by H. P. Bayne
Forbes, for now, stayed where he was. “You good?”
Sully nodded, not yet trusting his voice. There was something in Forbes’s expression, not an unasked question so much as something needing said. As far as Sully could think, there wasn’t much he needed to say. He’d already told Forbes about the Blue Room, about what had happened to him in this place.
A few moments passed before Forbes spoke. “My mother. She was a patient here. I’ve always wondered….”
The admission, trailing off to silence, jarred Sully, shoved his own trauma temporarily into the background. “What?”
Forbes stood, eyes casting over the room. “Do you think she would have been brought in here?”
Sully pressed back against the wall, using it as support as he drew himself to standing. His legs felt a little unsteady beneath him, but they held. “As far as I’m aware, Gerhardt only used this room to experiment on patients with some sort of psychic ability. Did your mother have anything like that?”
Forbes shook his head slowly, but continued to sweep his gaze over the room. “Not that I was ever aware. I was under the understanding she was treated all right here, but being here, knowing what happened to you, it makes me wonder.” He met Sully’s eye briefly, before his eyes darted away. This time, his gaze didn’t appear to focus. “She suffered a severe breakdown when I was a kid. Dad didn’t have any choice but to commit her. She had days where things seemed all right, where I’d visit and she’d seem just like she always had been. But I found out later those days were few and far between. She tried to run more than once, but never made it far before they caught her again. Eventually, she found a way to escape so they’d never be able to bring her back in.”
Sully didn’t ask. What Forbes meant was clear.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Forbes didn’t respond directly. His eyes snapped back onto Sully’s. “Can you see her?”
Sully shook his head. He couldn’t see her, which probably boded well for both Forbes and his mom. But, as he focused, he believed he could sense her, a protective, loving energy near the police detective. “I can only see the ones who were murdered. But I think she’s here, with you. I don’t feel like she’s upset or anything. She’s protecting you. Maybe she always does.”
A sheen formed over Forbes’s eyes, and he turned away to hide his emotion. “Sometimes I think I feel her around me. I always figured I was just being stupid.”
“There’s nothing stupid about that.”
Forbes nodded. “Maybe it’s why I married Greta. I knew she had problems, that she struggled with drugs and her mental health. I couldn’t fix my mom, so maybe I set out to fix Greta.” He chuckled bitterly. “Didn’t work out so good, did it?”
“You did your best.”
“My best wasn’t good enough.”
It was the most real conversation Sully had ever had with the man. It ended almost as soon as it began when Lachlan’s head popped back into the room. He met Sully’s eye before drifting past Emily to settle on Forbes.
“There’s something you need to see. Come on.”
Sully was happy enough to leave the Blue Room behind, shutting off the light as he tailed the others to a room across the hall and a couple of doors down.
“Don’t turn on the lights,” Lachlan advised. “There’s a window in here.”
The windows were dusty, but enough daylight filtered through that they didn’t need additional light to see by. Filing cabinets lined one wall and Lachlan drew their attention there. “There are loads of historic patient files in here, most from before the new institution was built. But I found others, those of patients like Sullivan who were taken to the Blue Room. Gerhardt kept notes—enough to get the authorities asking some big questions.”
Sully stepped forward. “Is my file in there?”
Forbes caught his arm. “Don’t. Don’t touch anything, either of you. This is evidence. If we start tampering with it, any search warrant I manage to obtain will be pointless if this ever ends up in court.”
“You’re already in here when you shouldn’t be,” Sully said. “That’s enough to screw up your case.”
“Worse comes to worse, I can say I came in here because I saw evidence you people had broken in. But I need a search warrant for anything not in plain sight.”
Lachlan crossed the room, walking past a desk until he reached a large, windowed medicine cabinet. “Is this plain sight enough for you?”
Forbes, Sully and Emily joined Lachlan, each peering through the cabinet panes at the drugs on the other side. Many appeared old, like they’d been there forever. But a handful, vials containing a liquid injectable, were clearly new. What was more, they were familiar.
“That’s the drug,” Sully said. “The one they gave me in the Blue Room.”
“You’re sure?” Lachlan asked. “You wouldn’t have been in a position to see the markings on the labels, would you?”
That was true. “Well, they look identical, anyway.”
“Easy enough to figure it out, I guess,” Forbes said. “We can get this stuff tested as a non-LOBRA lab, see if it would cause the sort of experience you described. Leave it alone. I’ll ensure the warrant covers this.”
Lachlan rolled his eyes and returned to the filing cabinets. He pulled out a drawer, removed and opened a file and started snapping photos with his phone’s camera.
“Hey,” Forbes snapped, rushing over to Lachlan. “Cut it out!”
There was no lock on the medicine cabinet door. Sully cracked open one of the doors and snatched a vial from inside, dropping it into a jacket pocket before Forbes would notice. He met Emily’s eye and the two shared a small, conspiratorial smile as Sully resealed the cabinet.
Forbes was still arguing quietly with Lachlan as Sully’s phone pinged an incoming message from within his pocket. He pulled it out and read the text from Dez: Mom and I finished talking to G. Fill you in when I see you. Cut it short and get out. Will wait.
Sully sent a quick text back—K—before looking up to address the others.
“Hey, guys, Dez just—”
He halted abruptly as a sound reached his ears, something mechanical from just down the hallway.
