Finding Fiona (7 page)

“
It doesn’t make sense,” Hannah
said. “You looked them up and one’s a professor, the other’s a
doctor. I can’t believe they’d kill your family.”

Fiona’s phone rang. She dropped the shirt she
was holding and rushed to answer it. “James,” she said with
relief.

“
Hey,” he said, “I’m reading the
article online.”

Fiona groaned. “It’s online?”

“
This is the twenty-first
century.”

Fiona couldn’t help smiling. “Very funny… are
you still convinced it was the Alarias?”

“
Look, I know you have no reason to
believe me–”

“
I think I believe you,” Fiona
said. Hannah crossed her arms, clearing her throat. “Hannah
doesn’t.”

“
What? You told her?”

“
She deserved to know.”

James swore. “Can I come over? We need to do
something.”

“
Can James come over?” Fiona asked
Hannah.

Hannah let out an exasperated sound. “Fine. I
need to cancel my eleven o’clock appointment. I want to meet this
guy.”

“
You don’t have to stay home,”
Fiona said.

Hannah ignored her, walking out of the
bedroom.

“
Okay,” Fiona told James, “when
will you be here?”

“
Half hour, at the
most.”

“
A half hour? How fast do you
drive?”

“
I got a hotel room in Boston,” he
said quietly. “I was worried about you.”

Fiona smiled, grateful he couldn’t see her
blush. “I thought you had to see about the Alarias.”

“
Well… I couldn’t really see about
them overnight, could I?”

“
I guess not,” she said. “I’ll see
you soon, then.”

* * *

Chapter Five

When Fiona went downstairs, Troy was eating
cereal and chuckling at some improv comedy show on TV.

“
You don’t have work today?” Fiona
asked. He worked at a pharmacy, but to her, it seemed like he was
hardly ever there.

“
Nope,” Troy said, a drop of milk
dribbling down his chin.

Hannah came down the stairs, wringing her
hands. “Fiona, when is he coming over?”

Fiona glanced at the clock. “Half an
hour.”

Her brow furrowed, Hannah opened her mouth to
say something when Troy spoke.

“
Who?” He turned to face
them.

Fiona and Hannah exchanged glances. Hannah
smiled tightly at him. “Troy… do you mind… well, listen, Fiona and
I have some things we have to do this morning, and
well…”

Fiona rolled her eyes. Couldn’t she just spit
it out? She gritted her teeth, choosing to remain silent. She had
enough on her mind without another argument with Troy.

Troy looked from Hannah to Fiona, his eyes
narrowing. “What’s going on?”

“
I’ll explain later, okay?” Hannah
said.

Troy stood up and walked to the kitchen. “All
right, fine. I can tell when I’m not wanted.” Hannah watched him
with a worried look as he rinsed out his bowl and put away the milk
and cereal. Troy didn’t usually pick up after himself; Fiona could
tell he was just stalling. He crossed his arms. “Is this about that
article?”

How much of their conversation had he heard?
She couldn’t imagine what he’d think about human replication. “It’s
none of your business,” she said. “Could you go now?”

“
I told you it wasn’t a good idea,”
Troy said.

“
Come on, Troy,” Hannah said. “This
is something between me and Fiona.”

He glared at them before stalking out of the
kitchen. “Let me get my stuff from upstairs.”

Fiona made a face at his back, and Hannah
slapped her on the shoulder. “Grow up,” she said.

Fiona huffed, rubbing the spot where Hannah
had hit her. It wasn’t her fault the guy was so nosy.

Half an hour later, after Troy had left,
James’s black car pulled into their driveway. She and Hannah waited
at the front door for him. Hannah stood with her arms crossed,
watching James with pursed lips.

He gave them a tight smile. Part of his black
hair stuck out as though he’d slept on it wrong. Fiona held back a
smile as she introduced the two of them. She was so relieved he was
here. She knew he didn’t have all the answers, but he still knew
more than her.

“
Thanks for looking after her,”
James told Hannah.

Narrowing her eyes, Hannah backed up so they
could come inside. “So, James,” she said, “you think Fiona is
Elizabeth Normans?”

James nodded, meeting Fiona’s eyes.

Hannah crossed her arms again. She did that
when she was defensive. “And you think that these men–the
Alarias–are after her? You actually think they killed her
parents?”

“
Yes, I do,” James said. “I told
Fiona that they went to school and worked together for a
while–”

“
She told me everything,” Hannah
cut him off.

He raised his eyebrows at Fiona.
“Everything?”

“
You mean how you think she’s a
clone? Yes, she told me that, too.” Hannah nodded, her lips
pursed.

“
A replica,” Fiona said under her
breath.

“
They were all working on the Remus
project together.” James paused. “They had some kind of falling
out, and Fiona’s parents took the bulk of the research. I remember
when they split up; it was right after we graduated. This spring,
the Alarias were trying to sue your parents. They came by the lab
dozens of times, trying to get in. One time he actually did come in
when you were home alone. Didn’t you write about it in the
journal?”

Fiona nodded. “Yeah, I did. I’ll go grab
it.”

She jogged upstairs and went to her room. She
looked around on the desk, her nightstand, and the bed, but
couldn’t find the journal. She shoved down her panic as she called
downstairs, “Hannah, where did you put the journal?”

“
I left it on your
desk.”

It wasn’t there. Fiona searched the entire
room, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. “I can’t find
it!”

Hannah and James came into the room. “What do
you mean?” Hannah asked.

“
I mean, I can’t find it,” Fiona
said, her voice cracking. “It’s gone.”

“
Let me check my room.” Hannah
walked into the hallway.

