As it turned out, Sandbox 45 was about eighty miles from Las Vegas, in the middle of the Mojave Desert. Once Tres and I left the giant realm, we met up with Dylan on the ranch and one of the ground side associates, Phil, who was our helicopter pilot. We all piled into a state-of-the-art helicopter that was roomier than the one Emma flew us in when I came to the giant world for the first time and prepared for a long flight. 

Tres explained that the half-giants had essentially boltholes they called Sandboxes with supplies and places to keep giant prisoners all over the world. They were all numbered and there was a Sandbox in most major cities in the United States and others scattered across the rest of the globe. 

Sandbox 45 was one of Emma's most used bolt holes since she often chased giants as far as Las Vegas. Phil explained that giants preferred to blend in places with lots of people. Those who escaped Redwood often headed to places like Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the daring ones made it as far as Las Vegas. 

"Phil monitors channels of the unexplained and wild, as well as any hashtag that might help us find escaped giants," Dylan explained. "He often then gets that information to trackers and hunters like Vita or Emma and they scout and take care of the giants."

"How did you get involved with the halfants?" I asked since Phil was a small man and didn't have the height I expected of someone with giant blood. 

Phil wore a wide-brimmed baseball cap, a mullet, and a potbelly and could barely see over the helicopter's instruments. He wore a cut-off jean jacket with a bunch of pins and shorts. If I had seen him on the street, I might have thought he was a trucker or someone who spent a lot of time in trailer parks.  

"Funny thing, missy," Phil said. "Emma is my daughter. I met her mom as a casual acquaintance, and she stayed with me when she was in Las Vegas. Vita was a wild one, and I've never been able to pin her down, but we've co-parented a strong and independent girl."

The human had likely never been to the giant world. He was a part of it distantly through his daughter. I admired his willingness to help with something that had his life gone a different way that he'd have had no part of. He wasn't born into this like the rest of us. 

Phil chattered the entire way to Sandbox 45. He talked mostly talked about raising Emma and his life on the road as a trucker. Once we landed at the sandbox, he came out with us and swiped a card over the metal door, where a sensor beeped to life. 

"Greetings, Phil Warden," an automated voice said. "Password, please."

"Valentine's Sunday," Phil said. 

The doors opened like an elevator. Dylan led us inside, and we found a small room with a table and chairs. Emma was sitting with her feet kicked back, reading a romance novel. There were bags under her eyes and she set the book down when we entered. 

"I was wondering where y'all were," she said. 

"No love for your dad, sugar?" Phil asked. 

Emma stood and gave him a hug. "Course, Dad. Thanks for helping again. I hope he gave you the first-class treatment."

"Yeah," Dylan scratched the back of his neck and blushed. "Good to see you, Emma."

I looked at my cousin with a bit of surprise. I'd never seen him like this before. Emma seemed to tie his tongue, and his cheeks grew pink when she spoke to him directly. 

"I gave Gayle one tranquilizer after she gave the federal agents a fight," Emma said. "Apparently, she paid a little attention to training. Agent Willcox got a black eye for her troubles. It'll be bit before I ask her for a favor again."

"How long will she be out?" Tres asked. 

Emma shrugged. "At least a few more hours. She's blindfolded, and I moved her here via helicopter. Kev took it to Vegas to refuel and follow a tip further north."

"Give me a chance to snack and drink a Coke and we can get back up in the air," Phil said. "Besides, don't you need to interrogate this girl?"

"Not here," Tres said. "That's the job of someone back at the compound."

"She'll have her work cut out for her," Emma said. "Gayle clammed up the moment she realized the feds were handing her over to me. All she's done in my custody is flail and scream, but she won't answer questions."

"Charming." Phil reached past Emma to open a mini fridge by the table and pulled out a red can of soda. "Glad the girl's a nutcase. We can be out of here in thirty minutes."

Tres and Emma walked further into the Sandbox so he could see where she secured Gayle. Phil sat back and threw his arm over his eyes. Then he started snoring almost instantly. 

"I envy that skill," Dylan said. "I wish I could fall asleep anywhere."

I smiled at my cousin. "You didn't tell me you had a crush on Emma."

Dylan turned crimson. "I don't—she's a colleague."

"She's pretty," I said. "And I know she sometimes comes out to the ranch to help you. She probably doesn't have to do that."

"She's older," he said. 

"She's what, nineteen tops?" I elbowed Dylan. "You're only a few months younger than me. Just because she has a cool job doesn't mean you can't ask her out. Live a little."

"Like you are with Moreno?" He raised an eyebrow.

I bit my lip. "That's complicated."

"So is my relationship with Emma," Dylan said. "She's been doing her mom's job full time since she was sixteen and she's terribly busy. I'm not even sure I have the time to make something work. The ranch won't run itself."

"Dylan, how else are you going to meet someone fantastic like her?" I asked. "You attend school online like me, and your life plan is to stay on the ranch. You're not even taking time at a university like my dad or grandpa did."

