by L. B. Carter
Doctor Lin turned her attention to Nor with a scolding look. He imagined she was a mother. Mother had used that look on rare occasions, more often on Father than her sons. “Now, you ingested a lot of seawater,” she stated slowly, like he’d done a big no-no, on purpose. “That means your throat and lungs will be pretty sore and need time to recover. So lots of rest, no strenuous activities, no talking.” She shot a dark look at Reed, then raised a thin brow at Nor. “Only small sips of water or ice cubes to suck on, and if you’re good, I’ll have the nurse bring you some soothing ice cream.” She must have small kids, like Kayna’s rugrats. Nor tried not to take offense to her demeaning attitude. He took her advice and went with no response. “There’s a good boy,” she patted his knee through the thin blue blanket and smiled at him, her teeth quite large like a horse’s between thin lips. “Otherwise visiting hours will have to be over,” she warned with a look and a pointer finger. She turned to go, and Nor let loose with the eye roll he had been restraining, like the teen she thought him to be.
“Er, ma’am?” Reed caught her arm as she passed. Her eyes dropped to his fingers with a brow raised and the offending digits lifted immediately. Nor would’ve smiled if he wasn’t hung up on exposing his revelation. Flirtatious touching was habitual for his brother. “Sorry. I was just wondering if you had a spare notepad and pen we could borrow?”
She immediately turned suspicious. “What for?”
What for? What did one do with pen and paper? Nor was getting frustrated by the delay. He needed to talk to Reed!
“He shouldn’t be exerting himself,” she informed Reed. Yes, they’d heard the rant, thank you.
Reed shook his head, a smile of innocence that looked misplaced on his face. “No, no. I just need to, er, get some homework done while he’s resting.”
Her face cleared and she turned to him. “Oh, are you at the high school, too? Twins?” She looked between them.
Seriously? Beyond the paternal hair color, Nor had his mother’s fairness and small features, while Reed got Father’s dark eyes and sharp angles.
“My Stewy is there too. You might know him? He’s the smartest in the class.” Rena’s boyfriend. Nor resisted telling ‘Stewy’s’ mother about her son’s ass-in-the-sand weakness, even though he had an immoral urge to bring her down a notch for telling him off and taking her sweet goddamn time leaving. Good thing he wasn’t allowed to talk.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. That’s what Mother’s third favorite movie after Wall-E and Fern Gully instructed. She was all about kids’ films with adult-level messages.
The lady pulled from her pocket a small spiral-ring notebook and a pen. “I’ll tell Stew I met you,” she said and parted. Probably they’d be gone from this podunk town before Nor had to go back to that school. They had failed their hunt.
Nor lunged forward and seized the items from Reed. The paper was stupidly small. How did she think Reed could write essays on spiral-bound post-its? The IV kept getting in the way and Nor had to resist pulling it out. It would likely set off alarms and Doctor Lin would just come back. He flipped the page around and displayed it urgently to his older brother, like a piece of art he made at day care.
“Dead?!” Reed practically yelled, then looked around and inched closer. “Dead?”
Nor flipped the sheet over. It was so small, he could only fit about a word per page with the shake in his hand as though adrenaline and exhaustion were competing to pull his arm in opposing directions.
Reed sidled up next to him to read as he wrote, his eyes moving faster than Nor could write, eager for more information. “Drowned.” Reed followed along, reading aloud. “He was with you?” he said, desolate.
Reed realized what Nor had when he’d been gasping, shivering, clinging to a rock, his body being pulled and pushed by the surf like a swing in a windstorm and had seen the piece of fabric glide freely right up to him among the other jetsam. The name on the sleeve gave away the victim, even if he hadn’t seen his skipper go over. It would be pretty bizarre for a current to strip a guy of his clothing and leave him unharmed and capable of escaping.
“Fuck.”
Yep.
“Damn. Well, he’s not our actual contract anyway, just a lead or loose end. And hey, he tied that up for us. Now for my news. I found our specimen.”
“What?” Nor couldn’t help the outburst, his voice breaking at the end, as he jerked up from the unpleasantly firm backing of the mattress. They both looked ashamedly toward the curtain. They were left alone. Nor’s voice wasn’t as loud as it could be. It had really hurt too, so Nor switched back to writing.
