Double Blind

by Brandilyn Collins

  Suddenly Tuesday seemed so far away. I didn’t want to stay in the hospital that long. “I want to go home tomorrow.”

  Sherry hesitated. “Really? I thought you’d be spending an extra day.”

  “I could. But I don’t want to. Or need to. I’m feeling ready to go.”

  “Well, okay.”

  She sounded a little reluctant. “Can you come get me tomorrow?”

  “It’s just that the babysitter isn’t available then.”

  Oh. That was a problem. The hospital was no place to bring a toddler.

  “But don’t worry, I’ll figure it out. If you want to come home tomorrow, I’ll make it happen.”

  Yes! “Thanks so much. You’re amazing.”

  “Yeah, well. So are you, Miss Two-Brain-Surgeries-in-a-Week.”

  I smiled and hung up the phone. Soon I drifted off again.

  Sometime later a knock on my open door tugged me from sleep. Light footsteps followed. My eyes blinked open. Of all people, Patti Stolsinger gazed down at me.

  Oh.

  She was wearing the blue silk top. The one in my visions. The one I’d seen stained with blood. My body went rigid. That top. One more detail that was real.

  “Hi,” she whispered.

  I lay still, mouth hinged open. Highly aware of my weakness. Why was she here? “Hi.”

  She bit her lip. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to argue with you.”

  Good thing. She’d win.

  “Can I . . . talk to you for a minute, Lisa?”

  I nodded.

  She set down the purse slung over her shoulder and pulled up one of the yellow chairs. I pushed my sleepiness away. I would need my wits about me.

  Patti sat and folded her hands in her lap. “Bill wanted me to come. So I could assure you I don’t hold anything against you.”

  Hilderbrand concerned about me? “In other words, you didn’t want to.”

  “No, no, I didn’t mean that. I did want to. It’s just that he suggested it first.”

  “That’s nice of him.”

  Should I be buying this?

  Patti rubbed her palms against her jeaned legs. “After you saw him on Friday and told him the full story, he told it to me. We were both amazed at what you’d gone through. I really had no idea. I knew some of it, of course, but . . . That night at my house, I was too startled to let it sink in.”

  “I can believe that.”

  She nodded. “Anyway I just wanted to personally say I’m sorry. I know I wasn’t very nice to you on the phone. Now I know none of this was your fault. Actually, we’re both on the same side. Somebody tried to sabotage the Empowerment Chip—which hurt both of us.”

  Yeah, well, it hurt me a lot more than her. But I knew what she meant. Her face and name had been dragged into it. “That’s okay. I’m sorry, too. I’ve never yelled at anyone like that before in my life. I was just . . . beside myself.”

  “I get that now.”

  We fell silent.

  Patti focused on the bed. “I hope you didn’t suffer any more of those horrible visions before you got to surgery.”

  “A few. They were short.”

  “Oh, no.”

  I shrugged. “Apparently I survived.”

  “But I’m so sorry. What did you see?”

  The scenes splashed through my head. “It’s not something you’d want to hear.”

  “It’s okay. Bill should know. And I’ll . . . deal with it.”

  I gazed at her. “It wasn’t much, really. Just . . . the man, washing blood off the knife in his kitchen sink. I saw his gold watch. Really fancy Rolex. The time was 5:35. And the date was tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Monday, March 19.”

  “You mean he had a gold Rolex that shows the day and date?”

  “Yeah.”

  Shock flattened Patti’s expression. She looked away.

  What was that about? “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you.”

  She managed a wan smile. “Oh, it’s fine. I just . . . I’m glad all that’s out of your head.”

  Her stunned reaction ping-ponged in my mind. “Does Dr. Hilderbrand have a watch like that?”

  She still wouldn’t look at me. “No.”

  She was lying. It was written all over her face. Pinpricks went down my back. Why would she lie about this? “No?”

  Patti shook her head.

