There wasn’t just a ghost or two hanging out in my room. There were twenty women, and I didn’t recognize a soul, but I did recognize their dresses.
I sat in terror as they inched closer ready to bolt from the room. Each looked ready to attack me as if I were the one who’d taken their lives. I scooted back on the bed and flinched when the first one reached for me. Her hand disappeared from sight through the comforter. The bedding lifted as if a small dog was moving beneath when I felt the grip of icy fingers sending a chill around my ankle, and then all of the others lunged at the same time. I’d opened my mouth to scream when the door flew open as if on a gust of wind, and the ghostly appearance of another person I recognized floated in.
The cop. The other blood donor that I was tied to, only she wasn’t dead. She was more solid than the others in a way I’d never be able to explain. She was alive but somehow floating in my room. I would have felt the disconnect and her void had she too been dead.
Her lips moved, speaking words I couldn’t hear. First, two vengeful-looking ghosts disappeared and then the remainder until it was only her and me. She stared at me as if trying to commit my face to memory before she slowly dissipated and vanished from sight.
My eyes truly did pop open, and my heartbeat raced. It was just a vision. A dream, only it felt vivid and real.
Ford was sitting next to me on the bed. A worried look filled his eyes.
I pinched his arm.
“Ow,” he said, rubbing the spot.
I pinched my own next and reveled in the quick pain. Okay. It was official; this time, I was awake.
“You were dreaming.” He leaned closer.
I rested my hand over my racing heart. “The ghosts attacked me.”
“So, you pinched me because you thought I was a ghost?”
“No, I was making sure you were real and I was awake.”
“Ghosts attacking is a new one, even for you.”
“The cop saved me.”
“Which cop? Asher?” Ford asked.
I shook my head. “No, the other blood donor. The female cop. She saved me.”
“Lucy, you aren’t making any sense. Maybe you hit your head harder than we thought. That cop wasn’t the medium who donated blood. It was the other woman, and as far as we know, neither of them is dead.”
“I know that.” Well, at least I thought I did. I sat up.
I understood his confusion. When I’d been near death after being near an explosion, I’d received three units of blood. One was a killer; one was a housewife medium who dressed in flowered skirts, had kids, and did psychic readings out of her home; and the last donor was a female cop. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe just this once it was just a dream and you were merging everything in your mind,” he said, leaning over and kissing me.
“Maybe,” I said, willing the thoughts aside. “What time is it?” I asked, latching my arms around his neck and rolling him until he, too, was lying on the bed.
His face softened as he kissed me nice and slow. “I was asked to wake you. The doctor wants to see you today. He’s got your results back and wants you to come in.”
“Okay, just let me take a shower and make some coffee.” I climbed off the bed. He linked his fingers behind his head and stayed lying down. “I was also asked to warn you that Gigi is on her way, and she’s not happy.”
I wouldn’t be either if my sister was almost run over and then arrested. “How much did Grant tell her about yesterday?”
“I’m afraid it’s worse than that,” Ford said, sitting up. “She heard about the doctor visit, and she’s not happy that she didn’t hear about it from you.”
“For the love of all that’s holy, what the heck was Grant thinking to tell her that crap before I had answers? I’m going to kill him,” I mumbled under my breath as I grabbed clothes and walked into the bathroom.
“I’m sure he didn’t even have a choice. You would have beaten the information out of me,” Ford called out from the other side of the door.
I chuckled. Ford knew me well. I might not have beaten him, but I would have found other ways to torture the guy if he’d been withholding vital information about my sister.
Ford was right. Grant hadn’t had a choice.
I showered and changed and walked out to find my sister coming out of the kitchen with two plates of French toast. The heavenly aroma of bacon wafted through the air.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
“I sent them out on errands.” Gigi set both plates on the table and then gestured for me to sit. “Sit down and eat. You have plenty of time.”
I slid into the seat when she returned with orange juice. A new cell phone box was sitting next to my plate. “You got me a new phone?”
“No, that was Sam. He said he keeps…spares. It’s already programmed with your contacts.” Her answer was short and clipped.
“Listen, Gigi, I was going to tell you about the appointment when I had a diagnosis or more information.”
“You were trying to shield me. It’s what you do,” Gigi said, pouring syrup over her French toast and then handing it to me. She was scary when she was quiet and not yelling. I much preferred she scream at me.
We licked the syrup from our fingers at the same time.
“I just knew you’d want answers that I can’t give you yet. You understand, right?” I asked.
She speared her French toast a little harder than was necessary. “Lucy, you know how this works. As your sister, your twin, if you go through it, so do I. I mean, come on, Lucy. Did you think I was too weak to take the news? Poor little Gigi can’t handle it? What if it’s terminal, Lucy? What if they end up locking you up again because you go out of your damn mind?”
Tears welled in Gigi’s eyes. She was scared and hurt, and I couldn’t blame her. If the roles were reversed, I’d be doing a lot more yelling than this.
I set my fork down and laid my hand over hers. “I love you, and whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together.”