Explain, Nor scrunched onto a page.
Reed’s mouth turned down. “And here I thought you’d been clever this whole time, figuring it out before I did. I was even going to let you off training as a reward.” As if being in the hospital didn’t? Reed was his Father’s son. “So you actually are just a fucking hormonal teen then?”
Nor glowered, beyond frustrated and insulted. What???
“Sirena.”
Nor flopped back against the pillows, flummoxed, his head spinning either from the revelation or impact, or both. Sirena?
She’d saved him. Pulled him and her Grandpa on shore. When he woke up she was gone and her Grandpa was distraught. Gil was gone, he said. She shouldn’t have gone back for him, whoever he was. Nor had found her and brought her up. Tit for tat. Finally, they’d been on the same team. He pulled his lips in, recalling that her thank-you had been a kiss. His first.
Now Nor felt sick. She was their murderer? She had taken the specimen? He was an idiot.
Reed sat on the edge of the bed, getting into his story. “I went to see her to tell her that you were a dick, like the redhead said, and that she should avoid you.” Reed ignored Nor’s sharp look. “And she opened up to me, as all women do. Did you know she was in a car accident in the spring?”
Shit, Nor was a double idiot. He hadn’t asked Justin how Rena had gotten PTSD. She was their contact?
“Did you know she wears a necklace from that accident, a locket?” Reed shook his head in awe. “Forget Andrew. He was a long-shot anyway. Your civilian isn’t so civilian. She’s our in, she just doesn’t remember! We need to get that locket.”
Hot. Damn. Nor didn’t write that, but it was all he could think.
“And you’re safe,” Reed said to Nor’s concerned expression, sounding for a weird moment the most like Mother he ever had.
Where?
Reed’s mouth twisted with chagrin.
“Where?” Nor demanded weakly aloud.
Still avoiding eye contact, Reed admitted, “I don’t know. Kayna’s mom’s on the hunt.”
Was she still alive? The frustrating reality of their having found the specimen and it slipping through their net again settled Nor deeper into his mattress. “Katheryn?” Nor suggested.
“Yeah, we could ask her about Sirena.” He wavered. “Honestly, how much more can we get from her? I already tried once. And you know I don’t stick with one woman,” Reed joked. He was anxious. He stood again and paced away to the curtain and back, a hand thrusting through his hair. He stopped, facing away, and let his hand drop to his side. Reed didn’t say it but Nor knew.
They needed Sirena; she had the specimen and the answers. Nor had failed. Reed had been on a dozen missions before; he’d proved his worth. This would be one fail on many successes. This one was on Nor anyway, since Sirena had been under his nose, or rather had had her fist in his nose. Nor didn’t know if he’d also indirectly killed two others in the process, thinking of Surfer and David Preston Jr. The mood in the room sparked with resentment, and Nor’s exhaustion crept back in.
He swallowed, the movement searing his throat, not looking forward to being suspended by Father. Home would become a prison for him. The worst kind: empty of Mother’s bright energy and singing. Nor reached for the water cup, tugging his IV. Reed’s eyes tracked the movement, but he made no mo
ve to help. He just stood, watching, looking completely lost. Perhaps even more so than at Val’s funeral. Nor thought for a moment this mission had distracted him, given him a purpose after… after everything. Reed would be trapped, too, haunted by ghosts.
“You remind me of her. Of them. Being in here,” Reed whispered, mirroring Nor’s earlier thoughts.
The silence held for several blips of Nor’s heart monitor before Reed cleared his throat.
“The doctor was right. You should rest. I—” He took a deep breath and looked around the medical room as if for directions, an arrow on the floor, a neon sign out of a haunted forest. “I should go report in and inform Father that we’ll leave as soon as we hear from Kayna’s mom about our next location. We’ll take tomorrow to tie all our loose ends in this town and pack. Assuming they discharge you by then. I’ll check on my way out.”
Nor nodded, both understanding and also feeling abandoned.
“I’ll—I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Nor’s eyes closed so he couldn’t see his brother’s tall form, so like his father’s, walk out on him, disappointed.
