Dying Light (15 page)

“
It’s going to be okay.”
She reads the lines on my face. “We’ll get her back.”

“
I’m so
worried—”

She rubs my back. “I know.”

Nikki wants to kiss and cuddle and
while that is comforting to an extent, I also feel like I can’t sit
still. Maybe a shower would help.

I kiss Nikki’s cheek and climb out of
her lap. “I don’t know if I’ll have another chance to wash my hair.
Better do it before anyone else comes pounding on the
door.”

I gather up my toiletries and the few
things I took from the room before we left Tate Tower. I close
myself in the bathroom. I turn on the shower and exhaust fan but I
don’t get in.

I wish I could hide in here with the
laptop. I want to continue my research, learn more about the
handful of people that Caldwell hasn’t yet managed to kill. But I
don’t want Nikki to ask questions. If it were just Gloria and I, I
would share my secret.

So I let the water run, using the
toilet as a seat as I pull the last composition notebook out of my
bag—the last, because it contains Brinkley’s final entry. It’s not
the research I want to do, but it is important information that
could help us.

I glance over the last page for the
thousandth time, for anything I could have missed. When I find
nothing, I flip back three entries.

I was on the bench when I
saw Sullivan.

He just appeared, his back
to me as he watched the water. The wind was rippling the surface
and the high noon sun made everything shine, even the dingy iron of
the bridge.

“
I was wondering if I’d
ever see you again,” I said. I set my back against the bench and
felt the heat from the wooden planks through my leather
jacket.

“
I wanted to say thank
you,” he said, turning around. He faced me and I got a good look at
him. He squinted against the sun in his eyes, his freckles
scrunching up. I knew immediately that he’d changed. Somehow. “The
camps are actually closed and that’s thanks to you.”

“
I should thank
you
,” I said. “Jackson
still has her brains in her head.”

I try to picture it: Brinkley, Gloria
and Caldwell—working together toward a common goal. Even then
Caldwell was a liar, manipulating Brinkley in order to gain his
help.

I flip the page.

“
I know you have questions
about Maisie. She’s safe. Happy.”

“
You’re her father,” I
said. I sat forward and rested my elbows on my knees. “Her
biological dad.”

“
I wasn’t lying when I
said I met her mother in the camp,” he began. “It’s amazing how
much a man’s feelings can intensify in a place like that. We
avoided sex for months. We were scared of exactly that kind of
thing happening. Georgia—Maisie’s mother— knew having something
happen to her baby would kill her. And it almost did. I didn’t take
Maisie for me. I took her hoping it would heal some broken part of
her mother……We’re together again, and that’s what matters. Georgia
needs her.”

I read this paragraph again. And
again.

Maisie.

The fact that Caldwell mentioned
Maisie to Jesse means she is no secret. He is going to use Maisie
somehow, use her like he uses everyone to get what he wants. I’m
not worried Jesse will have a soft spot for the girl. Jesse doesn’t
do well with kids as a rule, and a sixteen year old is probably
even less cuddly than a six year old. But the idea that Maisie
somehow fits into this, another innocent girl, makes me
nervous.

I close the composition notebook and
test the water to see if it’s warm enough to do my hair at
least.

I strip down and step into the stream.
The image of Brinkley and Caldwell talking by the water replays in
my mind. I’m more than a little irritated at Nikki. It isn’t her
fault. She can’t be blamed for the inconvenience she’s
causing.

I know exactly what Brinkley would say
to all this—all my pointless obsessing and attempts to prepare for
a future I can’t predict.

Hindsight is 20/20,
kid.

And he’s right. Why obsess
about hypotheticals? Soon enough, I’ll know exactly how
this
will
end.

Jesse

“I
f you want to leave, you’ll have to let me touch you,”
Caldwell says for the billionth time.

“
Uh,
nope
.” I’ve got Winston in my arms,
belly up like a baby. I refuse to let him run around this prison
cell, lest Caldwell decide he is going to snatch him up again.
Lucky for me, Winston likes to be cradled like a baby, or this
would get old quick.

“
I’ve told you what you
need to know,” he says. “Now you understand the gravity of the
situation. Let me return you to your friends.”

“
Do you think I’m a
complete moron?” I ask. “The last time you transported me, you used
Liza’s snappy power and knocked me out. Who knows what you’ll try
to use on me the second time.”

“
I
told
you.” Caldwell’s voice strains
with the tension. “I only wanted you to meet your sister. You’ve
met her and you understand what I have to offer. We don’t have a
lot of time left. We should make amends and be a family while we
still can.”

“
You know, this whole
sales pitch would work better if you weren’t grinning like an axe
murderer.”

Caldwell laughs. Throws his head back
and laughs like he’s having the best time in the world.

“
Yeah, see. Your crazy is
showing.”

I’m brushing off his remarks, but the
truth is, he’s hit a chord. A family. Yes, I do want one. I’ve
wanted one since I was eight and Eric Sullivan—Caldwell—dropped out
of my life. What I got instead was a rapist stepdad, a shitty
childhood, and the tumultuous life as a death replacement
agent.

“
You can’t just take it
all back,” I tell him.

“
I can. That’s what I’m
trying to make you understand, Jesse. I
can
take it all back.”

It’s like someone has kicked me in the
chest. “I’m not going to let you brainwash me.”

“
Your death replacing has
already erased some of the worst memories. Why not let me take the
rest? In exchange, I can give you Maisie and Georgia—and me. We
wouldn’t have to fight anymore. We could be on the same
side.”

