by Aimee Laine
• • •
Lily yanked herself free of Marlie, ran to the doors, and raced after Matthew. She caught sight of him storming his way down the hallway and raced after him. “Wait!”
Matthew didn’t even acknowledge that she’d spoken.
She encouraged herself to run faster. “Matthew, wait, please!” What am I doing? I should just get out of here. I have who I came for, and Maggie can handle herself. Excuse. I need one. “Please stop. I could be pregnant.”
“That’s not the point.”
“Well … what is? I don’t understand.” Leigh reached Lily’s feet. “Roy said you were going to test my genetic lineage. My line. He said I was part of …” Geez, why don’t I know what to say?
Matthew took Lily by the arm and forced her farther down the hallway. “Come with me.” He depressed a button at the side of the doors, and they opened up into the room Roy had walked her through at midnight. Matthew went through yet another set of doors and down yet another white hallway. He slowed at the first room.
As soon as the swish of doors happened a second time, and the lock clicked into place, he switched on the red light.
Matthew’s body shivered, his arms shrunk, facial hair melted away and scalp hair grew longer.
Lily stared until Maggie faced her.
Before a question could be addressed, Maggie sat at the desk to the side of the room and rifled through papers. She removed a set, sauntered back to Lily and held them out. “Tell me whose signature is on the bottom of these documents?”
Lily took them as Leigh whimpered. “Why did you yell at me like that?”
“Whose signature does that look like?” Maggie took the papers back and shook them at Lily. “Read them,” Maggie said. “Every word.” She handed them back.
“No.” Lily firmed her shoulders. “Tell me why you yelled at me.”
“I won’t have to if you’d just read the damn papers.”
On a huff, Lily refocused and read from the top. A glance through the sheets told her nothing.
“… party of the first part … so, legal stuff?”
One finger circled to keep reading.
“… extended stay … facilities …” Lily glanced up at Maggie but went right back down to the papers. “… interminable rights … health and well being … What does all this mean?”
“Who signed it?”
At the bottom, Lily stared. “This looks like my signature.”
“Exactly. And these papers?” She slapped them against the table. “They are legally binding. They not only confirm your status, but they sign over an infant. They’re expecting you to give up your baby because you’ve authorized it.”
Lily’s knees buckled, but she caught herself before she fell. Another small cry from the dog had Lily focusing on Leigh. “Please, Maggie.” Lily pointed to Leigh. “Let her transform back.” What have I gotten myself into?
“Go ahead,” Maggie said. “Then you have to stay as yourself for a while, Leigh. It’s too dangerous for you to transform multiple times right now, and yes, I know you changed recently because your hair isn’t as white or crisply shaped.”
With a yip, Leigh’s body materialized into her full shape, slower than in Lily’s bathroom, but in less than thirty seconds.
Maggie grinned. “She’s about as fast as Chase.” As soon as she said it, her expression fell flat. “Clothes are on the couch. Go straight back to your Pod.”
Lily grabbed Maggie’s arm. “You can’t make her go back.”
The fierceness in Maggie’s stare had Lily backing down.
“But, Maggie, we just found her.”
Maggie spun to Leigh. “Go. Right now. You don’t know anything about me or Lily. If anyone asks you, you were in a meeting with Matthew.”
Leigh nodded as she staggered. Three transformations for such a new Mimic would have taken a toll, though the fact she hadn’t fallen asleep on her feet or keeled right over boosted Lily’s confidence. With her head hung, Leigh dressed and exited with Maggie’s help.
Maggie re-engaged the privacy. “Are you or aren’t you pregnant?”
“I’m … not.”
“Didn’t you and Cael have sex?”
Lily firmed her lips.
“Answer me.”
“You’re just as bossy and demanding in Maggie form as—”
“Dammit, Lily.”
“Maybe.”
“This week?”
“Why?”
Maggie flung her hands up into the air. They hit her thighs as she paced away and back across the room. “Your birthday is two days from now. That means you’re in the one seven-day fertility window.”
“I know that.” She did, too. So did Cael. Not that it mattered.
Maggie’s finger waved in front of Lily’s face until she tapped on the paper again. “Second page.”
Lily flipped over to a checklist.
Mimic. Leaper. The check had been put next to Mimic.
Female. Male. “Well, they got that one right.”
Age range. 50-100 had been marked.
A few other check boxes had been completed for female-only, original line, unblended and pregnant.
“What the hell?”
“That was my question.”
Lily whipped her head up from the page. “What are you talking about, Maggie?”
“You’re sixty, Lily. You should know this stuff.” Maggie inhaled, the sound like a rush of air. “Okay, listen.” She held her hands out, palms facing each other but not together. “Girl Mimic plus boy Mimic during annual fertile cycle equals baby Mimic in ninety-nine point nine percent of cases. How the hell do you think James and I produced Chase?”
Words failed to form in Lily’s mind. “That’s not what I meant.” Not at all what I meant.
“This paperwork is dated two days ago, so whoever produced it either made some good guesses or lied or—”
“But I didn’t sign that.”
“Are you sure? Because this place is made for just this sort of issue … unwanted supernatural babies, among other things. Kids. Hell, even adults from what I can tell.”
