Finding Fiona (3 page)

“
The police!”

“
They won’t believe us.”

She huffed with frustration. “Why not?”

James took a deep breath. “Read the journal.
Look up the fire and the Normans’s and call me tonight. We’ll work
something out.”

“
I can’t believe it,” she said,
shaking her head. “Is this—is this some kind of joke?”

“
No, I’m telling the truth. I’m
sorry. . .it’s all really complicated.”

She opened the journal on her lap. “Fine.
I’ll read it here.”

James stared at her, then slowly nodded.
“Okay.”

On the first page, her own handwriting
greeted her:
This journal belongs to
Elizabeth Normans.
She ran her fingers over the
ink.

Her phone vibrated again, and she swore. It
was a text from Troy telling her he was coming to the library. “Of
course,” she muttered.

“
Hannah’s boyfriend?” James
asked.

“
Yes. He’ll freak if he finds out I’m
in a car with you.” She paused. “Are you going back to New
York?”

“
Yeah, I am.” He looked at his watch.
“I don’t want to leave you, but I need to go home and see about
things. You’ll read the journal, right?”

“
If that’s the only way I’m going to
get answers.” Fiona wanted to press him, but he seemed intent on
staying quiet. “Let me get your phone number.”

They exchanged numbers. Part of her wanted
to demand he take her back home to New York, but no matter what
instinct told her, she still didn’t know him. She didn’t know if
she could trust him, especially since he was keeping something from
her.

“
I’m sorry,” he said again. “I wish
you could come with me. I wish I could tell you, but like I said,
you wouldn’t believe me.”

“
Try me.”

“
Just read the journal.”

Fiona sighed. “Fine.” She opened her
door.

James touched her arm before she stepped
out. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

She half-smiled, though she was still unsure
about everything. “I’m glad we found each other today.”

His hand fell away from her arm. “Be
careful.”

“
I’m going to call you tonight.” She
paused. “And if I find out this is a fake number or something, I’ll
call the police and tell them who I am.”

“
It’s not a fake number,” James said
firmly.

She didn’t want to get out of the car. She
worried that if she walked away, she might never see him again. But
Troy was coming, and she didn’t want to explain this to him. She’d
read the journal and call James as soon as she was done. If he
didn’t answer, she would call the police. She had a name, a lead,
and a direction. A hope. That was so much more than what she’d had
that morning when she woke up. “I’m going now.”

“
Be careful,” James told her again as
she got out of the car.

“
Bye,” Fiona said. She shut the door
and gave a small wave before turning away. She headed back for the
cafe. Before she turned the corner, she glanced over her shoulder.
James watched her in the windshield, and he waved.

She rushed to the restaurant where they’d
eaten lunch, eager to read the journal. She found a booth in the
back of their coffee shop and texted Troy to tell him where she
was. Her hands shaking, she opened the journal.

A strip of photos was taped to the second
page, the kind one got from a photo booth. She—oh, god, was it
really her?—and James were kissing, laughing, making faces, and
smiling in black and white. Her head rushed as she had a sudden
memory of being in that photo booth. She closed her eyes, hearing
James’s laugh, seeing their delayed image on the screen in front of
them.

On the opposite page was her first
entry.

February 15th

James got me this journal for Valentine’s
Day! It’s so soft, I love it. We went out for dinner and then went
ice skating. The rink should be gone soon, so I’m glad he took me.
And look what we got at the photo booth! I was going to stay the
night at his apartment, but we both had to work today. No
Valentine’s action. Just kidding, I’ll live.

My parents finally let me in on The Remus
Project. I could never have guessed THIS is what they were working
on during all those anonymous jobs. They think I’ll be ‘a valuable
asset to research’!! Man, if I could tell my AP Physics friends
what I’m doing now!

I should go eat something, I’m hungry!

The Remus Project. . .was that
what the Alarias wanted? Was it the human replication project
they’d written about in the article? She turned the page and read
another entry.

March 4th

Oh, man, I’ve been so
tired lately. I’ve got finals coming up for all
five
of my classes. What was I
thinking? My first year in college and I have no social life. Well,
I have James, Keith, Sarah, and Faith. That’s all. But they’re
pretty great. The best friends I could ask for.

Besides finals, my parents
and I are working on Remus. It’s intense work. Stuff I have
never
seen before. I’ve
learned so much over the past few weeks.

So, with finals, Remus, and friends, I’ve
had an average of five hours of sleep a night over the last week! I
think I’m going to go to bed.

A knock on her table made Fiona jump. She
slammed the journal shut. Troy stood by the booth, frowning. “Was
your phone off or something?”

Fiona shoved the journal under her purse—she
didn’t feel like explaining anything to Troy—and pulled out her
phone. “Oh, would you look at that. I’m so popular. I did text
you.”

Troy nodded to her lap. “What’s that?”

“
A journal I bought in the bookshop a
couple stores over.” Fiona shrugged.

“
Another dream journal? You fill up
your last one?”

“
No, but this one was pretty,” she
said, placing it on the table. “And soft.”

Troy looked at it for a moment and shrugged.
“I’m going to get a coffee.”

Fiona frowned, wishing he’d go back to
whatever he was doing before. It’d definitely look weird if she
opened a newly bought journal to reveal dozens of pages filled with
her handwriting. While his back was turned at the checkout stand,
she peeked at the third entry.

March 16th

It’s Mom’s birthday today! Dad and I took
her out for Indian food like we do every year. Dad got her these
gorgeous diamond earrings. I’m pretty much broke, but I bought her
a new purse from the flea market. It’s purple and shimmery and I
think it’d look perfect with that lavender top she’s always
wearing.