"You know Grandpa didn't actually study abroad in England," Dylan said. "That's a cover for how Granmam came into his life for humans who ask questions. They met because Granmam served ten years at Redwood Compound."

That hadn't occurred to me, but it made sense. Granmam had been a halfant and served her term in their service. Then, she married Grandpa and continued her work in a very different way. 

"Still," I said. "I worry about you sometimes. I have friends now at the compound and you're at the ranch alone with workers and Granmam."

Dylan snorted. "Says the antisocial shut-in who quit real school four years ago. I'm fine, Terri. Really, I am."

He clammed up as Emma and Tres walked back into the room. Emma pulled a soda out of the fridge and sat back down at the table beside her sleeping father. The pop of the soda tab echoed through the sandbox and she took a long drink. 

"What a day," she said. 

"Is this what you do every day?" I asked. 

"Sometimes," she said. "My life is complicated. Chasing giants is a lot of work. I rest when I can. I do more work than a lot of the others because I haven't settled down yet anywhere permanent like my mother. Closest she ever got to having a home base was visiting me in Vegas when I was a kid."

"At least you get to travel," I said. 

She shrugged. "I'd love to settle down one day. I can't imagine doing this for thirty years like my mother, but we'll see."

"Family business isn't so bad," Dylan said. "And you know you can always come stay at the ranch, Emma. it's open to anyone with giant blood who needs an escape."

"You're too cute, Dylan Oakeley," Emma smiled. "But we all should get moving soon. Want to give me a hand with Gayle, boys?"

She led them to the back of the sandbox, where Gayle lay unconscious and handcuffed. I followed them and wondered how long she'd been asleep. She was dressed in a human-like attire, wearing a low-cut tank top that revealed a delicate lace camisole and booty shorts. With her bright pink lipstick and bleached purple streaks that framed her dark hair, her edgy style was impossible to miss. The look she had was far from that of a girl on the run, but perhaps that was exactly what she intended.

Emma directed the boys to carry Gayle gingerly to the helicopter. Between Tres and Dylan, they had little difficulty carrying the girl, who weighed 120 pounds outside. Her head lolled as Dylan supported her arms, and Tres held her under the knees. It might have been comical if I hadn't known Gayle had kidnapped a kid. 

Once she was in the middle of the helicopter, Emma and I cuffed Gayle to the seat. I didn't think that she could escape from that. After all, once we were all in the chopper, Tres and Dylan would sit on either side of her. 

I sat across from Gayle and adjusted my seat as Emma ran back inside to wake her father up. Dylan climbed up in his seat and moved Gayle's head so it lolled forward and not onto his shoulder. Tres mashed buttons on his wrist unit, probably writing a report to Alana. Then he took the seat on the other side of Gayle. 

"Doc wants her taken straight to Cell A when we get back to the compound," he said. "They think they know how she got all this human money Emma found on her, too. Monty found she was communicating with the rebels via a radio network. They found a looping message left for us on the frequency."

"Giants can do that?" Dylan frowned. "I thought that kind of technology was limited and taboo in Jontun."

"I don't know," Tres said. "Monty claimed it was some sort of ham frequency, whatever that means, and they appear to have abandoned it."

"But what was the message?" I asked. 

Tres mashed a button on his wrist unit. "I think it'll be better if you hear it. It's from Ellenora and it appears to be for you, Terri."

Dylan cursed. I didn't blame him. I already knew that my mother gave the orders for the kidnapping behind her most faithful lieutenant's back. What else had she cooked up that she thought Finn might stop her from doing?

Static crackled through Tres's wrist unit and then a message played. I cringed at my mother's voice as I took in her words, and then my jaw dropped. 

"Sweetlove, princess, I know how much that bastard lord means to you, so I took something that should be precious to the two of you. I know you'll do anything to get her back, Theresa, so I promise if you turn yourself over to me, Esperanza Carisma will be returned to her stupid Duke in one piece. If you involve Daddy or any other insipid members of our family, the little girl will get it. Until we meet again soon. You can't fight fate, Theresa. It's better to just let it come to pass because even if you try to divine it, there isn't another way. Toodaloo."

It was my turn to let out one of those Welsh curse words Granmam used when she chewed out Uncle Chris. Even though I had a feeling this was where Carisma's kidnapping was going, I still couldn't believe that my mother would do this. Did she really want me this badly as a prisoner? I'd already proven I would not help her. 

"She's a monster," Dylan said. 

"It certainly isn't making the commanders happy," Tres said. "I don't know what they're going to do."

I didn't know either. The options weren't good. Still, a little girl's life was at stake. Ellenora had seen my visions, and she knew exactly how to hurt me. Dylan was right. She wasn't a mother. She was a monster. 

Hey everyone!!! Gayle is back in custody, and it's a race to find Carisma. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Any predictions? Until next time!!