Had Cole rushed off to see Veronica?
Biting the inside of my cheek, I stomped into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Nana said, having just finished off an egg sandwich.
“Morning.”
“I hope you’re hungry. Cole did all of this, and he made you a plate before he left.” Nana slid a massive pile of scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits in my direction. “He told me to tell you to eat every crumb or else. Oh, and he also left you a note.”
She handed me a folded piece of paper.
Don’t give up on me the way I gave up on you. Please. Somehow I’ll find a way to make it up to you.
X Cole
Was he saying what I thought he was saying?
Did I want him to say what I thought he was saying?
I would have asked him, but he never made it to school. Where was he? What was he doing?
As the day eked by, I thought about calling him, then decided against it. Thought about texting him, then decided against it. I was a mess of uncertainty by the time Kat dropped me off at home.
Nana was gone. I changed into my work clothes and stuffed a few necessities into a backpack. My favorite weapons, a change of clothes, my cell and a little of the money I’d saved. I liked to stay prepared. I donned my coat, hat and gloves and left the house.
The air was bitterly cold, misting in front of my face as I breathed. Frost covered the grass, making me slip a few times. I set off down the street, walking fast. When I cleared the neighborhood, I came to a busy intersection. I passed the light and the convenience store and began to shiver. And yet the exposed skin on my face burned as if I’d crawled inside an oven. I frowned.
Sensitivity to the sun was a zombie trait.
Tires squealed. I palmed a dagger as I searched for the reason. An unfamiliar sedan with dark-tinted windows parked at the curb.
A door in back opened. “Get in,” Dr. Bendari commanded.
I stepped toward him, froze. If I did this, I would be late for work, maybe even miss my shift entirely. And if I missed my shift without calling in—would he let me call in or threaten to bail if I tried?—I could lose the job. But could I really pass up this opportunity?
Anticipation, nervousness and dread filled me all at once, propelling me the rest of the way. I jumped into the car, keeping the blade hidden but at the ready. Dr. Bendari moved to the side, giving me space. Even before I’d shut the door, the vehicle was speeding away.
Warm air blew from the vents, enveloping me as I buckled my seat belt.
Dr. Bendari studied me. “Face-to-face at last, Miss Bell.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come out last night.”
“You had guests. I know.” He looked to the driver. “Alert me if there’s even a hint of a tail.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver said.
“How did you know?” I demanded. “How do you always know?”
“I told you,” Dr. Bendari said, reaching for something on the floorboard. “My source.”
“I’m loaded with weapons,” I rushed out, waving the dagger. “Sudden movements aren’t an option for you. If you try anything...”
Dr. Bendari straightened without grabbing anything and, looking at me as if I were a wounded animal, gently said, “You need me too much to dispose of me, Miss Bell.”
“Yeah? And why is that?”
“I told you. I have the answers you seek.”
“If that’s so, why would you want to help me? Who are you? What’s your purpose? Your endgame? Why the veil of secrecy? Who do you work for? Do you have someone spying on my friends? Who is your source, dang it? I want to know!”
He rubbed his temples as if trying to ward off an intense ache. “Are you always this inquisitive?”
“Always.”
“It’s quite off-putting.”
“Well, I’m quite desperate.”
He studied me, frowned with a hint of sadness. “I bet you are.” Sighing, he very slowly reached for...whatever it was. A pile of folders. He settled them in his lap. “I’m sure you will be less than thrilled to learn this, but I worked for Anima Industries for many years.”
Even though I’d suspected, I found my fingers tightening around the hilt of my weapon.
Keeping his eyes on the road, the driver extended an arm, a gun now in his hand, the barrel pointed at my face. “I gave you a chance to put that thing away. You didn’t. Now I’m telling you straight-up. If you make a move against my employer, little girl, I’ll end you.”
“Now, now,” Dr. Bendari chided. “Let’s calm down, everyone. I said I worked with Anima, Miss Bell. In case you missed it, that’s past tense. I have since left the company. My source is still working for them, however, and that’s where he gets his intel. Whatever I know, they know, too. They are, apparently, watching you closely.”
I relaxed, but only slightly, considering what I’d just learned. I set the dagger on my thigh.
The driver lowered his gun.
“I was growing increasingly upset with their...business practices, I guess you could say,” Dr. Bendari continued. “Lately, they’ve been using cancer patients as lab rats, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I left the company, but you see, no one with my security clearance leaves Anima alive.”
“You seem to be breathing just fine.”
“Yes, and I’ve had to take drastic measures to keep it that way.”
Fair enough. “Do you know Justin Silverstone?”
“I know of him. I also know he’s playing a very dangerous game, and I’m not sure whose side he’s on. He reports to Anima, but he also reports to Cole Holland. So he’s either betraying both parties or playing one, and it’s going to get him killed. It did his twin sister.”
“What?” Jaclyn was dead?
He flipped open one of the files. I looked at the page on top—and gagged. It was a photo of Jaclyn sprawled on a bed of grass, her body twisted at an odd angle and splattered with blood. There was a hole the size of a fist in her chest.
I’d never liked her, and she’d never liked me, but seeing her body like that... A well of sympathy bubbled up inside me. “There have been no reports of her body being found.”
“I wasn’t there. I don’t know what happened. But I discovered the pictures and can only suppose someone carted her away and destroyed her. If I know Anima—and I do—there will never be a report about her.”
Poor Jaclyn. Poor Justin. I had witnessed the deaths of my family, and it had been tragic and terrible, but at least I knew what had happened. “Does Justin have any idea?”