Fiona had to stop and take a deep breath. A
couple weeks ago, Hannah took Fiona to an Indian restaurant. The
smell of the curry, the taste of the chicken, and the sizzling
sounds from the kitchen—all of them had triggered deep emotions
inside Fiona. She’d had to go to the bathroom to fight back
unexplained tears and splash her face with water. She’d
simultaneously wanted to run from the place screaming and stay to
try to figure out the reason for her reaction.

The entry continued:

Spring break is coming up, but I
don’t have any huge plans. The Remus project is so fascinating, I
might just stay in the lab all week! If James lets me. He says I
work there too much. I do miss him (and sunlight) when I’m there
too long, but I feel like we’re really making progress.

Troy returned to the table, and Fiona shut the
journal, trying to look casual although her heart was pounding.
Troy’s face was tense as he sat down. “What time is it? The sooner
we get back to Boston, the better.”

“
Why are you in such a hurry?”
Fiona asked.

Troy stared at the table, shrugging. “I just
want to get out of here.”

Fiona looked at her watch. “Well, Hannah
should be out of her meeting in half an hour.” She sighed. A whole
half hour before she could read the journal. She pulled out her
book instead and managed to get a few pages read, but her thoughts
kept returning to the new knowledge she’d just come
upon.

When Hannah returned, Troy and Fiona were
eager to leave. Hannah asked if they wanted to visit the farmer’s
market, but Fiona was tired and wanted to get home. Troy said he
had to work the next morning and needed get home at a decent
time.

“
Well, it’s only four,” Hannah
said, “but if you’re both tired…”

On the ride back, Fiona hid the journal behind
the cover of her book. Troy kept trying to start a conversation,
but after a few rebuffs, he gave up and they drove to the sound of
the oldies station Hannah loved. It made for a strange soundtrack
to the journal: the Supremes, Frank Sinatra, and Patsy Cline. She
completely lost herself in Elizabeth’s life.

* * *

Chapter Three

The next few entries of Elizabeth’s journal
spoke about spring break, most of which she spent in the lab
working hard with her parents. Her friend Sarah started working as
an assistant in the lab, which led to a fight over the Remus
Project. Whatever the project was, Sarah didn’t like it, and
Elizabeth got annoyed when she wouldn’t stop arguing with her about
it.

She wrote at least a paragraph about James in
every entry: what they did together, romantic things James had
done, their plans. It was clear how much she felt for him, and
Fiona now understood why she’d reacted the way she had when she
first saw him.

As much as Elizabeth wrote about it, she never
said what Remus was. From what Fiona could tell, her parents had
been working on it for over a year; Sarah thought it was unethical;
and James and their friends Keith and Faith didn’t know about it.
Elizabeth used her lab at school occasionally because she liked
working on it between classes. Secrecy surrounded it.

When the summer came, Elizabeth’s parents
asked her to limit her time in the lab to only fifteen hours a
week. Elizabeth wasn’t happy about this, but she got a part-time
job at a five-star hotel as a receptionist. She talked about
sneaking James into a room and the two of them making out before a
maid came in and found them.

They reached Hannah’s house before Fiona
finished reading through the journal. Troy said he would stay and
help Hannah with dinner, so Fiona went straight to her
room.

Hannah had fixed up her guest room just for
Fiona. All of Fiona’s possessions could be thrown into a few boxes:
her books, a few movies, half a dresser of clothes. Almost all of
them were from Hannah. Fiona flopped down on the bed and felt a
surge of gratefulness for Hannah before returning to Elizabeth’s
journal.

September 2nd

Back to school! I’m rooming with
Faith again, yay! Sarah and I are in hardly any classes together,
but that’s okay. We kind of made up recently. I did miss her this
summer, but I think the distance is better. If we spend too much
time together, we end up fighting. She’s only working at the lab
every now and then. I think that’s better, too. If she doesn’t
agree with what’s going on, why support it?

Keith and James got hired at the
resort in Virginia. It sucks, it’s so far away! I can’t believe
they’re taking the year off. They’ll probably never get back in,
but whatever, it’s their lives. James is excited, though. He said
going straight from high school to college wasn’t a good idea for
him. This resort is pretty nice, but we’ll only see each other like
once a month. We can talk or the phone or video chat, but that’s
not really the same.

Elizabeth and James carried on long distance
until December, when he and Keith moved back to New York. She
thought James was different, and although Keith stuck by him,
Elizabeth suspected he might be cheating on her.

One entry caught Fiona’s eye, and she reread
it numerous times.

January 10th

Wow, Greg Alaria actually showed
up at the house yesterday. I was home alone, and he just walked
inside, pushing me out of the way! I told him I’d call the cops,
and he looked like he didn’t even care. Then Mom showed up. She was
livid. I haven’t heard her yell that loud since I wrecked the car
in senior year. He finally left, but they fought forever. He said
he’s going to sue them for “intellectual property theft.” She said
all the research was hers and Dad’s anyway, and they couldn’t prove
anything belonged to him and Daniel. He gave me the creepiest smile
before he left. I need to start carrying around pepper
spray.

Dad was pissed, too. He wants to
get a restraining order. We already had to block their number. I
told James, and now he’s talked Kevin into teaching me and Sarah
some self-defense moves. Not a bad idea, I guess. Ugh, I get the
chills just thinking about being alone with that guy.

Elizabeth only mentioned the brothers a few
times before and after that, saying their harassment was annoying.
Fiona soaked the words in. Had their desire for the Remus project
driven them to murder?

Elizabeth and James broke up at the beginning
of February. Elizabeth felt like she couldn’t trust him, and James
had changed. She finally talked about Remus for the first time
since her entries in November.

February 6th

I woke up today, and the first
thing I thought of was calling James and telling him I wanted to
get back together. I miss him. But who am I kidding?