  He did. He did. My heart turned over. I focused on the bedcovers, fighting to keep a calm expression. Hilderbrand owned that watch. It was real, too.

  And she didn’t want me to know.

  What did this mean?

  I shifted my position. What to say to keep her talking? “Dr. Hilderbrand has the chip they took out of me, right?”

  She turned back to me. “You bet he does.”

  “Has he examined it in the lab yet?”

  “He’s doing that today.”

  Today. What would he find?

  What would he think when Patti told him I’d seen his real watch?

  “He agreed to tell me what he finds out,” I said.

  “I know.”

  “Do you think he’ll really do that?”

  She shrugged. “He said he would.”

  More than said. It was in the contract. But he’d lied to me before. If he claimed he found nothing, how could I press it?

  Patti gazed at the bandage on my head. “How are you feeling?”

  “Okay.”

  “The new chip?”

  My lips curved. “It’s good. Working well—and no more visions of your murder.”

  “Well.” She shivered. “Glad to hear that.”

  The blue silk of her top screamed at me. And the watch . . .

  “Is it scary to have enemies like that, Patti? Who’d want to bring down your boyfriend’s company and involve you, too?”

  She looked at her lap. “Terrifying.”

  She sounded so plaintive. For the first time I felt real sympathy for her. Bad enough that she was dating a man who couldn’t be trusted not to cheat on her.

  “Why do you stay with him?” The question blurted out. I half expected Patti to get up and stalk from the room.

  She laced and unlaced her hands. “I love him.”

  I watched her face. Waited for her to say more.

  “You don’t know him, Lisa. I mean, he’s brilliant. Look at what he’s created. And he’s confident and strong. Everything I need . . .”

  Except trustworthiness. All the same, I could partially understand. On the outside Patti Stolsinger looked like she had it all. Beauty, health, a good career. But who knew what demons chewed at her self-worth?

  My expression softened. “I see.” And I did. Not that I thought she was right.

  Patti’s mouth opened, then closed. A frown flicked across her forehead. I had the distinct impression she wanted to ask me something but didn’t know how.

  I waited, but she said nothing.

  “Don’t . . . settle, Patti. Confidence and intelligence are great. But they can never beat out reliability. And gentleness.” I pictured Ryan.

  Patti raised her chin in a defensive gesture—then blinked. Her gaze slipped away. She gave a tiny, defeated nod.

  A warning light went off in my head. Was Hilderbrand abusive to her? He seemed like such a hard man. It was easy to imagine him losing his temper, especially if she ever confronted him about running around on her.

  The false memories of her murder—did they scare Patti on some deeper level? Maybe she thought they were some kind of sign. And now she knew I’d seen Hilderbrand’s watch.

  I licked my lips. “Patti, are you afraid of—”

  “I need to go.” She rose. “I’m sure you should be resting.”

  No way could I let her leave yet. I needed answers. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course, what do you mean?” She busied herself with returning the chair to its position against the wall. By the time she turned back to me, her anxious expression was gone. She gave me a
tight smile. “I wish you the best, Lisa. And I’m very glad to hear the Empowerment Chip is working for you.”

  Clearly I would get no more out of her. But her face and body language had said plenty. “Thank you.”

  Patti picked up her purse. “Anything I can get you before I go?”

  More empty politeness. The vibrations coming off her said she wanted out of there. “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

  She nodded.

  “I appreciate your coming to see me. Hope to talk to you again sometime. You have my number.”

  She managed another smile. “Bye, Lisa.”

  “Bye.”

  When she left the room, the air thrummed.

  MONDAY, MARCH 19

  Chapter 33

  AS I CHECKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL LATE MONDAY MORNING I felt pretty good physically, considering I’d been through back-to-back brain surgeries. But my mind wouldn’t settle. I kept going over and over Patti’s visit. Something was off. Something important. Like that watch showing today’s date. Monday, March 19. Hilderbrand’s real watch.