“Yes, of course, I’m sure.”
“Positive? Maybe the idea of Cael was great, but the execution not so much?”
Frustration ebbed through Lily’s body. “Are you suggesting I’d get myself pregnant on purpose and then come down here to ditch the kid like you did?” Even as she said it, she cringed. “I’m sorry, Maggie.” Lily hung her head. An inner constriction took hold of her heart. Maggie had given up Chase, but she’d dropped him off on Charley’s doorstep—the best possible alternative solution. “Would you … have come here … if …”
Maggie bit her lip, a sign of uncertainty Lily had never seen in her, before her stare hardened. “Look … I see the benefit. Trust me. Like James, I know Cael wants kids. For all I know, you guys hooked up again, and he isn’t ready yet. I know you are, but it does take two.” Her soft tone made Lily tear up. “And I had to yell because of the guards and Marlie, and Kevin if he happened to be listening in. Matthew’s the boss, at least from what I’ve learned so far. On top of that, I had to know which side you were really on.”
“Your side,” Lily said. “Why do I know Kevin? That face? I can’t—”
“Don’t worry about that right now. I’m more concerned with knowing how they know so much about you and how they got you to sign this if you’re not … you know.” She circled a finger around Lily’s abdomen. “So if you are …”
Lily’s hands covered her stomach, though only a gurgle from lack of food disturbed her touch. “I’m not. I promise.”
“Okay, so set that aside. This place is a refuge and something else. The something else is the part I haven’t figured out. I need more time to dig into the material. I need James’s head. I need you to be the ‘you’ you signed up as so we can understand it better. None of us knew it existed, yet it does.”
“But Roy said this is where I was—”
Maggie placed
her hands on Lily’s shoulders. “From now on, I need you to not believe anything Roy says. His story to you and what I’ve found so far don’t jive. But I need to know more. So, I need you to play the game. For the next twenty-four hours.” Maggie angled her head down so she met Lily’s gaze. “To find out what’s going on here, you have to be Lily Crane—the real one—the pregnant one. Just like the papers say.”
“But I’m not.”
Maggie rolled her eyes in a dramatic display. “I know that. You know that. Forged and lied. Same thing. There is another option.”
“What?”
“Someone might expect to get you pregnant. Remember what I said back home?”
Lily shivered.
“And it’s probably Roy, himself. It makes sense if you think about it. He knew what the government was trying to do. Shit, they hired him for god’s sake. That means they know who he is, too, and what he can do for them. Why not be a party to it instead of stand in their way? He’s arrogant and self-centered and would totally want his genes to be in the new crop of kids.”
Trembling started in Lily’s hand and moved up her arm and through her body. “But he said we were going to take them down. He said I was here to help him break it up!” Lily scanned the room trying to find a place to focus on. “He said he’d been messed up like me, and this wasn’t right!”
Maggie took Lily’s arms and held her upright. “Would you have gone with him if he said anything otherwise?”
Oh, god. No.
“I know you’re squeamish, but Lily? Too bad. Go through today’s testing. Act like any other new resident here. We need to know everything they go through. There’s only so much I can glean from paperwork in a desk, files on a computer and a drugged man in the other room.” Maggie blew out a breath. “For all this head guys knows, you are here because you want to be. You are pregnant, which is why you’re in the maternity wing with two other pregnant people … and you are going to give up your baby once you’ve had it. Or, he’s hiding it all, and he’s got Roy by the short hairs, too. I’ll figure that part out. You just go on your merry way.”
Lily shook her head as the words tumbled from Maggie’s mouth.
“I’ll come find you … in some form … in a few hours.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“Yes. You can.”
Lily shook her head. “Where … how did you get all this info?”
A wink came with a grin. “Oh, my sweet, sweet, Lily. In this case, what you don’t know is better off left with me.” Maggie took hold of Lily’s biceps and met her gaze at eye-level. “I do want you to know one thing for your acting role. You gotta pretend you want to be here. All the people here … the residents and the staff? They signed papers just like you did.”
“But I—what about … Leigh?”
“Signed by one Angela Jenkins.”
No! “That’s not poss—” Shaking continued throughout Lily’s torso. “She wouldn’t give up her daughter.” Like me. Like I thought mine had. Would she have and then faked doing so?
Maggie crossed her arms over her chest. “Give me a little credit. I said someone could have done it for you. That implies they could do the same for others. But, Lily … there are people who don’t want to be parents, and if they’re Mimics, what are they going to do, huh? Just think about that while you become the hamster in the plastic ball.”
A knock on the door had Lily turning, though her ability to stop the shaking had long since failed.
Maggie angled her head toward the bedroom. “We’ve got another few hours before Matthew wakes. At this point, whatever happened in the past is in the past. We’re in the today. So suck it up and do it.” She scooted closer to the door.
Way easier said than done.
Even as Lily faced Maggie again, Maggie’s face contorted into Matthew’s, and her body retook a male shape.
“Come in,” the Maggie-Matthew said as he let go and switched the privacy setting to green.
Marlie stood just outside. “Ah … Kevin asked me to come—”
“That’s right. Miss Crane is ready for processing now.”