James helped Fiona look in her room. Fiona
remembered going through her dresser for her clothes that morning.
She ruffled through the drawers. No journal. When she turned
around, she saw James staring at her bookshelf. “Is it over there?”
she asked, joining him.

“
No.” James ran his fingers along
the spines of books, then the DVDs.

“
What?”

“
You used to have
so many of these…” James trailed off. “The Boris Karloff DVD
Collection,
The Stand, The Complete
Maus
…”

Fiona shrugged, tucking a lock of hair behind
her ear. “A coincidence?”

James took a book
off the shelf. “Oh, come on.
The Rule of Four
? Everyone but you
hated this book.”

She pulled the book out of his hands. “They’re
just snobs.”

James laughed. “Sure they are.”

“
Did you find it?” Hannah asked,
coming back into the room.

“
No,” Fiona said, her panic
returning.

The three of them searched the house, but the
journal was gone. Fiona was checking the kitchen a second time when
she gasped and said, “Troy!”

“
What?” Hannah called from the
living room.

“
Troy,” Fiona said. Of course. “He
must have the journal. He went upstairs right before he
left.”

Hannah frowned. “Why would Troy take the
journal?”

“
I don’t know! Where else could it
be? It was there before he left, and now it’s gone.”

James walked in from the dining room. “Who’s
Troy?”

“
My boyfriend.” Hannah shook her
head. “But he wouldn’t take the journal.”

“
Can you just call and ask? Maybe
he was annoyed we asked him to leave,” Fiona suggested. That slimy
jerk.

Hannah sighed, taking out her cell phone. She
walked into the living room. Fiona leaned over the island in the
kitchen, trying to listen.

“
How long has she been with him?”
James asked.

“
Three months, but it feels like
three years.”

Hannah started talking to Troy on the phone.
Fiona couldn’t hear everything, but she asked about the journal,
and it sounded like they argued for a bit. After a minute, Hannah
hung up with a huff and walked to the kitchen. “He doesn’t have
it.”

“
So he says,” Fiona said. “Where
else could it be?”

Hannah shrugged with a wave of her hand. “You
must have misplaced it.”

“
We had it just this
morning!”

“
Is it that important? What’s
inside of it?”

“
I–she wrote about the replication
project,” Fiona said, “and it’s evidence against the Alarias.” It
was also proof Elizabeth Normans had existed. The strip from the
photo booth was proof Fiona could be her. Without it, she felt like
the lost, wandering girl she was before James found her.

James cleared his throat. “I think Fiona
should come with me.”

Hannah shook her head. “No, this is
crazy!”

“
Hannah,” Fiona groaned.

“
Come on, Fiona, why do you believe
him? He could be anybody.”

“
I–Elizabeth was in that picture
with him,” Fiona said. Why didn’t she believe her? “I just know
he’s not lying. He can help me find out what happened to me. The
Alarias are still looking for me. They nearly killed
me.”

Hannah motioned to James. “How do you know he
wasn’t the one who left you for dead?”

“
If he was trying to kill me, he
already had the chance.” Fiona met James’s eyes.

He winked at her, then looked at Hannah. “The
Alarias don’t want her dead,” James said. “I don’t know what
happened the day of the fire, but they need Fiona alive to find out
if she’s Elizabeth or the replica, and they’ll use her–either her
memories or her DNA–to recreate the experiment.”

Hannah rubbed her eyes. “I still don’t believe
it. I should call the Alarias right now.”

James’s eyes widened. “What?”

“
Come on, Hannah,” Fiona said with
exasperation. “He’s telling the truth.”

Hannah started to back away, pulling her phone
out of her back pocket. “I’m going to, I’m going to call
them.”

“
What would that accomplish?
Besides telling them exactly where I am?”

“
Wait, don’t,” James said, stepping
forward. “Please, don’t, I’m not lying… look, you should come with
us to New York, okay? We restored some of the old house, and I can
show you why I think the Alarias are responsible. Please, just
don’t call them.”

Hannah studied James’s face. “You want both of
us to go to New York with you?”

James nodded solemnly.

Hannah looked down at the phone in her hand.
“Fine. But Fiona drives with me, and I’ll call the cops as soon as
anything happens.”

He shrugged, spreading his hands out in front
of him. “Fair enough.”

“
Let’s go, then.”

* * *

Hannah was hesitant about Fiona’s overnight
bag, but Fiona didn’t want to come back. She didn’t want to be
hours away from New York City, even if it meant she was closer to
the Alarias. As much as she loved Hannah, she couldn’t help her
learn what happened to her. She was glad Hannah was coming,
though.

They drove quietly on the highway, following
James. Fiona was grateful for nothing but the oldies station. Her
mind raced about the lost journal and the article. How long until
the Alarias saw it? What would they do then? What would Troy do
with the journal?

At least an hour passed before Hannah said,
“I’m just worried, you know. It seems crazy, doesn’t it?
Clones…”

“
Replicas… it is crazy, but I guess
it’s possible. I’d need to see the science.” Fiona pulled her dream
journal out of her backpack.

“
Wait, is that the journal you were
looking for?”

“
No, it’s my dream journal. I think
replication would make sense of some of my dreams.”

“
Really? Like which
ones?”

“
Well, so many of
them are about the fire,” Fiona said. She turned to the first page.
Her handwriting was shaky, usually written just moments after she
woke up for the day. “Here’s one…
June
30th. I had a strange dream last night. I was looking at myself. It
wasn’t a mirror, but a real person. We were eating and talking
about something. Maybe it was just another dream, the kind where
your brain tricks you into thinking you’re someone else. But then
we heard glass breaking. It felt connected to the other dreams, the
ones I know are memories.
”