  Sherry had left J.T. with a pinch-hit babysitter, but not for long. She had time to pick me up and take me home, then had to hightail it back to her own house. Mom had stocked my kitchen before she left, so I’d be set.

  In a phone call Sunday night I’d told Sherry about Patti’s visit. She was as surprised as I’d been. “I know the watch I saw in that final vision was real,” I said more than once. “Even though Patti denied it. I saw it on her face.”

  “That’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

  “And her blouse. The one I saw her wearing when she was murdered. It was the same one she was wearing when she came to see me!”

  “But, Lisa, you already knew some of the details from those scenes were true. Like Hilderbrand’s house and street. And his car.”

  “But these seem different. I mean, they’re personal things Hilderbrand and Patti wear. How could somebody fake that?”

  “The same way they faked a lot of other things, like Patti herself.”

  “Look at all they do with computer graphics in movies these days.”

  I shut up then. But I hadn’t been satisfied.

  Now on the way home, Sherry and I rode mostly in silence. I lay back against the head rest, eyes closed. It seemed no time at all before I felt us turn off of El Camino. Soon we’d reach my apartment building. I sat up with a sigh.

  “You all right?” Sherry glanced at me.

  “Yeah. I’m just tired.”

  “You’re not still worried about Patti’s visit and all that?”

  This woman knew me too well. “Guess I am.”

  “Why?”

  Good question. What was wrong with me? I’d been through the surgery—again—and everything was all over. Hilderbrand had kept his word. I should be nothing but happy. So what if Patti owned that blue top? So what if I’d seen Hilderbrand’s watch?

  “Lisa, tell me.”

  I folded my arms, chilled. “You know how sometimes you just feel things? And you can’t prove anything, but you just know. Or maybe you don’t even know exactly what, but something . . .”

  Yeah, like I “knew” Patti had been murdered when she hadn’t.

  Sherry pulled into a parking spot at the curb in front of my apartment building. Her brow knit. “Yeah.”

  I looked up at my living room window. Why had I let us get into this conversation? “So there’s these . . . things. One is that date I saw on Hilderbrand’s watch. Monday, March 19.”

  “What about it?” Sherry put the car in Park.

  “It’s today. Why did it show that date?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Could have been any date, I suppose.”

  “And why was the watch one that Hilderbrand really owns?”

  “Well, you don’t really know that, right? Patti said it wasn’t.”

  “She was lying. I could tell that right away.”

  “Just by looking at her?”

  “Come on, Sherry, don’t you know when your kids are lying just by looking at them?”

  “They’re kids, Lisa. Which makes them bad liars.”

  “So Patti’s a bad liar.”

  Sherry lifted both hands. “Okay.”

  She wasn’t getting this at all. “Also I think he abuses Patti. Or at least he loses his temper—badly. She’s scared of him.”

  “She didn’t tell you that either, did she?”

  Okay, this was getting just plain irritating.

  Sherry caught my expression. “Look, Lisa, I don’t know why you’re worrying about this now. It’s over. You’ve got a perfectly working chip in your brain, and you don’t have to think about those people ever again.”

  She was right. But I couldn’t help it.

  Sherry squeezed my arm. “I just want to see you better. It’s been a terrible week for you. A terrible year. Now you can put it behind you.”

  I know, but . . . Couldn’t she see how all these things were adding up?

  To what?

  “Yeah, I know. I want to put it all behind me.”

  She smiled. “And you will. Right now you’re just tired. You need to get into your apartment and rest.” Sherry turned off the engine. “Come on. Let’s get you settled.”

  I sighed again and got out of the car.

  Sherry carried my suitcase up the stairs for me. When we got into the apartment she checked the cupboards and refrigerator, making sure I had everything I needed.

  “I’m set, Sherry. Mom already did all that. I know you need to go.”

  She looked me over. “I don’t like leaving you alone.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m just going to sleep.”

  She bit her lip. “Call me when you wake up?”

  “Promise.”

  “Yeah? Just make sure you follow through better than last time.”

