Finding Fiona (15 page)

“
Wait, Hannah!” Troy
called.

Fiona jogged down the stairs. When she reached
the bottom, Hannah was out the backdoor already, and Troy was
following her outside.

“
Hannah, wait!” Fiona called,
coming outside.

“
I’ll get her, just stay here,”
Troy said.

“
She doesn’t want to talk to you,”
Fiona said, trying to push past him.

He grabbed her arm. She had a sudden flashback
to the day of the fire and the two men who grabbed her. She saw
their faces in her mind, streaked with smoke, anxious. Neither had
been Troy, and their grips had been much more violent. Still, she
panicked and struck out at Troy, hitting him in the
stomach.

He let go of her, alarmed. “I’m sorry, I
just–”

“
Don’t touch her!” Hannah screamed,
hitting Troy with her purse.

Troy shied away. “Hannah, stop it! Will you
calm down?”

Hannah broke down in sobs and covered her face
with her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I panicked.”

“
I’d never hurt her,” Troy said,
his hands out in front of her. “Fiona, I’d never… I’m sorry. I’m
sorry to both of you. Hannah, please come inside.”

“
I can’t.” She shook her head
frantically. “I need… I need to leave.” She paused, letting out a
shuddering breath. “Troy, will you take me out for
breakfast?”

Fiona stared at her. “Troy?” she said
weakly.

“
Yes.” Hannah wiped her face. “I
think I just need to get out of this house for a while.” She walked
forward and put her hands on Fiona’s shoulders. “Troy and I will go
get something to eat.” She raised her eyebrows at Troy. “Is that
okay?”

Troy sighed. “Yes, of course. Let me get my
wallet.” He walked inside, and Hannah pulled Fiona into a hug. She
smelled like lavender soap, and Fiona closed her eyes as she hugged
her tightly back.

“
You stay here,” Hannah said.
“Don’t do anything crazy, please.”

Fiona pursed her lips. She was going to see
the Alarias, whether Hannah liked it or not.

Hannah pulled away and squeezed Fiona’s
shoulders. “You’ll stay here, right? You’ll be here when we get
back?”

Fiona nodded. She hated lying to her, but
Hannah would try to keep her here.

“
I know this has been a crazy
weekend. I could help you find a new life, if that’s what you
wanted.”

Fiona shook her head. “No, I want to stay
here.”

The backdoor opened, and Troy came back
outside. Hannah dropped her hands. “We’ll be back,” she told
Fiona.

“
Be careful,” Fiona
said.

Hannah smiled and squeezed Fiona’s hand.
“We’ll bring you some pancakes.”

“
Okay.” She watched them get into
Troy’s car, wishing she could say more to Hannah. When would she
see her again? What would happen today when she went to speak to
Greg Alaria?

“
You should get back inside,” Troy
said as he opened his door.

Fiona nodded, backing away. She went in
through the backdoor, taking a deep breath. She walked
upstairs.

James sat up on the couch, bleary-eyed.
“What’s happening?” he asked groggily.

“
Nothing,” Fiona said softly. “You
should go back to sleep.”

He lay down, yawning. “It sounded like Hannah
and Walter were arguing.”

She sat down on top of the coffee table across
from the couch and smoothed down James’s black hair. “They were.
Now they’re going out for breakfast.”

“
Breakfast,” James mumbled, his
eyes closing.

She smiled, filled with affection for him. She
leaned forward and softly kissed him on the forehead. If she
survived today, her relationship with James was one of the main
things she was looking forward to reviving.

She went back to her room and quietly got
dressed in capris and a blue shirt. She picked up her purse and put
in the folder she’d compiled last night, the one she’d take to the
police if she had to.

She moved soundlessly across the top floor,
looking for a pair of car keys. She finally found one on Keith’s
nightstand. He didn’t move a bit. She crept down the steps, her
muscles stiff with the effort to be quiet. She went to the lab and
opened up James’s laptop. It took her a moment to find the security
camera footage, but when she had it, she copied it onto her flash
drive and tucked it into her purse. She also copied over the
article about Daniel’s crash. She searched for files about Remus,
but didn’t find any.

She got on Keith’s laptop, but cursed under
her breath when she saw it was password protected. She found the
microphone for the mp3 player and made sure it worked before
slipping it into her purse.

Fiona walked to the backdoor, her heart
pounding. She paused for a moment, forcing herself to take steady
breaths. She slipped outside quietly and shut the door behind
her.

Fiona assumed Keith’s car was a white truck
parked next to James’s car. She was unlocking the front door when a
car door slammed behind her.

“
Fiona?”

She started and turned around.

Sarah was walking around an old green sedan.
“What are you doing?”

Fiona smiled in what she hoped looked like a
casual manner. “Just getting some breakfast.”

Sarah glanced toward the house. “I’m not
stupid… I could tell last night you didn’t want James to
go.”

“
What are you talking about?” Fiona
unlocked the front door. She had to get out of here before Sarah
woke up James or Keith.

“
Wait,” Sarah said. “Let me take
you.”

“
What?”

“
I’ll take you to Greg Alaria.
That’s where you were going, right?”

“
No, I’m going to the grocery
store,” Fiona said, opening the driver’s door.

Sarah stepped forward and put her hand on the
door. “Let me drive you there. It’s not safe to go by
yourself.”

Fiona hesitated. She swallowed and glanced at
the SUV’s driver’s seat.

“
I’ll take you. I know you need to
see him, to know for yourself.” She paused. “I’m sorry I wasn’t
more helpful last night… I think I’m just shocked to see you alive,
you know? And I wish you remembered me… I’m sorry for…” She trailed
off, then seemed to catch herself. “I’ll take you. Were you going
to go to his house?”

Fiona shook her head. “His fertility clinic,
so there are more people around.”

