Mind Echoes (Book 2 in the Body Shifters Trilogy)

by Leslie O'Kane

  “That can’t possibly be true.”

  “Because I don’t actually know every single student at my school.”

  “I mean because everybody who knows you loves you.”

  “That’s total BS, Mom.”

  She shook head. “No, Allie. If I didn’t know that you’re part Ellie now, I would tell you that you’ve matured greatly in the last several months. Whoever you think you are inside, on the outside, you’re a wonderful person. You really are.” Her mother was starting to cry.

  “Thanks, Mom. You don’t need to get all emotional.”

  “Yes, I do,” she sobbed. “I’m trying to fight like hell not to lose you, to make you see that whether or not you think of me as your real mother, it’s fine with me for you to think of me as your adoptive mother. Either way, you need to listen to me. You need to keep me and your father informed. You need to let us protect you.”

  “You can’t. Don’t you see? Do you think my parents weren’t trying to protect me? Do you think their lack of parental judgment and protective instincts is why a hired gunman broke into our home and shot me?”

  Allie’s mom set her jaw and said nothing. They turned at a hospital sign. At the stop light immediately ahead of Albany Hospital, her mother reached into her purse. She snatched Allie’s phone out and held it out to her. “Here.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “It was pointless anyway. I lost Alexis because I was too afraid of losing her to say no. She’d threatened to leave forever if we took away her car and driving privileges. Two weeks later, she deliberately sped into a tree. I vowed if I ever got a second chance, I’d be a better parent. That I’d never let you have your own car. And I’d ground you if you cut classes to hang out with your friends. I promised myself that I’d make sure you made the right decisions. That last one isn’t possible.”

  “I’m sorry I let you down,” Allie said, miserable.

  “You haven’t let me down. But let me say my piece. You shouldn’t have sex with Jake. If Jake is truly the right one, you owe it to yourself to wait until it’s the right time. I could go on and on about this being too soon and how and why your choice in boyfriends scares me. I won’t bother. It’s too easy for you to brush my opinions aside. But I am going to ask you one question. When you look back on your first sexual experience, do you want part of that memory to be how you’d only recently learned that Jake’s former girlfriend was now a presence in your and Jake’s lives?”

  “No,” Allie admitted in a half whisper.

  “Good. Because that’s the sort of thing that wreaks havoc with a girl’s judgment. It causes her to think that she’d better have sex or else she’ll lose her boyfriend. I want you to have only good, positive reasons to have sex. I’d prefer you wait till you’re married, but I know that’s not realistic.”

  She pulled into the hospital parking lot. She sighed and faced Allie. “I’m more than happy to come in with you, or I can wait in the car. I’d prefer to go inside and speak with Mike’s parents. I don’t happen to know them, but there’s a common bond among all parents at times like this.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” Allie said, nodding. She was getting choked up at the thought that, once again, she’d put her parents in the path of Jennifer McGavin’s homicidal ways.

  They got out of the car, and they walked side by side toward the hospital entrance. Allie could only think the worst. She’d spent far too much time in hospitals. She didn’t know how she could handle it if she found out that Mike was dead. She wondered if she’d carry yet more guilt for her actions and inactions.

  “One more thing,” her mother said. “A seventeen-year-old boy who already knew that you considered him just a friend would not be so grief-stricken that he neglected to notice a car coming at him on his bicycle. You did not cause this accident.”

  “Keith thinks I did.”

  She shook her head. “Keith was afraid for his friend. Anger is often the first emotion we express when we’re afraid.”

  Allie got a lump in her throat. “I love you, Mom,” Allie said.

  Her mother beamed at her, then put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I love you, too, sweetie.” They walked arm in arm until they reached the revolving door for the main entrance.

  Her mother led the way to the ER waiting room, and spoke with someone at the desk. Allie hung back a little and scanned the room. She spotted Keith and a couple of other guys that she knew from the school. They were sitting in the corner, talking. Her spirits rose. They looked relaxed and cheerful.