  I deserved that. “I will.”

  She gave me a long hug and reluctantly left.

  I bolted the door behind her, wishing I could call Mom and tell her I was home. But my mother was tied up in meetings all day. I’d have to wait till evening.

  I turned around and faced my apartment. Nine days ago at this same moment, I’d seen the suitcase for the first time. And I’d begun to go flat out crazy.

  Now—blessed nothing.

  All the same, for some reason I pictured the eye of a storm. That humming stillness before the world exploded.

  Chapter 34

  A RINGING PHONE WOKE ME FROM A DREAMLESS SLEEP. I blinked a few times and stretched out my arm, fumbling for the receiver. “Hello?” My voice sounded thick.

  “Lisa? This is Agnes Brighton.”

  It took a minute to place the name. “Hi, Agnes.”

  “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

  “It’s okay.” I pushed myself to sit up against the headboard. “I was just . . . resting.”

  “I am sorry. I’ll be brief. You wanted me to call you if I remembered where I’d seen the photo of the drawing I did for you. Your victim?”

  My chin dropped. She was a little late. “Uh-huh.”

  “I remembered where I’d seen her. And by the way, I suppose you know by now a policeman called me about the case.”

  The case that wasn’t, she meant. Although Officer Bremer had probably only asked Agnes questions, not told her the outcome of his investigation. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Anyway I saw the woman in your drawing about four to five weeks ago at a jewelry store in Redwood City. She was with a man, but it looked like they’d come in separate cars. I was only in there for a couple minutes when she was there. They were looking at engagement rings. She and I left about the same time.”

  Engagement rings. Patti must have been with Hilderbrand. “What jewelry store?”

  She hesitated. “If you hadn’t asked me, I’d be able to tell you.” Another pause. “Oh, I just can’t remember. Anyway, it’s on the south end of Redwood City on El Camino, just above the Atherton border.”

  Hilderbr
and’s driving route from the murder scenes flashed in my head. He’d passed a jewelry store on El Camino. “Does the building sort of look like a house?”

  “Yes. It’s on your right when you’re headed south.”

  That was the one.

  “Does this help you, Lisa?”

  “Yes, thanks.” I didn’t want to tell her I’d found the woman days ago—alive. Not a conversation I cared to get into. “What made you remember this now?”

  “I was in that jewelry store again. They’ve been fixing a bracelet for me, something I recently inherited. I went to pick it up. And—boom, it hit me. I could picture her at the counter.”

  The mysteries of memory. “Thanks, Agnes. I really appreciate your calling.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m just sorry to think she’s dead. She was a beautiful woman.”

  Oh, man. At some point I should tell her the truth. “Yeah.”

  “Should I call Officer Bremer and give him this information?”

  But how could I tell her the truth? I wasn’t allowed to talk about my experience with Cognoscenti with anyone. And there was no way to explain without doing that. “You’ve done enough. I’ll handle it. Thanks again.”

  We said our good-byes and hung up. I scooted down on the bed and stared at the far wall.

  Patti and Hilderbrand, looking at engagement rings. But here it was—what did Agnes say?—four or five weeks later, and Patti wasn’t wearing a ring.

  Four to five weeks. Why did that seem significant?

  I pushed from bed and headed into the kitchen, where I kept a small calendar in a drawer. I pulled it out and counted back five weeks. And landed on February 12.

  Four days before February 16—the original date Mom and I had calculated for Patti’s murder.

  Yeah, so? The murder never happened. I shoved the calendar back in the drawer.

  The clock read 3:35. If Mom was here, she’d be making me eat. I dropped into a chair at the table and tried to clear my head. Why did Agnes’s call bug me so much?

  My last vision had shown 5:35 on Hilderbrand’s watch—one I was convinced he really owned. And today’s date. Today.

  Which meant nothing. The first date was clearly wrong. Why shouldn’t this one be wrong too?

  Because this time I saw his real watch.