At 12:08 a.m., my sister called and whispered, “Turn off every light. Hide in the attic. Don’t tell your husband.” I thought she’d lost her mind until I looked through the floorboards and saw my husband holding three passports with our photos. Then a stranger said, “Your wife’s sister may already know.” My husband slowly looked toward the attic and asked, “Where’s Elise?” That’s when the stairs began to creak…

“Mama, what’s happening?”

“It’s okay. Just stay with me.”

I carried him into the safest part of the house while footsteps pounded across the wet grass outside. Noah clung to me in confusion, and I kept telling him everything would be fine even though I had no idea how many people were outside or what they intended to do.

Then I heard the backyard swing begin to creak. It moved slowly back and forth despite the still night, and seconds later an agent shouted for someone to stop before a gunshot broke the silence outside.

Noah screamed and buried his face against my shoulder while more voices carried through the yard. I heard running footsteps and another command from one of the agents, but after that the house became disturbingly quiet.

Several minutes later, Mara entered through the front door with her weapon still in her hand. I knew from her expression that whoever had entered the property hadn’t been caught.

“They got away.”

My knees weakened, and Mara caught me before I could fall. She helped me sit down while Agent Reeves joined us, and the two of them explained that the intruders had probably never intended to enter the house because their real purpose was to demonstrate that they could reach Noah and me despite federal surveillance.

“They were sending a message.”

“What do they want from me?”

“We think Owen hid something in your name before his arrest.”

I immediately insisted that I knew nothing about anything Owen might have hidden. Mara believed me, but Reeves explained that the people still connected to Owen’s network apparently believed I possessed information or access that they needed.

“I don’t know anything!”

“I know.”

“But they don’t.”