Fusion (14 page)

“It makes perfect sense,” Bruno said, his tone slightly snippy. “These are impossible to stand on, never mind walk on.”

“Arizona, can you grab one of the walkers while I help Bruno onto the ice?”

I skated out and grabbed a free one. By the time I got back, Bruno stood shakily, grabbing onto the side, his face ashen but determined. After a lot of coaxing, we convinced him to let go with one hand and grab hold of the walker. And then the other hand. Kellan and I stood on either side of him and pushed him along gently until we’d done one complete round of the rink.

“Try moving your legs—walk. We’ll keep holding on to you,” I encouraged.

“No, I think I’m good for today, but that hot chocolate you mentioned sounds perfect right about now. I had fun, though. I’d definitely come back and try again another day.”

Kellan helped him back to the bleachers where Bruno removed his skates, breathing a heavy sigh of relief as he wiggled his toes.

“That looks much easier than it is,” he remarked.

“You’ll get the hang of it. It’s like riding a bicycle. Once you get going, it’s a breeze.”

“Something else that I was hoping to try.”

“What? You’ve never ridden a bike?” I said, totally astonished.

“No.” He got up. “Where to for the hot chocolate?”

“Up there, in the café.”

Once Kell had gotten us our drinks and a few chocolate bars, I turned to Bruno. “So, how come you’ve never skated or even ridden a bicycle?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t lived a regular human life, ever. I’ve always been at HQ with my dad and sister.” His face turned somber.

“I am so sorry about Rowena. How’s your dad coping?”

“He’s not. He’s asked your dad to relieve him from his duties.”

“I’m sorry. What will you do?”

“What I always do: take my orders from the sovereign.”

“Are you happy with that?” Seemed like all work and no play.

“I’ve never known another life, so I am content. And evenings like this are extra fun, even if I made an arse of myself.” He took another sip of his steaming drink. “This is especially delicious. What are the white things on top?”

“Marshmallows.” I decided to get him an extra large pack of them before he had to go back.

“It’s still early. What do you guys want to do? How about we head to the lake?” Kellan suggested.

That did sound good but would have been perfect if it was just the two of us. However, I kinda liked Bruno, and he deserved to experience at least a bit of a normal life while he was with us in Mountain View.

I decided to pop into the restroom before we left to touch up my face. I took out my makeup pouch and checked myself in the badly-lit mirror, leaning forward so I could get a better look at my eyeliner. It was smudged, so I reapplied it and then reached for the lip gloss. As I looked up again, I froze and was about to scream when a hand clamped my mouth shut.

“It’s just me. Don’t freak out,” Stan said from behind me.

I nodded and squirmed out of his grip. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I told you I’d find out what that message meant and get back to you.”

It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. The last time I’d seen Stan had been at Granddad’s place, where he’d been responsible for creating the panic that had taken me to Vegas. Then I remembered.
Dillard is home
. “Yes, the message Raj had you deliver to me? What did it mean?”

“Your father has Dillard. He was in the room with Raj when they were taken.”

I gaped. I was there at the time! The lighting was terrible, but surely I’d have recognized my own biological father. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“But why would my dad take Dillard?” That made no sense to me.

“I have no idea, and that’s all I know. I should go now. You looked great on the ice, by the way.”

“Hey, wait! Are you working for your dad? What’s going on? Seems like something serious by the way my dad’s acting.”

“Yeah, it’s serious all right. And I’m not working for anyone at the moment, just trying to steer clear of all this, hiding out with Luna, who doesn’t want anything to do with it either.”

“
This
? What
this
?”

“Ask your father,” he said and wandered off.

Gah!

Half an hour later, Kellan, Bruno, and I lay on the grass by the lake with our eyes transfixed at the sky. It was devoid of clouds, and thousands of twinkling stars surrounded the full moon. The enormity of the beauty above had me spellbound in silence for a moment while I took it all in.

