“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Mom. Hilderbrand won’t let it—his company’s at stake.”
Concern still lined Mom’s face. “So you’re going to do this?”
I sighed. “I think so. I just . . . can’t keep dealing with new memories. I can’t relax, wondering what’s going to hit me next.”
My mother nodded. “I have another issue, if you go through with this. I’m leading training sessions at work all next week. I have to be there.”
“That’s okay.”
“I don’t want to leave you if you’re having surgery.”
“I’ll be in the hospital recovering anyway. The last time I didn’t even have visitors.”
“That was because of the trial. They’ll allow you visitors this time. I should be there. And I’d certainly want to be here when you come home.”
My mother couldn’t put her life on hold for me forever. “Look, I’ll be fine when I come home. I managed for two days without you before, didn’t I? Basically I’ll just sleep a lot. And Sherry will be around if I need her.”
My mother gave me a look.
I sighed. “Mom, you have to get over this thing with Sherry. She’s a really good friend to me.”
“She accosted me at my own son-in-law’s funeral.”
I ran my tongue underneath my top lip.
Mom eyed me askance. “What’s that look? You think I deserved it?”
Oh, boy. “I . . . no.”
“You sound so positive.”
I pushed my plate away. How’d we get into this so fast? “Look. Remember what you said about criticizing me during my childhood? That you were only out to protect me?”
“Yes.” Mom drew out the word.
“Sherry was just trying to protect me, too. You were coming on pretty hard about my moving back to Denver. She knew I didn’t have any strength left.”
“I knew that, too. It’s why I was trying to help you!”
I gazed at her. Slowly her expression flattened. “But I wasn’t helping, was I.”
“No.”
Mom leaned back in her chair and stared out the window. Emotions fluttered across her face.
“It’s okay, Mom.”
“I’m sorry. Again.”
“It’s okay.” I reached over and rubbed her fingers. She wasn’t the only one who was learning things about herself. “Let me tell you what happened to me last night.”
I told her all the amazing things God had shown me. As I described it, the emotions welled up in me all over again. By the time I finished, both of us were crying. We’d hardly touched our sandwiches.
“Thank you for sharing that with me.” Mom wiped her cheek. “I needed to hear it.”
I nodded, my throat tight. I wasn’t sure where Mom was with God. Maybe she wasn’t as far away as I’d thought.
We managed to finish eating. With the last bite of my sandwich, I suddenly remembered—attorney! My gaze flew to the clock. One thirty. So much time I’d wasted. I shoved my plate away. “Mom—I have to find a lawyer. Now.”
“Oh, right.” She looked at her watch. “Better do it right away.”
My first thought was to call Sherry. Jay would probably know someone through the investment firm. But there was so much to tell her. That would take a long phone call, and I didn’t have time for that. I glanced at Mom. She was rinsing our dishes in the sink, her back to me. “I’m going to call Sherry. I think she’ll be able to help with an attorney.”
“All right.” No argument. Not even a tensing of her shoulders. It was a start.
Sherry’s daughter, Rebecca, would still be at school. J.T. may be taking a nap. I crossed to the counter for the phone and punched in her number. One ring—and she answered.
“Hey!” Her voice sounded breathless. “I’ve been thinking so much about you. What’s happening?”
“Everything.”
She sucked in air. “Oh, no, now what? You okay?”
“Yes. There’s a lot to tell, but I don’t have much time right now because I need you to help me with something. So just hang with me.” As my mother would say.
“Okay.”
“So here goes. First, we found out who the murderer and the victim are in my visions.”
“You’re kid—”
“Then we talked to the police, only they didn’t believe me, because the victim turned out to be alive. So the killer obviously turned out not to be a killer. And did I mention he’s the CEO of Cognoscenti? So I went to see this woman for myself—Patti, the one we thought was dead—at her house and nearly assaulted her. Mom held me back. Then I went to see Hilderbrand, the CEO. And in a couple days I’m going to have another brain surgery to take out my bad chip and put in a good one. So I need a lawyer. Can you help with that?”