◆◆◆
Nor kept his eyes closed. Someone else was in the room. And it wasn’t a nurse. The nurses always picked up the chart first. He hadn’t heard the tell-tale scrape of the clipboard against the plastic bed frame. Nor felt the presence on his left. His head was turned toward the right.
He’d woken up each time someone checked on him throughout the night. Nor was a little bit proud of his cognizance through the full-body tiredness almost dying had given him. A small condolence for Father. This time, he wasn’t sure the lurker was here to check on him. It was still dark in the room, so Reed couldn’t be back.
Nor feigned sleep but remained alert. Trying to keep his heart from speeding was hard. The monitor’s beeping jumped a little and he hoped it hadn’t revealed him.
There was a rustle and then the IV line attached to his left hand, sitting atop the cheap blue blanket on his stomach tugged. Nor inhaled the sterile scent of the hospital noting vaguely that the soreness in his throat wasn’t quite so sharp, then rolled in a swift move to his left, his right arm swinging around and grabbing the intruder’s before it could reach its target, Nor’s eyes snapping on the culprit. Dark eyes stared back, defiant, infuriated at being caught, and huge, magnified by the thick lenses.
His left arm reached up and Nor grabbed that one too. They were caught in a strange square, each wrist trapped in the other’s opposite grip. They stared at each other for a moment, Nor’s grip holding the incriminating arm mid-motion, with syringe poised just short of penetrating the input to his IV line. If Nor called out now, someone would come in and see what was happening and Stew would be caught. The cotton in Nor’s throat probably meant his voice still wouldn’t carry far enough. Nor didn’t move. Neither of them did.
“Why?” Nor croaked, surprised to find his laryngitis even worse than the day before. He was on his own.
“You can’t have her.” Wow, cliché. Nor shook his head. Thankfully, carrying on in villain fashion, Stew continued. “I know that you know about Sirena. It’s why you’ve been stalking her.” He was apparently in Reed’s club of thinking Nor had everything planned out. That was flattering, considering Stew was kind of a child-genius, even if he evidently had jealousy issues. Their arms remained locked. Nor was grateful the kid’s muscles were at least as weak as he’d thought when he defended him from JT. He should’ve let him get bullied. “We can’t have you going around telling everyone about her talents.”
Talents? Did Stew think Nor had gone somewhere with Rena as the school believed he had with Shayna? As far as jealous boyfriends went, this was extreme. He couldn’t possibly know about the underwater kiss when she’d saved him. Stew’s thin eyes narrowed further, nearly obscuring his irises, which were almost the same color as his pupils. He looked nothing like the fearful kid JT had knocked into the sand. Was all of that Stew a façade? He wasn’t seeming so smart with murder being his response to his girlfriend saving some guy. “We?”
“Professor Hutchins at BSTU is very concerned about secrecy.”
“BSTU,” Nor breathed, closing his eyes for a brief moment.
“She’s my find! We can’t have them scoop us, take my credit! It’s the discovery of the century!” he exclaimed. Nor was trying to follow along, but going from nearly dying to instantly awake and fighting for his life was draining.
Stew. Stew was their murderer. Serial murderer, if he’d killed Mr. Tate. And this Hutchins was Katheryn’s colleague. Nor hadn’t paid enough attention to the BSTU department’s webpage to note other names. He was after the necklace.
“They tried to take her,” Stew hissed. “She’s one of a kind: a rare specimen.”
Nor jolted, ice filling his veins like the moment he’d realized Andrew was gone. Sirena was…
“I stopped them then. What do they know about biology anyway? They’re climate scientists. They should stick to modeling the atmosphere.” Stew was managing to keep his voice low though it grew vehement. “Just like I’ll stop you from taking her now.”
Nor wanted him to go back, his brain still foggy. “You?”
Stew huffed, annoyed Nor wasn’t keeping up. “Me. I’ve done a great job observing her, seeing how she socializes in a normal society, gathering the medical data on her unique attributes from the doctors here.” He grinned triumphantly. “It’s easy to get into things. Obviously.” He nodded at the syringe still hovering.