A tear slipped free and slid down Gigi’s face. “You promise?”
“Win or lose, we’re in this together.”
“I’m not going to break, Lucy.”
“I know. I know you’re not weak, Gigi. You’re strong, like me.”
She gave a resolute nod. “Now tell me all about Sebastian Elliot and how you plan to kill him.”
“He’s the worst kind of evil,” I said, picking up my bacon and taking a bite. Most people might lose their appetite just from knowing evil like that existed in the world. Not me. It spurred me on and made me determined. I gobbled everything from my plate while I told my sister all about the psychopath residing in my head.
“He had to have grown into the monster that he is. His childhood should show signs of his need to harm.”
I smiled around my orange juice. “You’re right. I need to go back to his beginning to even understand him. Gigi, he’s smarter than the others.”
“Then we’ll up our game. Let me do some research. I’ll connect the dots.”
“Gigi, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You aren’t asking, and I am doing it,” Gigi said. “Besides, between us, I’m the bookworm. I’m good at research.”
I leaned over, hugging her neck. “Have I told you that you’re the best-est sister ever?”
She patted my arm for me to release her. Her look turned serious. “I won’t lose you because this psychopath is still breathing and inside your head.”
“I have no intention of letting him win,” I said, picking up my plate and taking it to the kitchen. The prick wouldn’t get away with murder, especially mine.
Chapter 14
Grant escorted me back inside the non-descript office that housed the program’s doctor. My first trip to see Dr. Cline the other day was much different from this one. The day they’d done the tests and taken my blood, everything and everyone working in this building had been run like a well-organized drive-thru at a fast-food chicke
n-and-biscuit restaurant. I’d signed in, and then my chart was passed off to the nurse, who did most of the tests for the doctor.
Today everything was in chaos. The counter staff argued with patients. Office staff scrambled to locate files. Some patients were pacing and others on their phones. Just being within these walls made my anxiety-ridden nerves itch.
I glanced at Grant. “This looks like it may be awhile.”
“I’ll get you checked in and then go outside to call Noah for updates.”
I gave a slow nod as we approached the desk. I signed in and was met with a frown from a woman holding a phone against her ear. She covered the receiver with her palm. “Dr. Bray, I’m sorry, but we’re running behind.”
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes. No.” The woman sighed and hung up. “One of our nurses didn’t show up today, and we can’t seem to get ahold of her.”
My heart stuttered as I glanced around for my nurse from the other day, who was nowhere to be seen. “Is it Nurse Williams?”
“Yeah.” The woman sighed. “Don’t worry, her absence won’t affect you. You’re seeing the doctor in his office today.”
“Great, I’ll just take a seat, and you can call me when you’re ready.”
“Thanks for your patience. I wish everyone was as kind.”
Kind. Ha. If she even knew.
I turned and walked across the room to the seats overlooking the parking lot. Grant paced in front of the building with the phone pressed against his ear. I fired off a text to Sam, thanking him for the replacement phone. I’d been too busy since almost getting run over to even think about getting a new one.
The phone rang in my hand before I could hit Send.
“Hello,” I whispered.
“Lucy. I tried to stop them,” Emily whispered. “They’re coming our way.”
“Who is?” I asked, feeling a bit of panic rise in my chest. I knew the answer, and yet I still had to ask.
“All of my sisters. I told them we could handle it. Hell, even Asher agrees, but you know my sisters.”
I lowered my head and rubbed my temples before blurting out, “Tell them it’s a wasted trip. I won’t even be here, so there is no danger.”
“What? Where are you going?”
“Out of town,” I said, tossing my hand up in the air in frustration. “I’m going to do some background research on the psychopath, so there is no reason for them to come all this way. I don’t plan to even be in town. Tell them I appreciate the gesture, though.”
My new-found sisters-in-law were a force to be reckoned with, and I was thankful they were on my side. But the last thing I needed was more people getting involved.
I didn’t lie, not really. I just decided in that one minute that I needed to get smarter than Sebastian, and that meant learning everything there was to know about the guy. Yeah, that was it. I’d be leaving town. Of course, my ex-sisters-in-law might not buy it, but I was leaving. Well, I would be leaving, just as soon as I could get things situated.
“I’ll pass on the message, but they aren’t going to be happy.”
“Tell them I promise to call the next time someone is trying to kill me.”
The woman sitting next to me raised her brow and scooted a little farther away as if she could catch my psycho-sickness.
I pretended to sneeze in her direction. “Pardon me.”
She gasped and then got up and moved to the other side of the room just as the door to the inner sanctum opened and a nurse, looking down at her chart, called my name.
People sitting nearby sighed. I even heard one woman say…”Seriously? She just got here.”
I smiled and winked as I rose from my seat. “My psycho-sickness must be contagious.”
“Your what?” Emily asked.
“Listen, I’ve got to go, but I’ll check in later,” I said.
“See that you do,” Emily said in a singsong voice that told me there would be repercussions if I didn’t.