  As she continued to scan the room, she saw Fiona talking with a girl whose back was turned. She watched them. The girl was Melissa. Jake must have dropped her off at the hospital, instead of at the hotel.

  Fiona noticed Allie, smiled, and rushed up to her. Melissa, meanwhile, gave her a quick glance, and a slight nod of greeting.

  “I just called your house, and left you a message,” Fiona said. “Mike’s going to be fine. He broke one of his legs, though.”

  “Does anybody know who the driver was?” Allie asked her.

  “I heard that a witness said she saw a red Maserati leaving the scene.”

  Allie merely nodded. She felt a little woozy. She might be indirectly responsible for yet another person she knew getting hurt.

  Mark Jones drove a red Maserati.

  Chapter 12

  “Melissa,” Allie said, “does Mark Jones still drive a red Maserati?”

  “Maybe. There was a red sports car of some kind in his space at the apartment. I assume that was his. Why? He isn’t a suspect in Mike’s hit and run, is he?”

  “Maybe.” She rolled her eyes when she realized she’d just repeated Melissa’s maybe. “I heard some murmurings about a red sports car. It’ll probably be posted on the Internet, as soon as the police make a statement about the accident.”

  “Maybe it was a coincidence. Dr. Jones couldn’t have been kinder toward me. I can’t really imagine him being involved in a hit-and-run.”

  “ Jake was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Also when he was on a bicycle.”

  Melissa stared at her for a moment. “You mean his original body was in a hit-and-run. I didn’t follow you for a minute there.”

  “Right. Has Keith been able to talk to Mike yet?”

  “No, but Mike’s parents have. He needs to have surgery to set his leg. I don’t know if we’re going to get the chance to see him anytime soon.”

  “Have you tried contacting Dr. Jones again?”

  Melissa shook her head. “They don’t like you to use cellphones in hospitals. I’ll go step outside.”

  A minute or two later, Melissa returned, shaking her head at Allie when their eyes met. She sat down. Battling a case of the shakes, Allie took a seat next to Melissa. She was scared and couldn’t stop mentally reliving how the McGavins had killed her parents and grandmother. This felt like history repeating itself; once again the enemy was closing in on her and picking off her friends. Fiona left Keith’s side and took the empty chair next to Allie’s without saying a word to her. That was one of the countless great things about Fiona; even when she sensed that Allie wasn’t up to talking, she showed her support.

  A woman in scrubs entered the waiting room. Mike’s parents, whom Allie knew vaguely from their attendance at school functions, sprang to their feet as the doctor approached. Allie had become proficient at reading people’s body English. She sighed with relief. “Mike’s going to be okay,” she told Fiona.

  “Thank goodness,” Fiona said. “I wonder how long we’ll have to wait till we can talk to him.”

  “Judging from my own experiences in emergency rooms, probably a while yet. Half an hour, at the very least.” She rose. “Tell Mike I said hi and that I’m looking forward—”

  “Tell him yourself, Allie,” Fiona said. “You’re not going to let Keith intimidate you. Not on my watch.”

  “It’s more than that,” Allie explained, sitting down once again to limit the number of people who m
ight possibly overhear. “I think it was either Jennifer or her husband driving the car that hit Mike.”

  “Why would they target Mike?” Fiona asked.

  “Maybe they planted a bug on my backpack or something and knew to look for him. I don’t know. But Mark drives a red Maserati,” she whispered.

  “And I’ll bet there’s more than one in the state of New York.”

  Allie allowed Fiona to convince her to stay and talk to Mike, but she knew in her heart that the hit-and-run driver was not some random stranger. She continued to wait so that she could be the last of Mike’s friends to go into his room for a visit. She wanted to have some privacy.

  When she finally went into the hospital room, Mike looked extremely pale, his skin almost waxy in appearance, and he seemed to be barely awake. He mustered a smile even so when he saw her. Instead of having one broken leg like she’d been told, he had one arm and one leg in casts.

  “Hi, Mike. I’m so sorry about this.”

  “Yeah. I went to extra lengths to get out of going to the prom without you,” Mike joked, gesturing at his broken leg with his one good arm.