My jaw drops. “What kind of new
mindfuckery is this?”

But even as I say it, my heart aches.
I want it. I can’t deny that I want it.

He steps toward me, little more than a
silhouette in front of the great window. “Let me prove it to you.
Let’s kill Jason together.”

“
Uh, no. Jeremiah couldn’t
make me kill him, and I sure as hell won’t let you make
me.”

A flicker of frustration
screws up his face before he regains his calm. “He’s hunting your
friends now. We have to protect them. I will let
you
absorb his gift.
Just let me prove to you that we are on the same team.”

“
I am not sure Team Jesse
T-shirts and a Team Jesse parade will prove anything at this
point.” I say, but he’d hit another nerve.
He’s hunting your friends.

Gabriel
?

Gabriel tries to appear, but only the
scent of rain bleeds through. I wish I could understand why he
can’t be clear around Caldwell, but I can’t expect Gabriel to
explain that to me. He can’t even explain why grape flavoring
doesn’t taste like grapes. Useless.

Is Jason hunting them? Are
Ally and Gloria in danger now?

Yes
.

“
Let me prove it to you,”
Caldwell says.

“
Put on
gloves.”

He arches an eyebrow.
“What?”

“
Put on thick snow gloves
so you can’t snap. Hell, mummy wrap your hands actually. Call your
offspring in here and have her wrap medical tape around your hands.
Then when no one else is in the room—no one for you to command to
kill or sedate me—I want to search your pockets for sedatives. Only
then will I let you take me
and
Winston somewhere.”

His eyes narrow. “Paranoia doesn’t
suit you.”

I shrug for added nonchalance. “Take
it or leave it.”

“
We can’t take the
pug.”

“
I said—”

“
Do you really think it is
wise to bring a pug to a firefight?”

I look down at the little squished
face in my arms. He has a point.

“
He’ll be safe with
Maisie.”

“
No, no,
no
,” I say. “That means
I have to come back here.”

“
You’re safest here. We
all are.”

“
Winston.” Maisie calls
from her room down the hall. Winston hears her and squirms in my
arms. “Winnie Pug, come here boy.”

It’s either set him down or let him
fall and break a hip. I put him on the floor and the little traitor
runs down the hall toward the thin sliver of light coming from
Maisie’s door. He nudges it open wider with his nose. Her voice
breaks into a sing-song chorus.

I turn back to find Caldwell
smiling.

“
You did that didn’t you?
You like mind-melded and told her to call him.”

“
Jason is going to kill
your friends, and I’m offering to help you. Do you want my help or
not? Last chance.”

Gabriel’s shadow flickers in the
corner.

Is he going to kill me and
leave my body to freeze in Lake Michigan?

No.

Why should I believe
anything you say? You set me up to die in the first place. All of
this is your fault.

He says nothing to this, or his words
are drowned out by Caldwell’s approach. I keep my shield up,
shimmering in place.

Caldwell stops short of me, looking
down on me with a really good imitation of fatherly
concern.

“
Let me help you.”
Caldwell grins like I’m about to sign over a blank check. “I have
so much to make up for.”

I snort.

I think of Ally running for her life,
and Jason as indestructible as they come, trying to beat her half
to death—just like Caldwell did.

I meet his eyes. “Wrap your hands and
we have a deal.”

Ally

“F
uck!”

Gloria’s yell jolts me awake. I come
to a sitting position with a sharp intake of breath.

Nikki is already on her feet with her
gun. “Grab your bag.” She slides my bag across the floor toward me.
She’s already packed it up.

I stand and pull on each of my boots
with a tug. “What’s going on?”

“
Jason is here. He’s
beating the hell out of the keypad outside, trying to get into the
building.”

Gloria opens the window and turns back
to face me. “Remember what I said about parachute
jumping?”

“
What
?” I’m trying to bring the world into focus despite the
frightful thrashing of my heart, but I’m still half wrapped in
dreams. On instinct my hand goes to my bag, but my laptop is closed
and screen locked, and Brinkley’s papers are
undisturbed.

Gloria lifts her cast covered leg and
sticks it out of the window.

“
Are you sure this is a
good idea?” I ask.

Her legs are out of the window and
after a precarious moment of balancing on the window sill, she
jumps through. A heartbeat later, I hear a soft thud of feet
connecting with earth.

I stick my head out of the window,
sucking in the cold air. Gloria pulls herself to standing. She
looks like she’s putting even more weight on her uninjured leg, but
otherwise, is moving okay.

The apartment’s door handle rattles.
Then fists pound at the front door.

“
Go on.” Nikki puts a hand
on her back. “I’ll help lower you down.”

On the ground, Gloria motions for me
to hurry. I take a deep breath and sling my legs over the lip of
the window. Nikki grabs onto my arms, forearms clasped with mine,
and begins to lower me down. My toes stretch, desperate to find
earth beneath them, but I’m too high up. The side of the brick
building scratches at my jacket, smearing dead leaves and dirt
along my side.

I look up to see Nikki patiently
holding my arms. “Put your legs together and let go. As soon as you
feel the ground touch your toes, bend your knees. Okay?”

I let go and fall.

I slam the ground, rolling to the side
as a sharp pain shoots up my hip.

Gloria helps me to my feet. I lean on
her, testing my weight on my feet. My ankle hurts, but it isn’t so
bad. I’ve had worse.

I turn at the sound of Nikki’s feet
connecting with the ground. Just as she does, Jason sticks his head
out the window above. Then he’s trying to climb out the window
after us.