Caleb slept for three hours and forty-one minutes.
He woke at oh-eight-twenty-seven to the smell of coffee and a quiet conversation in the kitchen.
His mother was at the table.
She had not been at the safe house before. He had not invited her. He had not told her the address. She was wearing the same blue sweater from the cookbook visit. She had brought a paper bag from the bakery on her corner.
Iris was at the counter pouring her a second cup.
She looked up when Caleb came in.
"Sit down, sweetheart. I've brought breakfast."
He sat.
She put a pastry in front of him.
It was the kind she had bought for him on Sundays when he was eight.
He ate it.
-----
"How did you find the house."
