, he carefully opened the repaired seam.

Inside was another small black device bearing the same silver emblem.

But this one was different.

Russell examined it and discovered that the internal transmitter had been replaced with a tiny memory chip.

“This isn’t being used to track anyone,” he said. “Someone modified it to carry information.”

I stared at Biscuit.

Mom had hidden something important inside my sister’s favorite toy.

And she had made sure we would take it with us.

“She knew,” I whispered.

Everett leaned closer.

“Knew what?”

“That something might happen. That’s why she wanted us to keep Biscuit.”

Everett promised that nobody would examine the chip without proper security precautions.

But when we landed, Russell received a call that changed everything.

Rosalie Whitcomb was waiting at the airport.

And she had a message from my mother.

“Tell Wesley not to trust anyone who says the black devices belong to Everett Blackwood.”

I looked at Everett.

He looked just as surprised as I felt.

The Woman Waiting at the Airport

Rosalie was standing near the arrivals area when we finally reached the terminal.

She was a silver-haired woman wearing a navy coat, and the moment she saw us, she hurried forward.

“Wesley! Poppy! Thank goodness you’re here.”

She wrapped her arms around us.

I wanted to ask a hundred questions, but only one mattered.

“Where’s Mom?”

Rosalie’s eyes filled with emotion.

“She’s safe, sweetheart. She’s been trying to reach you.”

My knees almost gave way.

Rosalie explained that Mom had been staying at a secure location while speaking with investigators about an old technology project.

Her telephone had stopped working, and several misunderstandings had delayed her efforts to contact us.

Everett remained a few steps away.

“Rebecca told you not to trust me?” he asked Rosalie.

“She was afraid someone might be using your company’s name without your knowledge.”

Russell showed her the protective pouch containing the first beacon.

Rosalie studied it carefully.

“Then you should all hear what Rebecca has to say.”

For the first time since leaving home, I allowed myself to hope that everything might turn out all right.

The Truth My Mother Had Been Hiding

I saw Mom the following afternoon.

She was sitting beside a window in a quiet office when Rosalie brought us inside.

The moment Poppy recognized her, she ran across the room.

“Mommy!”

Mom knelt and caught her in her arms.

I stayed near the doorway.

For four days, I had been responsible for keeping Poppy fed, comfortable, and safe.

Now that Mom was standing in front of me, I didn’t know whether to hug her or ask why she had left us.

She understood before I said anything.

“Wesley, I’m so sorry.”

“I thought you weren’t coming back.”

Her face crumpled.

“I know, sweetheart. I should never have let you carry that fear.”

Then she explained everything.

Years earlier, Mom had worked as an independent technology consultant.

Recently, she had received an anonymous envelope containing an old serial number connected to Blackwood Technologies.

Concerned that an obsolete tracking system might still be operating, she had obtained a discontinued beacon to test it.

When the device unexpectedly connected, she panicked.

She feared someone might be monitoring our home.

The argument I had overheard was a telephone disagreement about the equipment.

The knock at the door had come from a concerned neighbor.

Mom had hurried outside to investigate another possible signal, accidentally leaving her damaged phone behind.

One misunderstanding had followed another.

“I believed I was protecting you by keeping everything quiet,” she said. “But I made you feel completely alone.”

I looked down at my shoes.

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

Mom took my hands.

“You did more than anyone should ever expect from a ten-year-old. But you should never have been put in that position.”

I finally stepped forward and hugged her.

For the first time in days, I didn’t have to pretend I was brave.

The Baby Who Changed His Father’s Life

Everett and Russell joined us later that afternoon.

Mom immediately recognized the beacon removed from Oliver’s clothing.

She explained that it had originally belonged to a former colleague named Meredith, who had helped her examine the old network.

Meredith had passed away several months earlier, leaving behind her infant son.

Everett was her husband.

He listened silently as Mom explained that the device had been returned to Meredith before her passing.

Someone in the household had apparently mistaken it for a modern child-safety accessory and attached it inside Oliver’s clothing.

Its damaged casing had caused the baby’s discomfort.

There had been no evidence that anyone was deliberately targeting him.

Everett closed his eyes.