No, she’s not.
“It seems we simply had a minor misunderstanding.”
At Matthew’s nod, Lily followed Marlie.
• • •
Eight hours after they’d landed, Cael and James found themselves in a yacht, directed by armed guards, on their way across twenty miles of sea. The wind chapped Cael’s cheeks as the boat bounced in the waves. He stood on the bow in contemplative thought, James at his side.
That only the two of them had been authorized suggested to Cael that they’d been targeted. Wyatt, Charley and Pat had all been taken into the airport, the equipment and plane locked up in its place with strict instructions not to let it depart.
Land lined the horizon as the captain navigated them forward, and the sea spray cooled Cael’s body as well as his nerves.
“What’re you thinking?” James asked.
“I’m thinking we’re either being set up, or someone has figured out who we are.”
James chuckled. “Or someone has figured out we sent in an extra?”
“Or something has gone wrong.”
“What hasn’t gone wrong? We have no communication. We’re traveling on a massive yacht across the water to get to an island where we have no idea what’s what. That, to me, is way wrong.”
Cael turned to his friend. “Yeah, but this kind of stuff,we’ve done before. Remember Italy about twenty years ago? That was you, me and—”
“And that’s where I met Maggie.” A smile flitted across James’s lips.
“Shit, man.”
James shook his head. “It’s okay. Mags and I are coming to terms now that she’s admitted she left Chase with me because she’d have been a terrible parent.”
Cael chuckled. “Mags? You know you’re back to some of the nicknames you called her … before.”
James’s jaw muscles flexed. “So.”
Cael’s laugh continued as he raised a brow. “What’s going on between you two?”
A scowl etched itself into James’s features. “Nothing. We have one common interest, and that’s it. What’s going on with you and Lily? Now that you’ve finally made your move, what’s next?”
“I’m going to ask her to marry me just like I said I was.”
“You going to blend with her or wing it?”
“Whatever she wants.”
James held out his fist. “Well, if you decide to call it quits, I, for one, will understand.”
Cael met James’s fist with his own. “Thanks.”
A horn signaled. The boat slowed, the island in front of Cael and James spreading out for miles to the right and left.
“We’re going to get them out. Then we’re going to go home. Right?” Cael asked.
“Absolutely.”
On the end of a long pier stood two military guards with machine guns strapped to their backs. Engines idled before they reversed. The guard on the left stepped back as the boat reached the edge of the dock. He swung a huge anchor knot up to Cael who looped it around the boat’s hook.
Once on the dock, they both stood in front of the guards.
“Welcome to Fantasy Island,” the one on the right said.
“You’re kidding, right?” James asked.
“Of course …” the left guy said, “or maybe not.”
23
Cael and James sat on a couch in the middle of a living room. Around them, a few people milled about, among them two women with bellies as wide as Cael figured they could get before exploding. They walked back and forth, dropping to a chair and propping up their feet every once in a while.
“Gentlemen,” a woman’s voice called out.
Cael nudged James, who stood at the same time.
The woman strode toward them, long legs peeking out beneath a short skirt and white lab coat. “I’m Marlie, Mr. Williams’ assistant. I’m to escort you to his office.” She stalked righ
t back to the doorway through which she’d come.
Cael and James followed the click of her heels on tile. The little bit of video they’d gotten before it died failed to detail the scene before them. White must be their favorite color.
At a door, Marlie knocked.
A gruff ‘come in’ came from the other side, and the door slid into a pocket.
“After you, gentlemen.”
The view out the window couldn’t have been better ,with direct access to the ocean and blue sky. A table held the remnants of a breakfast that had Cael’s stomach grumbling as he marched farther into the home-like room.
From within a doorway opposite, a man in a suit emerged, his stride long and powerful. “Mr. Aldridge? Mr. Henry? I’m Matthew Williams.” He held out his hand.
As James took it, Cael stared into Matthew’s eyes. They flashed blue, green, purple and ended on blue—the distinct color coding Maggie had taken as her recognition pattern.
Cael’s lips failed to stay straight. “Nice to meet you … Mr. Williams.”
James cocked his head toward Cael, who inclined toward Maggie. As the dawn of recognition broke, James smiled.
“Let’s have a seat, gentlemen.” Matthew waved them toward the seats. “Marlie, would you please get these men something to drink?”
“Just water for me, please,” Cael said.
James nodded. “Same here.”
Marlie moved to an open kitchen and returned with three glasses of water. She sat in the chair to the side of the desk, her pencil and pen in hand.
Matthew propped his elbow on his desk. “I understand you were detained on our sister island. That’s a precaution we take with all unauthorized vessels. So … what can I do for you?”
Cael took a swig of the cold water. “I think this conversation should be kept private.”
Matthew inclined his head toward Marlie.
She put her materials down.
“And I believe it would be best if we held it in complete confidence,” James said. “I’m sure you understand, given your operation?”
As Matthew tilted up his chin, Marlie left the room, turning a red button next to the door as she did. Matthew leaned forward again. “You’re free to speak now.” He went on to explain about the privacy function—in Matthew’s voice.