Paige jumped a mile at the knock on her door. She knew how absurd it was, but she couldn't stop the fleeting hope that Walter was on the other side, ready to embrace her and tell her what the hell was happening. She'd fallen asleep, maybe, and this was a nightmare. Or an elaborate practical joke that wasn't particularly funny.

Because the death toll was up to seven. And the world thought that Walter was guilty.

"Paige?" She fought through her haze to process the agent's voice, quickly moving to unlock the door. Cabe stepped in, grasping her upper arms. "I got here as fast as I could. Traffic is gridlocked. Have you heard anything?"

She shook her head, suddenly aware of how damp her cheeks were. "Every call goes to voicemail. If he even still has that phone, it's shut off." Paige sucked in a breath that sounded more like a sob. "Cabe, he would never…"

"Oh kid, I know." He wasted no time pulling her into a hug, holding her tightly as her tears soaked through his shirt. It felt like every atom in her body was shaking and she struggled to catch even one solid breath. "But whoever set him up for this did a hell of a job. Every law enforcement agency in the U.S. is on Walter's trail and that video means every civilian will be too."

Paige shuddered. Additional cameras were part of a recent two-million-dollar security upgrade, the reporters had been saying. The suspect managed to evade the other cameras, but was apparently not aware of his new angle. She couldn't deny it looked bad. It looked like Walter wiring explosives at seven-thirty that morning, in an unguarded area of the building that would later be reduced to rubble and ash, wearing the same clothes he left her apartment in. If she was watching from the outside, if she'd never heard the name Walter O'Brien before, she would take it as irrefutable proof of his guilt.

But she did know him. She knew the Walter O'Brien who was kind and self-sacrificing and who had spent more than a decade carrying the burden of Baghdad squarely on his shoulders. The man who'd hugged her son goodbye the prior night, a proud smile on his face, before taking her home and loving her tenderly and thoroughly. And that man was incapable of something this horrific.

There had to be another explanation. For the video. For all of it.

Paige backed out of Cabe's arms, frantically wiping moisture away from her eyes. "What about the meeting? The budget? Why would he do that and then just go sit in an office w-with explosives in the building?"

The agent sighed. "Walter never showed. He swiped his badge to get into the building, and the security guard remembers seeing him enter the lobby. But he didn't make it to the meeting."

"Oh god." She clasped her hand over her mouth as another sob threatened to escape. "None of this makes any sense. I-If he just turns himself in, we can figure this out, we can prove that he's innocent, right?" Paige squeezed her eyes shut, picturing the last time she saw him, the casual assurance that he would return in a few hours. And she'd believed him. She had no reason not to. "If he didn't do it, why would he run?"

"I don't know. But if someone wants to take Walter down this badly, I'm sure they figured out how to control him." Cabe cocked his head, offering her a sympathetic look. "Threatening people he cares about, for example."

Paige lurched backward, the weight of his implication crushing her. "No. No. No, no, no, no." The genius would do anything for her and her son—she'd seen that in action dozens of times. Even if it meant risking his life. Even if it meant disowning every incredible thing he'd ever done and allowing himself to be hunted like a criminal.

"I'm not saying you and Ralph are definitely in danger. I'm just saying that I'm sure Walter has a good reason for disappearing, and no matter what, he would expect me to keep you safe. I'll make sure you and Ralph are protected."

Ralph. She'd been so consumed with thoughts of Walter that she didn't think about how she was going to explain this to Ralph. There was no way he would believe his mentor was responsible, would he? He knew the genius even better than she did. Their bond defied description. Seeing his hero villainized on national TV would decimate him.

"R-Ralph is at school. I have to pick him up," Paige stammered. "I have to pick him up now."

"You can't."

She was already halfway to her purse when his words stopped her in her tracks. Cabe's expression was apologetic and Paige realized with abrupt clarity why he was really there. "They already have him, don't they?" She advanced toward the agent rapidly, shoving him hard by his shoulder. He didn't stop her. "Damnit, Cabe! Did Homeland ask you to stall me until they got here? You didn't trust me not to do something stupid?"

"They're going to question me, same as you, same as Ralph. I just wanted to make sure that you and the kid were taken in as quietly and safely as possible. If I could have gotten to Ralph's school before them, I would have made him my priority, but there wasn't enough time."

Paige blew out a harsh breath, balling her hands up into fists. "They can't question Ralph. He's a kid. He doesn't know anything."

"They don't know that. Hell, you don't know that." She hated to admit that Cabe was right. Ralph was wildly observant. He could have seen or heard something important and stored it away without realizing its significance. But that didn't make her any more on board with him being locked in a room and interrogated like he was when he'd played that stupid video game. "You don't have a say in this, kid. They'll take you to see him as soon as possible. He'll get a lawyer. The rest of the team will be brought in too, though I'm sure they'll have us separated to keep us from agreeing on a story."

"There is no story! Walter isn't behind this and we sure as hell didn't help him!"

"I believe that as much as you do. And we'll prove it." Cabe stepped away from the door, bending his arms and clasping his hands behind his head as the commotion on the stairs became unmistakable. There hadn't been any unusual activity visible from her windows, but she wouldn't be surprised to find government-issued SUVs parked near the opposite side of the building. "Just follow my lead."

Do whatever he tells you to do. Walter trusted Cabe to fix this mess. And she trusted Walter.

Paige put her hands behind her head as a flood of agents rushed into her apartment.