Stunned silence.
Maybe I’d gone just a little too fast?
“Lisa.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m a little . . . Can you give me a few more details? And by the way, I’m now sitting down.”
“Okay. But first, the main thing. Do you think Jay knows an attorney who could look over a legal document before I sign it?”
“What kind of legal document?”
“An agreement between me and Cognoscenti to take out the chip and pay me a million dollars. But there are some stipulations.”
“A million dollars?”
“Well, he offered half a million. I got him to raise it.”
Mom shot me a smile.
Another long pause. “Lisa, you are beyond . . . something.”
Yeah. Something. “Does Jay know an attorney?”
“I don’t know. I can call him.”
“Can you do it now? I need one fast. The documents are supposed to be ready tomorrow.”
“Tell you what. I’ll find you an attorney. On one condition. Since you’re suddenly into negotiating and all.”
“Okay.”
“You come over here, sit down, and tell me everything.”
“What about the kids?” This was hardly a story for little ears.
“Rebecca’s going home from school with a friend. And J.T. just went down for a nap.”
Sherry deserved to hear what had happened. And I really wanted to see her. Plus . . . I looked at my mother. “Okay. One thing—Mom’s coming with me.”
Mom stopped her work and eyed me.
“Your mother’s still there?”
“Yes. And it’s good. And you two need to see each other.”
“Really.”
“We’ll be over in fifteen minutes. You call Jay, okay?”
I hung up.
Chapter 29
SHERRY AND JAY’S HOUSE WAS A BASIC THREE-BEDROOM, two-bath starter in a well kept San Carlos neighborhood with good schools. They’d gotten it for a bargain at $690,000.
Memories hit as Mom and I walked up to the porch lined with potted flowers. Ryan and I used to love coming here. We’d eat dinner with Jay and Sherry, and play with the kids.
It seemed a lifetime ago.
I knocked softly, remembering that J.T. was sleeping. Sherry opened the door right away.
“Come in, come in.” She hugged me. Even managed to smile at my mother. “I found a lawyer for you.”
That was Sherry, true to her word.
She led us into the living room. Mom and I settled into the familiar soft couch. Wow. It had been a long time since I sat there.
“Want something to drink?” Sherry remained standing. “Coffee, tea?”
“None for me, thank you,” Mom said. “We just had lunch.”
I shook my head at Sherry. “Thanks, no.”
“Okay. I’ll get that information for you.” She headed into her kitchen.
In the corner of the living room stood a large basket filled with J.T.’s toys. A tiny teapot and cups sat on the fireplace hearth. Mom pointed to it. “You used to do that, Lisa. Have tea parties.”
Sherry returned, holding a piece of paper. “That’s Rebecca’s favorite thing these day
s. We have a little party every night before she goes to bed. Jay pours.”
Pain cut through me. Someday I would have that. A husband and kids and tea parties. Someday.
Sherry winced, as if she knew what I was thinking. “Here.” She handed me the paper. “His name is Rocky Rhodes.”
I looked at her sideways. “Rocky Rhodes?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t name the guy. Jay says he’s good. The investment firm has sent a lot of work his way. You’d better give him a call now ’cause you might not get through at first. Jay says to tell the guy he referred you.” She sat down in the rocking chair she’d inherited from her mother.
I looked at the piece of paper. “Is Rocky a nickname?”
“I don’t know.”
What mother with the last name of Rhodes would name her son Rocky?
“Maybe he’s a son of the sixties,” Mom said. “Hippie parents facing hard times.”
Sherry laughed. “Hah, that’s good. Or maybe they loved the ice cream flavor.”
Mom smiled.
Well, what do you know.
I pulled out my cell phone to call Rocky Rhodes. Some female assistant took the call, saying he wasn’t available. But the attorney knew Jay well, and she was sure Rhodes would get back to me as soon as he could.