I was dying to tell Kellan about Stan. I wished he hadn’t vanished so soon. I had a million questions for Stan.

“What are you thinking?” Kellan turned on to his side and looked down at me.

“I was thinking about Stan, Potomal’s son.”

His lips thinned into an unhappy frown. “I know who he is. Why on earth are you thinking about him? Here? This is
our
place. I was hoping you’d recall some of the times we spent here.”

I grabbed his hand and pulled myself closer to him. “Sorry, it’s just that he appeared in the restroom before we left the rink and—”

“He what?” Bruno yelled, his eyes gleaming in the dark.

“What he said,” Kellan seethed.

I told them what happened, watching their bodies tense on either side of me. “What’s the problem? Stan’s a good guy. No need for all the drama.”

“A good guy?” Kellan raged. “He’s Potomal’s son. Good grief, Arizona.”

“Oh, don’t good grief me! He
is
a good guy. He just came to tell me what he’d promised to find out, that’s all. So yeah, good guy.”

“And he told you that Dillard is in the sovereign’s custody?” Bruno asked.

“Not as formally as all that, but yes, that was the gist of it.”

“I wonder how he knows. He had no business imparting that information to you.”

I tried not to giggle at his Middle Earth English, which seemed to get more formal as he grew more serious. “Why not?”

“It’s classified, and either way, he should have no knowledge of it. I wonder how he found out. There must be a breach in the system. I need to inform the sovereign.”

“How do you know it was classified?” Kellan asked. “And how did you know in the first place?”

Bruno didn’t reply.

“Bruno? Well?” I needled.

“I am not at liberty to discuss this.”

“That means you knew!” I said triumphantly. “What else do you know? Do you know why Dillard is in custody? It’s a bit odd that he was taken along with Raj. Are they somehow connected?”

“Maybe they know each other from Jersey,” Kellan suggested when Bruno opted to remain on mute.

“Well, I am going to have to tell Mom,” I threatened, hoping that would sort out Bruno’s volume control.

It did. “No! I beg you not to mention this to her. I will let the sovereign know and ask him to talk to you, okay?”

“Hmm. I guess. Go get him, then,” I said.

“Now? I can’t do that. I can’t leave my post, and even if I could, I have no idea where to find him. I will talk to him as soon as he makes contact.”

“No, that’s not good enough. How long has Dillard been gone from New Jersey?” Surely David’s honey,
A,
would be up in arms if her father had gone missing.

“I’m sorry. I am not at liberty to say any more. Perhaps we should make our way back?”

“Yes,” Kellan agreed.

I got up and walked to the car. It wasn’t like we were going to get much more out of Bruno. He had totally clammed up.

We drove back in silence. My thoughts focused on David and how I would approach him when we got home. Bruno gave us a very cold and curt goodbye as soon as we walked into the hallway.

The house was dark and silent, with only the hallway lamp illuminating the far corner. I looked at my watch as Bruno disappeared up the stairs. It was just after one in the morning. I beckoned for Kellan to follow me to the family room.

“Kell, you were in that room with Raj when you were taken and beaten up. Was my biological dad there?”

He slumped down on the seat and shook his head. “Sorry, Shrimp. I can’t remember. I was totally out of it.”

“I’m going to wake David and ask him if his girlfriend’s father is missing. You’d think he’d have mentioned it.”

“What difference does it make? It’s not like you want to meet him. Or do you? I thought you just wanted to confirm that you have a doppelganger. Is this turning into something more?”

He was right. Why should I care? “No, I don’t think it’s turning into anything more as you say. I have no desire for any father/daughter bonding sessions with him. He’s not the reason I want to head over there. I need to see my doppelganger, but I did use Dillard as my excuse to Mom. If she finds out that he’s not even there, that blows my plan to smithereens.”

“I can see that. Are you sure your mom doesn’t already know? Your dad probably told her.”

