Chasing the Falconers

Meg is another protagonist in the novel, though her inner life does not get as much attention as Aiden’s. She is 11 years old and has long, dark hair that is eventually cut short and dyed blonde in an attempt to disguise herself from police. She displays courage, honor, and action but can be plagued by hubris and has a tendency to bend the rules. She is smart, manipulative, and cunning. “She usually got by on a sweet smile and wide-eyed innocence—all fake” (4), her brother says, while also calling her a rule breaker. Although she shares with her brother a sense of outraged innocence, Meg is less committed to following the rules at Sunnydale Farm than her brother—and she is more insistent that they escape. She is quick thinking, quick-witted, and a fast talker. While her brother worries about his growing number of crimes, Meg views their actions pragmatically. She is quick to steal when no moral alternative is possible and is quicker to write off misdeeds in service to the greater goal of righting the injustice their parents are suffering. Like Aiden, she feels responsible for her sibling: “It’s my job to get us through this. I have to be sharp, on my toes. I can’t let anything get past me” (57). Unlike her more methodical and philosophical brother, Meg acts before thinking, relying on her wits to save her. After altering her appearance, a policeman confuses her for a boy, and she evades detection. She acts and speaks much older than her young age and is able to manipulate adults and her peers through her quick thinking and fast talking. She convinces a gas station attendant that she is the niece of a local, talks a cop into leaving them unbothered at their hideout in Chicago, and convinces a motel manager to give them room keys without an adult, all by the seat of her pants.

Fifteen-year-old Miguel acts as a foil to the more sheltered, middle-class Falconer siblings, providing the perspective of someone with fewer illusions about the justice system. Although the novel does not go into detail about his background, the description of him as being “olive-skinned” suggests his Latino heritage, and the description of his brother’s house makes it clear that he has not enjoyed the same comforts as the Falconers, whose parents are college professors. Still, he bonds with the other two protagonists and offers invaluable help in their flight. As an outlaw, Miguel displays moral skepticism, fierce independence, and criminality. However, Miguel is a complicated and dynamic character. His lack of faith in justice and the legal system is based on experience, and he believes that one’s wealth and luck have more to do with one’s future than justice or truth.

Miguel is a bully at Sunnydale Farm who relies on his reputation and superior size. He is the largest inmate save for one another boy, and he abuses smaller children. Early on in their escape, Aiden ponders, “Who’s the real enemy—the police or Miguel?” (87). Miguel’s character develops and changes throughout the course of their escape as he provides Aiden and Meg with food, safety, housing, disguises, and transportation. Although he commits crimes to survive, he also provides for his peers and ensures that they are fed, clothed, and disguised alongside meeting his own needs. Because of his street smarts, he becomes the de facto leader of the trio as they journey east, with both Aiden and Meg recognizing his skills and abilities as valuable to their continued survival and evasion.

Early on at Sunnydale Farm, a peer describes Miguel as having “a rap sheet like the Encyclopedia Britannica” (12). Agent Harris confirms this assessment of him, claiming that the Falconers are “surrounded by lowlifes […] ‘Like this kid Reyes kid with manslaughter on his rap sheet’” (110). However, when Miguel explains how he ended up in the system after defending himself against his abusive stepfather, the siblings quickly reframe how they view their accomplice. Miguel explains that he shoved his abusive stepfather in self-defense and that his family did not have the funds to afford a lawyer to keep him out of juvenile detention. Miguel believes that there is no justice, only luck, and that often luck is determined by wealth. Aiden and Meg understand that Miguel is as innocent as their parents, both ensnared in an imperfect system

Miguel’s brother is Freddy Reyes, who is on parole. He and his pregnant girlfriend live in a small apartment and have spent their limited funds on an expensive entertainment system. Freddy gives Miguel money and tells him that he is no longer part of the family and that he needs to leave. Shocked, Miguel is led outside by Meg and Aiden, who bring him with as they continue their quest to Vermont. In Vermont, Miguel is attacked in the Falconers’ summer rental home by a man he nicknames “Hairless Joe.” In the ensuing struggle, Miguel is shot in the shoulder. He warns the siblings that Hairless Joe is trying to kill them. Aiden and Meg get Miguel help, and in turn, Miguel refuses to inform on his fellow escapees. They assume that he will be returned to the system and that he will end up somewhere much less relaxed than Sunnydale Farm.

John and Louise, the parents of Aiden and Meg, make only brief appearances in the text. Their family friend Frank Lindenauer recruited them as covert CIA consultants meant to write criminal profiles of terrorists for CIA use in tracking down sleeper cells. They are present in a flashback early in the novel, where they are shown talking with their children after being arrested for treason and avowing their innocence. Beyond that, they appear in Aiden’s dreams and both children’s memories, offering advice at key moments. John is the author of “cheese-ball detective novels” featuring Mac Mulvey (57), whose exploits give Aiden ideas for escaping harrowing situations.

The Falconers, both PhDs, presented little physical danger to the armed officers in riot gear who stormed their house on national television. That the media was informed of the raid in advance suggests that the government had a motive for informing the public of the arrest in real time. The spectacle was meant to demonstrate the power and might of the government in the face of treason and terrorism. Soon, Aiden saw something else on television—accusations meant to convince the population of his parents’ guilt: “A day didn’t go by without Mom and Dad decried as traitors in every newspaper in the country” (6).

Frank is a similarly shadowy figure continually invoked as the one person capable of proving John and Louise’s innocence. After their arrest, the Falconers explained to their children that Uncle Frank was a CIA agent and recruiter who convinced the Falconers to use their skills as criminologists to help protect America from terrorism by drafting terrorist profiles. Eventually, the FBI uncovered the profiles and determined that the Falconers were aiding the terrorists. When the CIA was contacted, they disavowed knowledge of anyone named Frank Lindenauer

Aiden and Meg understand that their best chance of proving their parents’ innocence is through the man who recruited them. To this end, they spend the entirety of the novel on a journey to find a photo of Frank that might offer a clue as to his location. They find this as planned, and the photo reveals the name of a hotel where they plan to look for more information about the mysterious Frank and his girlfriend, Jane.