“It has to be in the next few hours, or I’ll need to contact someone else.”
“Okay. He’ll call you.”
I set the phone in my lap and looked to Sherry. If this didn’t work, I was in big trouble. “How long do you think I should give him?” It was now after 2:00.
“You don’t have time to wait,” Mom jumped in. “Keep looking.”
Sherry threw her an irritated glance. “No, give him at least an hour.”
Here they went again. Another minute and they’d be out-and-out arguing. I put a hand over my eyes, suddenly exhausted. I was tired of being caught in the middle.
Mom touched my arm. “What’s the matter?”
I sat back. “Look, you’re my mother, and Sherry’s my best friend. And I really don’t like you snipping at each other. So guess what—I’m not leaving here until you two work this out.”
There. Deal with it.
They looked at each other. Mom took a breath. “Lisa and I have learned quite a few things about each other and ourselves in the last few days.”
Sherry’s eyebrows rose. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“I’m sorry for what I said to you. At the funeral.”
One thing about Mom, she never danced around. I bit the inside of my cheek, eyeing Sherry.
She pressed her lips together. “And I’m sorry for what I said. I shouldn’t have come at you like that.”
An awkward silence followed. Or maybe simply . . . a readjusting. My eyes flicked from one woman to the other.
Mom slipped into a tight smile. “Well then, that’s that.”
Sherry nodded. “I guess it is.”
That was it? All the ill will—fixed with two simple apologies?
Clearly it was easier to make up with someone other than your own mother. Mom and I had taken a number of days to even begin sorting through our issues. We still had a lot of work ahead of us.
Sherry hit her palm against the arm of the rocking chair. “So, Lisa. You going to tell me what in the world is going on?”
Another wave of tiredness hit. But I’d promised Sherry. “It started from seeing the outside of the murderer’s—well, what I thought was the murderer’s—house in my visions . . .” I detailed how we’d found Hilderbrand, then Patti Stolsinger. Our meeting with Officer Bremer and his shocking news—Patti was alive. I wasn’t too happy having to tell Sherry how I’d behaved at Patti’s house.
“You did that?” Sherry gaped at me.
“I was . . . overcome.”
Sherry tilted her head. “I can understand that. But I understand Patti’s reaction too. She had no idea who you were. Imagine if some stranger came at you like that.”
“Yeah, I know.”
My story continued. Meeting with Hilderbrand, and finally, his and my agreement. “Which I’m not supposed to be talking to you about, by the way.”
Sherry shrugged. “You haven’t signed the document yet. But yes, I’ll keep it to myself.”
Mom tipped her head. “Won’t your husband be curious?”
“Don’t worry, he won’t tell anyone either.”
“But that’s one more person who would know the details of this agreement.” Mom frowned at me. “Lisa, if this leaks out, Cognoscenti could pursue you for their money back.”
“It’s not going to leak out, Mom. Sherry and Jay won’t tell anyone.”
“Just make sure you don’t.” Mom eyed Sherry.
Oh, no, not again.
Sherry gave my mother a long look. “You can trust us. Alice.”
A fluttering beat ticked by. I almost hoped J.T. would wake up and interrupt us.
Mom nodded. “I’m sure we can.”
Sherry seemed to accept that. She shifted her gaze to me. Some new thought flitted across her face. “One thing I don’t get. Didn’t you say Hilderbrand told you even his vice president didn’t know you were being lied to about the placebo?”
“Yeah.”
“But the vice president is in charge of the trial.”
Jerry Sterne and Clair Saxton had said as much. “True.”
“So . . . even the guy in charge of the trial doesn’t know who received a placebo and who didn’t?”
I had to think that one over. “Guess not.”
Mom was frowning at the coffee table.
“So it must have been Hilderbrand himself who chose which patients got the placebo and who got the real chip,” Sherry said.
Mom looked up. “No, it would have been done in some random fashion. But maybe Hilderbrand alone had the information on who got what.”
