Two parents. Two masters. One boy who knows. Arlington, Virginia, October 1962. Twelve-year-old Danny Calloway goes down to the basement to fix a blown fuse and finds a hidden panel behind the fuse box: a tiny camera, a notebook of numbers, a sheet of paper that burns without ash, and an identity card with his father's face and another man's name. Over the next thirteen days, while the whole country waits to learn whether the world will end, Danny must work out who his parents really are, and who they are working for. Every grown-up he tells is a risk. His friend wants proof. His teacher wants to help. The neighbor across the street is a little too friendly. And his mother and father, who love him, have begun watching him back. A Cold War story of a family, a lie, and a boy with a flashlight. Tradecraft is period-true: dead drops, chalk marks, number stations, one-time pads, flash paper and the Minox camera.