I was led into the doctor’s office, only he wasn’t seated behind his desk. “Just have a seat, and he’ll be with your shortly.”
I didn’t sit. I was too anxious about the results to just sit and wait, so instead, I walked around the office and stared at the diplomas hanging on the wall along with various pictures of family and proud moments. A plastic skeleton stood in the corner holding up a sign that says ‘My doc knows me inside and out’. On the floor next to it was a dead plant.
I was headed toward the window to check out the view when I spotted my name on a file sitting on his desk. I grabbed it and sat down in the doctor’s chair and opened to my test results.
I lifted my feet to rest on the doctor’s desk and crossed them at the ankle.
Twenty minutes later, I was on the third page and still trying to make sense out of what I was reading, to no avail. I probably shouldn’t have bothered.
The door opened, and Dr. Cline stepped in. He shot a pointed stare at the folder in my hand.
I lowered the file. “Don’t worry Doc, it’s just my file. I didn’t snoop through the others.”
“I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.” He raised his brow and shoved my feet off his desk.
My feet landed with a thud. I rose then took a seat on the other side of the desk. “You guys need to learn to write more legibly. I couldn’t read a damn thing.”
His lips twitched. “Did you ever consider that is the main reason our penmanship is awful…because of patients that snoop?”
“Did they teach you to write in hieroglyphics in med school, because I must have missed that class.”
“Yes, it was the same day they taught us the secret handshake.”
I chuckled. The old man had a sense of humor. “Well done, Dr. Cline. I’m impressed with your snappy comeback.”
“Yes, well, it wasn’t very professional of me. I apologize. I’m just a bit frazzled without Nurse Williams. I didn’t realize she ran such a tight ship. This is the first time ever she just hasn’t shown up for work. Excuse me a moment,” he said and picked up the phone, punching in numbers with the phone on speaker. Several rings ticked by before Nurse Williams’ answering machine clicked on. “Betty, this is Dr. Cline. Please call me back.”
“You say this is very out of character for her?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. Absolutely,” he said with worry in his voice.
I slid my phone out of my pocket. “Do you have her address?”
“I’m afraid I can’t give you that. It’s confidential.”
“Oh well, you don’t have to give it to me, but I know a detective with the police department. I can have him do a welfare check.”
“Really?” The doctor’s voice turned hopeful.
“Absolutely.” I dialed Asher’s number, told him what was going on, then handed my phone to Dr. Cline. They spoke for several minutes before Cline gave him the address.
Dr. Cline thanked him profusely even though his cheeks were turning a light shade of pink. “I’ll be embarrassed if they find she’s okay, and just taking a personal day.”
He handed me back the phone. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” I said, sitting forward and gesturing to my file. “So, tell it to me straight, Doc. Am I going to live, die, or spend the rest of my life in the loony bin?”
Chapter 15
“That remains to be seen,” Dr. Cline said, reopening my file. “Your tests indicate a few similar markers with the other participants, but yours is still unique in that your DNA markers have indeed changed. It’s unusual, to say the least.”
“Explain,” I said, clasping my hands together.
“You know about the eye color, but what I’m guessing you didn’t know is that your blood type has also changed.”
“How is that possible?” I asked. “Doesn’t blood regenerate every so often? Why hasn’t mine reverted back to being just me?”
“My theory is the governmental program you were in.”
I sat back in the chair, and my
mind started racing with the implications. “If that’s the case, then, technically, the experimental drug that was used on me might start to become obsolete since the donors’ blood wasn’t tainted?”
“We won’t know for sure. Just keep in mind that it’s still a possibility that your toppings might change over time.”
I lowered my head and clenched my eyes closed. So, I wasn’t going to die just yet, but I might change more?
I lifted my head. “So, let me ask you another question. The blood donors I had are just kind of stuck in my head. They shouldn’t morph any more than what they have, is that right?”
“Technically, I believe so as long as you don’t absorb any more of their blood.”
“And my hunting abilities? Are they still intact?”
“I can only guess. There were markers in your DNA that the government, for lack of better terms, activated in order for it to work in the beginning. I could only venture to guess that it will continue to work, but you just might not want it to.”
Dr. Cline sighed. “Lucy, it’s possible more than just your eye color will change.”
“How? Like what?”
“You might start craving foods you’ve always hated. You might remember childhood memories that aren’t your own. You might experience things that you can’t explain. It may appear like you’re losing your mind.”
My heart clenched tight at the thought. I felt like I was already losing my mind. “How do we fix me?”
“Unless you have a clone, then I’m not sure it’s possible, and even if you did have a clone where you could do a blood transfusion, then you might lose the ability that you’ve obtained through the military program. Your hunting skills might never work again.”
“I’d be…normal?”
“Yes, but, Lucy, last I checked, you don’t have a clone.”
I rose from my seat. “So, is that it, Doc?”
“Continue to use the meds to counteract your headaches and let me know if they grow worse. Until we get this situated, I’m going to suggest to your handlers and Agent Roth that you no longer participate in the hunts for the time being.”
Broken Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 6) Page 6