“You think? So she’s probably just biding her time to use it as an excuse not to let me go.” I was tired, and the feeling of utter frustration made me feel weepy.

“I’m not saying that’s for sure, but just throwing it out there. Is David in Harry’s room?”

I nodded.

“I’ll go up and try to find out if he knows anything about Dillard.”

“I’m coming, too,” I said firmly.

We climbed up the steps as quietly as possible. Harry had already gone back to college, so David would be on his own. Kellan knocked softly on the door. When there was no answer, he opened it.

“David,” he whispered, going up to the bed and nudging David gently.

“Huh? What? Kellan? What’s going on?” David sat up in bed and stretched. “Arizona, is that you?” He peered at me in the darkness.

I pulled the switch to turn on the bedside lamp so he could see us.

“What happened? Something wrong?” His face teemed with worry.

“We’re fine, but we need to talk to you.”

“I am guessing it’s urgent?”

“Not life and death, but I couldn’t wait,” I said.

“What else is new?” he said grumpily. “All right. What do you want to know?”

“My father—the biological one. Dillard. He still lives in New Jersey with
A
, right?”

He nodded slowly.

“Is he there at the moment?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“We found out something, and we’ll tell you, but you first.”

“Hmm, well—now I am curious. To be honest, I don’t know.
A
’s dad is away a lot. He gambles in Atlantic City.”

“Do you have a way of finding out for sure? I also need to know if he’s away, how long he’s been gone.”

“First you need to tell me what this is about,” he demanded.

“We found out that Dillard—Arizona’s biological father—is being held by the Sigma-W.”

David clenched his fists. “Bruno had no business telling you that. Where is he?” He looked like he was about to explode.

“Easy! Bruno didn’t tell us. He’s as pissed as you are that we know.”

“Who told you, then?” he growled.

“It’s irrelevant, and stop trying to digress,” I yelled right back at him. “You
knew
! I can tell! How?”

He shrugged. “I saw him being led out after Raj. You saw him as well,” he mumbled.

“You saw him?” Kellan gaped at me.

I shook my head but remembered David tensing behind me when one of the men was led away. That must have been him.

“She didn’t recognize him, Kellan. It was dark, and it’s been years since she’s seen him.”

I hadn’t recognized my own father. Wow. “Anyhow, he’s definitely not in Jersey, then. Why the runaround, David?” It was like pulling teeth to get a straight answer.

“Look, I know you’re totally frustrated with all this, but it’s complicated. Dillard—
A
’s father—is still in Jersey. The Dillard in your dad’s custody is his doppelganger from this dimension. He was involved with Raj somehow.”

“What?” Now my head felt like it was going to explode.

“I explained all this to you last year,” Mom’s voice rang out from the doorway.

I swung around, wondering how much she’d heard.

“You need to keep it down. Ella’s sleeping,” she added.

“Could you explain it again, since I don’t remember anything? You knew about the doppelgangers?” I kept my voice as hushed as possible.

Mom stepped inside the room and closed the door. “It’s two in the morning. Everyone to bed. All of this can wait until tomorrow. Just one thing, though. What’s this about Dillard being in Rupert’s custody?”

I
woke up to Muse’s “Feeling Good” and turned it off, annoyed by the seemingly mocking lyrics. I wasn’t feeling the least bit good about the new day. Mom had squashed all hopes of that last night.

She’d reacted just as expected when we told her what we’d learned about Dillard. She’d clammed up, fury clearly written all over her face. Mom gave us a hard stare followed by an even-toned, “Tell me everything.” That was enough to make me spill everything I knew. David filled in the rest of the bits from Kellan’s rescue. I managed to keep Stan’s name out of it, but by doing so, she assumed that Bruno was the source of the information. I would hate being him this morning with Mom waiting to lay into him.

“Ready for breakfast?” Ella said, peeking into my bedroom from around the doorway, which I had left slightly ajar so I could listen in on what happened outside.