Sarah glanced at her watch. “When does it
open?”

“
Uh, seven-thirty or
so.”

Sarah nodded and moved away toward her car.
“Well, come on.”

Fiona hesitated again. She locked the door and
shut it, then pocketed the keys. She followed Sarah to her car and
got in the passenger’s seat. She felt a rush of familiarity,
recognizing the dash in front of her and the smell of
cinnamon.

Sarah pulled out of the small
parking lot and got on Elmscott Avenue,
heading north.

“
Oh, we’re supposed to be going
south.” Fiona pulled out the directions she’d written down last
night to Greg Alaria’s fertility clinic in Brooklyn. “Toward
Brooklyn.”

“
This is a shortcut,” Sarah
said.

Fiona noticed the air freshener cutout looped
over the gearshift. Her head rushed as if she’d gone under water
too quickly, and she closed her eyes. Closing her eyes made the
cinnamon smell even stronger, and in an instant, she knew where
she’d smelled it before.

She looked at Sarah, and her brown hair–oh,
god. The memory of being in the car. She looked down at her seat;
between her legs was a small, dark stain.

“
Oh, my god,” she said with a
groan. “It was you.”

Sarah stared at Fiona, her eyes wide. She
quickly changed her expression to one of confusion, but Fiona had
seen the flash of fear.

“
What are you talking about?” Sarah
asked.

“
It was you! Why–what happened?
Where are you taking me?” Fiona demanded. How could she have not
seen it before? She gripped the directions in her hand, the paper
crinkling, nearly tearing under her grip. She shoved them into her
purse to avoid damaging them.

“
I’m taking you back to
Boston.”

“
No, you’re not!” Fiona said. She
turned to her door, planning to jump, but the semitruck in the lane
next to them trapped her in. “What the hell happened? Why did you
have me in the car?”

“
I don’t know what
you’re–”

“
Bullshit!” Fiona yelled. “Tell me
what happened!”

Sarah hesitated, swallowing. “I was trying to
protect you–”

“
Why did you leave me?”

Her eyebrows furrowed as though she might cry,
and the sight of it just made Fiona angrier. “I had to get back to
the Alarias–”

“
What
?” Oh, god, Fiona was going to be
sick. How could they say she was one of her best friends when she
was working with the Alarias? Was she still? Did they know
everything that had happened yesterday?

“
I put a tranquilizer in Greg, and
I wasn’t sure how long it was going to work and–” Sarah looked at
Fiona, and she threw up one of her hands. “Beth, I didn’t know they
were going to kill your parents!”

Fiona saw a red light up ahead, and soon
they’d be on the expressway. She wasn’t going to take any chances.
As much as she wanted answers, what guarantee was there that Sarah
would tell the truth? If she wanted to stay in New York, she needed
to get out now.

“
Don’t leave, please,” Sarah said.
She slowed down, glancing from Fiona to the car in front of them
and back to Fiona.

As soon as they stopped, Fiona threw the door
open and jumped out. She ignored Sarah’s yelling and ran to the
sidewalk. Going back to the house would take too long, and Sarah
would probably call James and Keith. Fiona heard Sarah again and
saw she was out of her car, yelling after her. Fiona took off
running.

She was soon sprinting down the steps of a
subway station, hoping she’d lost Sarah. She pulled out the
directions to the fertility clinic and examined the subway map.
Would Sarah tell the guys where she was going?

Fiona went to the pay phone, punched in Greg
Alaria’s number, and waited for an answer. After a few rings,
someone picked up. “Hello?”

“
Can I speak to Greg
Alaria?”

“
Speaking.”

Fiona paused, closing her eyes. She could hang
up now. She could go back to Elmscott and tell James and Keith
about Sarah. She didn’t have to do this. They could go to Florida;
she could get a fake identity; the Alarias could get away with it
all. What kind of life would that be? Would she always be looking
back to this moment in time, when she had the chance to find out
the truth, to confront the men responsible?

She took a deep breath and said, “This is
Elizabeth Normans.”

After a moment of silence, Greg asked,
“Who?”

“
If you want to know about the
Remus project, meet me at Times Square in forty minutes,” Fiona
said. “I have red hair and a blue shirt. I can show you the scars
on my stomach and the burns on my arm to prove it’s me.”

“
I don’t know what–”

“
In front of the McDonald’s. We
should both be safe from each other there.” She hung up.

Her cell phone started to ring, and she
jumped. It was Sarah. Fiona ignored the call. After examining the
map of the subway, she decided the bus would be easier and
quicker.

She climbed the steps up to ground
level. She didn’t realize she was even holding her breath until
she’d nearly reached the top. Her back to the wall, she glanced
around for Sarah, but Fiona didn’t see her. As she waited for the
bus, James called, then a slightly familiar number that was
probably Keith
.
She silenced her phone. She’d tell them where she was when she
reached Times Square.

Adrenaline pulsing through her veins, she
couldn’t sit down on the bus. Sarah… she couldn’t believe it… or
maybe she could. Sarah tried to blame Mary Alaria and didn’t want
to help with Remus. Had she shown up because the Alarias told her
to? Or of her own will?

Why had Sarah been against the ethics of the
Remus project, but turned around to help the Alarias? Was she
telling the truth when she said she’d been trying to protect her?
If that and the tranquilizer bit with Greg were true, then did Greg
and Daniel know how Fiona got away? What had Sarah told
them?

* * *

Chapter Ten

When she’d last visited Times Square with
Hannah, the place was an affront to her senses–hot dogs cooking,
groups of tourists surrounding her, businessmen yelling on their
cell phones, illuminated signs everywhere. Now, it was too early
for many people. Small crowds congregated through the streets, but
most tourists were just rolling out of bed.