I shook my head. “Why does it matter, Sherry?”
“Probably doesn’t. I just find it interesting that the CEO himself is the only one who knows who got real chips in the trial.”
“He’s not just CEO, though. He’s the inventor. The Empowerment Chip is his baby. And his potential huge fortune. He has to make sure the trial goes right.”
Which was why Hilderbrand was paying me a million dollars so he could inspect the chip someone had tampered with. What would he find on the thing? And whatever it was—would it lead him to who’d—
He washed the red-stained knife in the sink.
“Oh . . .”
Blood ran down the blade and into the stainless steel, crimson on silver. It mixed with the water and swirled into the drain . . .
I wrenched back to Sherry’s living room, my muscles tight.
“Lisa?” Mom touched my arm. “What happened?”
I swayed, still seeing the blood. I knew it wasn’t real. Patti wasn’t dead. Still it seemed so . . . “I just had—”
A clump of blood stuck to the top of the blade, just below the handle. He rubbed it with two fingers.
A thump sounded behind him. He whipped his head around. Patti lay on the floor, still. Eyes open. Another sound. His eyes flicked to the refrigerator. He breathed out, long and low. “Ice maker.”
He turned back to the knife . . .
The scene faded.
I swallowed and blinked hard. My eyes stung with tears. All that blood.
“You all right?” Mom asked.
“Can I have some water?”
Sherry scurried into the kitchen. She brought back a glass, and I drained it. She took the glass from my trembling fingers. “What’d you see?”
I collapsed back against the couch and told them. I could still see the blood whirling in that sink. Made me shudder.
Mom put her arm around me. “I can’t wait till this is over for you.”
I nodded weakly. This was exactly why I needed to get rid of that chip.
Sherry pressed her hands against her cheeks. “This is terrible. You looked absolutely . . . kidnapped. Like your
mind was totally somewhere else.”
It was.
The water hissed. He held up the knife, inspected one side, then the other. It was clean.
He laid it on the counter. Washed his hands. Blood on his left wrist caught his attention. It had splattered all the way up to the bevel of his fancy gold watch. A Rolex. He grabbed a tissue and wiped it off. The blood disappeared. Beneath it was a readout of the date.
Monday, March 19—
The cell phone in my lap rang. I jumped, my body tearing back to the present. The cell went off again. I gawked at it.
“Better answer.” Mom picked it up. “It may be the attorney.”
I shook my head, trying to clear it. Half my mind was still staring at that watch . . . Monday, March 19. I took the phone from Mom and read the ID. Rockland Rhodes.
Rockland. That was even worse than Rocky.
I punched on the line. “H-hello?”
“Lisa Newberry?” He introduced himself. “I hear Jay Grubacker referred you. You’re in need of an attorney immediately?”
That watch . . . A gold Rolex. Different than the one the man was wearing before.
“Yes. I need someone to look over a legal document before I sign it. It’s with a company called Cognoscenti.”
“Ah, yes.”
Oh, no, was this a conflict of interest? “Have you worked for them?”
“No. But I’ve heard of them.”
He asked me what kind of document. I told him.
“You mean it’s a settlement, then?”
I hadn’t thought of it that way. “Sort of.”
“How much money is involved?”
“One million.”
“Ask him his fee,” Mom whispered.
“What would your fee be for reading the document?”
“For settlements it’s a standard twenty percent.”
What? I pulled the phone from my ear and looked to Mom. “He wants twenty percent.”
She huffed. “Give me the phone.”
I shoved it into her hand. Fine, let her deal with it.
My mind returned to the bloodied watch. The date on it. A different watch than before.
Why?
“Mr. Rhodes? Hello, I’m Lisa’s mother. Look, we’re only talking a couple hours’ work on your part. I realize there’s a standard fee in settlement cases, but Lisa’s done all the work here. All you have to do is read over the document.”
Double Blind Page 18