  “You kind of did, didn’t you?” Allie said, chuckling. “It cost you an arm and a leg.”

  He chuckled a little, then said, “I hope I’ll still be able to take my finals.”

  “I’m worried about that myself. I might have to leave town. I can’t really talk about it, but last winter I fell in with the wrong people, and now Jake and I have to set things straight with them.”

  “Sounds intriguing. Like you’re a CIA agent, or something.”

  “It’s really more scary than intriguing. But I have to do what I have to do.” Allie sighed. “That’s not what I came here to talk about, though. I owe you such a huge apology, Mike. I’m so sorry for...everything.”

  “Oh, hey, if this is about Jake and the prom and all, don’t worry about it. You were always straight with me about your feelings. I understand.”

  “You deserve to go and to have fun. I’m really sorry that this happened. I never wanted to hurt you, Mike.”

  “You didn’t hurt me. The driver that ran me over did.”

  “Did you get a look at him or her?”

  He shook his head. “It happened too fast. I was riding on the shoulder of the road. I heard this car behind me. It seemed to speed up a little. Next thing you know, blam. I was on the pavement.”

  “So you didn’t see the car?”

  “It was just a red blur.” His head bobbed. He was struggling to stay awake.

  Allie nodded. “I should let you get some rest.”

  “Thanks for coming to see me, Allie. I’m sure I look even worse than usual.”

  Allie couldn’t help but glare at him. “Don’t put yourself down like that. It’s not fair to anybody.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I forgot how similar Jake and I look. We’re practically twins,” he muttered. “Take care, Allie.”

  “You, too.” Allie felt worse than ever as she left the room. She wished she could have told Mike the story behind her devotion to Jake—especially how she hadn’t chosen him for his looks. If life was fair, she and Jake would be in their original very average-looking bodies and would still be a couple.

  She winced to see that her mother was chatting with Melissa. “We’ll have to have you over for dinner one of these nights,” her mom said as Allie approached. “It’s got to be so hard on your mother that you’re both just living in a hotel room. There aren’t many opportunities to have home-cooked meals the way things have gone for you two.”

  “We do all right. There’s a microwave in our room. And we have a hotplate. You can cook lots of meals for two that way.” Melissa gave Allie an apologetic smile, which Allie knew was because she felt bad for lying. Melissa was living alone in her hotel room, cooking meals for herself. Allie’s mind clone had been living such a lonely, empty life for the past several weeks.

  “Have you heard back from your friend Mark?” Allie asked, taking care to call Dr. Mark Jones a ‘friend’ so that she wouldn’t accidentally say the wrong thing in front of her mother.

  “Not yet. Still no answer. I left a message for him to call me, though. We’ll see.” Melissa rolled her eyes as she turned toward Allie’s mother. “I’m still trolling for a prom date,” she fibbed.

  After dinner, Allie jumped when the doorbell rang. She was in her room with her door open, reading Gone with the Wind for the third time. “Can you get that, hon?” her mom called to Allie’s father. “My hands are all soapy.”

  Allie held her breath, listening keenly, her senses on red alert. If this was Jennifer’s henchman at the door, they were all done-for. She heard the squeak of her Dad’s recliner as he rose, and his heavy footfalls as he walked to the door. The latch clicked. The door hinge creaked open.

  “Hey, Mr. Bixby. I’m a friend of Alexis’s. Name’s Daniel. Is she here?”

  Allie grinned and hopped to her feet, ignoring the bookmark as she tossed her paperback onto the bed.

  “Alexis, your friend Daniel is here,” her father called just as she was already rounding the corner.

  She almost laughed at Daniel’s appearance. He had clearly gone shopping at Goodwill. True to his word, he was dressed all in black, from his leather biker boots to his T-shirt, with a thick chain necklace and a second chain woven through his belt loops so that it drooped along his thighs on both sides of his loose-hanging jeans. He hadn’t dyed his hair, but had greased and plastered it back on his scalp so that it no longer looked blond.

  “Hey, Allie. How’s it hangin’, dude?”

