A phantom settlement, like Eve had said.
“I’m sure you’re very busy,” a voice startled her, and Nell looked up to see Eve reentering the booth, packing materials in hand. “But would you like to get lunch, or a coffee? It’s been so long, there’s so much I want to ask you. Where you went to school, where you’re working now . . .”
Nell tried to turn her grimace into a polite smile as she imagined telling Eve about the Junk Box Incident and Classic.
“That would be wonderful—” she began.
But before she could finish her sentence, a face she had not expected to see appeared in the background, far over Eve’s shoulder.
What was Lieutenant Cabe doing at the fair?
Did he know about the Sanborn map, somehow?
She didn’t know—but she didn’t have time to find out. He clearly was following some clue, and if he saw her here after she’d ducked his call, if he wasn’t already suspicious of her, he would be.
And she did not have time to explain her way out of it.
“And I wish I could, but I have to go,” she said, scrambling to pull off Swann’s lanyard.
“Oh,” Eve replied, surprised at the sudden turn. In the distance, Nell watched Lieutenant Cabe do a slow turn, searching the crowd. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
“No, it’s not you,” Nell said. She tried to see which way Lieutenant Cabe was breaking without being too obvious, so she could dash in the other direction. “Maybe some other time? I don’t have a card, but I can look you up on Penn State’s website.”
Eve nodded, still bewildered. “Of course. Are you sure everything’s okay, though?”
Lieutenant Cabe’s eyes passed over Nell—and then jerked back to the massive exhibit, darting between its visitors.
She had to get out of here before he could confirm he’d seen her.
“Everything’s fine. I just have to go.” She was already halfway out of the booth. A cluster of scholars cut the lieutenant off for a moment, obscuring his line of sight, and she saw her chance. “Thank you so much for your help, Eve.”
Nell struggled to keep the phone pressed to her ear as she dodged her way out of the Armory and onto the sidewalk of Park Avenue. A couple of taxis were waiting at the curb, and she dove for the first one even though she couldn’t afford it. A cab ride would be a faster getaway from Lieutenant Cabe than walking all the way to the subway.
“Swann!” she said when he finally came on the line. “I may have figured it out!”
“Figured what out?” Swann asked, surprised.
The taxi set off toward Chinatown as Nell struggled with her seat belt. “The Cartographers,” she said. “It’s not an old story after all. They’re real collectors—but you won’t believe who founded the group.”
Midtown rolled by out the window as she relayed everything Eve had said about her parents and their friends, copyright traps, and the Sanborn map.
“All this time, he never told me,” Swann finally said. His voice was caught between disbelief and sadness. “Although I suppose if this Wally is really that dangerous, he was safer not revealing his old affiliation to anyone. Even me.”
“I’m sure he was just trying to protect you,” Nell replied.
Swann sighed. “Still. I could have helped him.”
“You’re helping now,” she said.
He cleared his throat, and Nell heard his chair squeak over the line as he sat up straighter. “I’m with you all the way, my dear. So, this Sanborn map.” His tone became a little brighter, more curious. “A little secret of our own, right under our noses! What are the chances? I never would have guessed the Sanborn line contained any phantom settlements at all.”