Jesus, scientists were so cut-throat. He knew there’d been a threat on Mother that caused Father to start the organization. This was Nor’s first real encounter; he hadn’t realized it stooped to murder.
“Richard?”
Stew’s lips thinned. “Mr. Tate?” He shrugged. “I didn’t convince him to kill himself.” Maybe it was just a suicide.
Shit, shit shit. Nor’s brain was processing faster and faster, his heartbeat monitor keeping tempo. Sirena was the specimen? It wasn’t in her locket. What the fuck was so special about this girl? Where was she? “Sirena?”
“She’s safe now. Don’t worry.”
“What is she?”
Stew blew out a breath. “Seriously? Forget BSTU, I hope you didn’t apply to any university, because this is like talking to JT.” Yep, should’ve let JT beat him up.
Nor took the insult though, because he was annoyed, no, angry with himself that he hadn’t seen any of this, that he’d fallen for Stew’s act, that he hadn’t realized Sirena’s connection to the car crash, that he hadn’t prevented Andrew’s death. So much for Stew and Sirena dating. All along he’d just been studying her like she was a lab mouse in a cage.
“She basically gave you a one-on-one show. Well, I hear there were others there who saw it but they weren’t so lucky as to get a personal exhibit.” This was sounding sexual again. “And they’re not going to be talking now.”
Fuck. He’d gotten to David Preston Jr and Surfer?
“Handy that Sirena self-censors with her refusal to talk. Amnesia wasn’t so hard to induce when they first brought her in, thanks to mom. She just wants me to excel. And being the head surgeon here, I have pretty good access to Sirena’s other files or at least other patients I can coerce to pass along information. Unfortunately, I’m not offering the same option for you in this syringe,” he commented, head tilting as though just taking Nor in. “Why she opened up for you and not to me, I don’t know. I haven’t even seen her do it,” his brows lowered enough to become distorted in his lenses. “I tried to get her in the water at the party. I needed to see it. That douche JT interrupted.”
Nor was keeping his face steady while his brain clunked over discombobulated thoughts, trying to think what Stew could mean. He’d attacked Sirena? Not JT? Nor’s arm was weakening. The syringe shifted a few millimeters toward the clear tubing.
Stew saw it too, his eyes darting to his goal, hungrily. He smiled, without teeth. “Looks like you won’t be talking pretty soon either.”
<
br /> “Good morning, Norton!” a lady’s voice sang. Stew was quick. He swung around as the curtain parted, and Nor’s arm dropped limply across his lap. Kayna’s mom walked in. At least Nor guessed that’s who it was based on the hair and skin color she passed on to her three children. She looked up and jumped. “Oh! What are you doing here, Stew? Visiting time is not for a few hours yet.” She glanced at the clock above Nor’s bed. Her clogs thumped on the tile as she came over to pick up the clipboard with its usual scraping sound. Her face turned soft and motherly again. “I’m sorry to hear your other classmate didn’t make it. Kayna said he wasn’t close, but it’s still tough for all of you.”
Stew nodded. “It is. I was just worried about Nor after hearing that David didn’t make it and came to check that he was okay.” Did that mean Surfer was still alive? If he just reached out a bit, he could shove the needle hidden behind Stew’s back into his own wrist. His would be the next death, not Surfer’s or Nor’s.
“How sweet. I’m afraid he needs to rest for a bit longer though. He’ll be discharged later today. Or you can come back in a few hours. Your mother was just leaving surgery, I think. You should be able to catch her at the cafeteria.”
“Thank you so much. Nor’s well-being is important.” Of course it was.
◆◆◆
Nor was on high alert the rest of the day. Stew didn’t come back. Reed didn’t show up either when visiting hours rolled by. A different orderly wheeled Nor to the lobby and loaded him into the black jeep waiting at the curb.
“It’s Stew,” he announced as soon as the door was shut.
“What?”
“Not Andrew. Tried to,” he commented dryly, “kill me.”
“What? Okay, hold on, talk while we head to Kayna’s. Her mom said Rena’s alive, but the state has her. Her Grandpa died a few hours after you all made it to the hospital.” Nor didn’t care.