  Not trusting herself to say more than a couple of words without breaking into giggles, she avoided his eyes and replied, “Fine. You?”

  He gave her a thumbs up. “A-Team, all the way. You got that research done for history?”

  “Oh, um, no, I don’t have access to my computer right now.”

  “Bummer. It’s all good, though. We can use mine.”

  Her mother joined their little cluster by the front door. “Hello,” she said. “I’m Alexis’s mother, Terry.”

  “Daniel,” he said, pointing at his own chest, then he held out his hand. As they shook he added, “Hey. Good to meet you. “Allie and I are doing a five-pager for history. We just need to add some more supporting facts.”

  Her parents exchanged glances. “Sounds like a plan,” her father said.

  “You don’t need to supply the computer,” her mom said. “I meant to return Allie’s to her anyway.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I’ll grab it later.” Turning, Allie said to Daniel, “We’ll work in my room.” Daniel followed her, and Allie shut the door behind him.

  “They trust me to be alone in your bedroom with you?” he asked.

  “I think they’re pretty confident you’re not my type.”

  “Oh?” he asked, lifting his chin to feign indignation. “And what type is that?”

  “The missed-his-chance-at-being-a-rock-star guy.”

  He took a seat at her desk chair while Allie sat down on the edge of her bed. “Jeez. I was going for the Hell’s-Angels look. It was still too hot and humid outside for my leather jacket.” He gave her a boyish grin. “I feel misjudged. If they looked deeper, they’d realize you and I are meant for each other.”

  Even with his hair greasy and glued back, he was far too clean-cut and handsome for the average biker. She couldn’t kid around with him like this; as soon as they stepped out of the house, their lives would be in jeopardy. “And what about Jake?”

  “Meh. That egghead? Ditch him. He’ll understand.”

  Allie rubbed her forehead. She sensed that Daniel was trying to sound flip, when he was truly hoping she’d break up with Jake for him. “Did Jake tell you his plan for tricking Jennifer at his own expense?” she asked, echoing her mother’s no-nonsense tone of voice.

  “His if-all-else-fails plan, you mean? It won’t come down to that. We can work this whole thing out, Ellie. Allie, I mean. We’re always going to h
ave an edge on McBitch; her ego makes her vulnerable.”

  “I wish I could believe that, but I think her cunningness and determination make her damned near invincible. She’s willing to commit any act imaginable to get what she wants.”

  “We’ll stop her.”

  “I’m afraid that she might have transferred her mind into Mark’s brain. I think she ran down my friend Mike deliberately.”

  “Nah. Jake was telling me about you and Mike after we saw him on his bicycle. But Jennifer couldn’t have even known that the guy was in your junior class, let alone a friend of yours.”

  “All she wants to do is get under Jake’s and my skin. She’s sending us a message that she can get away with anything. It wouldn’t matter to her if I did or didn’t know him. Either way, she could tell he was a student at my school. Who probably just happened to be on his bike at precisely the wrong place and time. That alone could have turned him into her target.”

  Before Daniel could reply, Allie’s cellphone started ringing. She grabbed it and glanced at the screen. “It’s Melissa,” she told Daniel, then answered: “Hello?”

  “Dr. Jones called me,” Melissa said without preamble. “He’s been arrested.”

  “For the hit and run?”

  “Yes. They’ve seized his car as evidence. But he claims he’s innocent. He says he was in his hotel room at the Albany Marriott, and somebody stole his car and left it wherever the police found it...so he’s certain Jennifer stole it.”

  Allie felt her spirits sag at the thought of Jennifer being here in Albany. She looked at Daniel and held his gaze. “Does he have any proof that she’s even in town? Otherwise, his story is going to sound pretty farfetched. Except to those of us who’ve actually dealt with Jennifer, that is.”

  Daniel grimaced at Allie’s mention of their arch enemy, although he wasn’t able to hear Melissa’s side of the conversation.

  “I doubt he has much proof, if any, but he had me convinced.”

  Maybe a surveillance camera in the Marriott parking lot will back up Mark’s story, Allie thought. “Is he in jail?”