“Lachlan, goddammit, stop—”
Sully shushed Forbes, drawing everyone into silence until they, too, had a chance to listen.
Lachlan identified the noise first.
“Bloody hell,” he said. “That’s the elevator.” His eyes snapped from the office door to Sully.
“Someone’s coming.”
22
Lachlan slid the drawer to the filing cabinet shut while Sully ran to the office door. The elevator gears stopped grinding as the car paused a floor above.
Forbes appeared, anxiety rolling off him, at Sully’s left shoulder. “We need to get the hell out of here. Now.”
There was no arguing the point, but exiting the way they’d come was an impossibility. That became obvious the moment they were back in the hall.
“We can’t go back the way we came,” Lachlan said, pulling shut and locking the office door. “Whoever that is, they’ll see us, or at least hear us before we can get back to the exit. In any case, as soon as we crack that door open, the hallway will be flooded with light.”
“The stairs,” Emily said. “The ones past the elevator. It’s the only way.”
Forbes gripped Sully’s arm and tugged at him to get him moving. “Let’s go.”
“Sullivan can’t go that way,” Lachlan said. “It leads to a hall connecting to the main institution. Security cameras are all over the place. If he’s seen—”
“Go,” Sully said. “I’ll find somewhere to hide. As soon as Gerhardt, or whoever that is, goes into the office or the Blue Room, I’ll head for the outside door.”
Forbes didn’t need to be told twice. The elevator had started up again, grinding slowly toward the basement floor.
Lachlan paused briefly at Sully’s side. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah
.” Sully remembered the vial, and pulled it from his pocket, thrusting it into Lachlan’s hand. “Take this and have it tested.”
Lachlan appeared uncertain but nodded anyway. Then he jogged after Forbes. Emily, though, wasn’t moving.
“Emily—” Sully began, but she cut him off before he could protest further.
“I’m not leaving you here alone.” She grabbed his hand and pulled at it. “Follow me. Quickly.”
The elevator dinged as it reached the floor and prepared to open. The sound was nearly enough to launch another panic attack, but Sully managed to keep his focus and follow Emily as she moved down the hallway in the direction of the outside door. There was nowhere near time enough to reach the exit, and Sully gave it no thought as Emily led him inside one of the darkened rooms along the hallway. It wasn’t until they were inside, concealed in shadow with the door slightly ajar that Sully realized where they were: the room where, twenty-four-and-a-half years ago, he was born.
There was no time to protest Emily’s choice of hiding place. The elevator had opened and the sound of movement—a shuffling gait interspersed by the sound of a cane against the floor—reached his ears.
Sully’s heart pounded in his chest, breath catching in his throat as he recognized Gerhardt’s footsteps.
Sully had lost the most intrusive of the ghosts when he’d entered the Blue Room, but she’d found him again, standing immediately next to him as he sought to control his fear. He thought about Dez, wishing he could call him; since childhood, the sound of his brother’s voice was often enough to settle his nerves. That wasn’t a possibility, but the thought of Dez brought something else to mind. If Dez saw Forbes and Lachlan emerge from the building without Sully and Emily, he’d flip out.
Sully pulled out his phone, retreating to the nearest corner of the room and facing into it, ensuring the light from his screen wouldn’t be visible from the hall. It was, however, enough to further light the ghastly face of the patient who insisted on pressing well into his personal space.
Sully turned his face farther into the shelter of his hood and did his best to ignore the woman while firing off a text to Dez: Emily and I still inside. We’re fine. Take Mom home. Will c u ltr.
He wasn’t surprised by the text that followed seconds later: Like hell
Sully sent a reply. Emily has her piece. Will be fine. Make sure Eva and K ok
The reply didn’t come immediately, suggesting Dez was either distracted or thinking. Sully would have put money on the latter. When at last he responded—K. Keep me posted—Sully realized he’d won the brief debate. Problem was, he wasn’t sure whether he should feel relieved or despondent.
He sought comfort in Emily, double-checking his phone was on silent and tucked away before rejoining her just behind the door. As if sensing his anxiety, she reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. It seemed fitting, that the woman who’d taken care of him all those years back was here, doing the same thing all over again.
Another sound reached his ears: footsteps, quieter than the first set. They came from the end of the hall nearest the stairs leading to the adjoining hallway, and for a moment, Sully wondered whether Lachlan had decided to return to question the doctor.
What he heard instead almost put him on his ass on the cold, dusty floor.
“Doctor?”
He knew the voice, had exchanged conversation with its owner only recently.
Snowy.
“My God,” Gerhardt said. “You have some nerve showing up here after that escape. One of my orderlies is still off with a concussion thanks to your son.”
There was a brief pause, followed by Snowy saying, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I have information I think you’ll want. All you have to do is turn the other way as it relates to my son and me. I want us to be able to come out of hiding, and you’re a part of that. If you would just agree to—”
“I’m not making any bargains with you, Phoebe.”
“Even after everything I did for you? I gave you all of those psychics. I told you who might be able to help you.”
“You didn’t do that for me. You did it for you. You wanted out of the treatments.”
“All I’m asking is for you to agree to turn the other way should you see Terrence or me in future. All we want is a chance at a life, a real life. Now I don’t have much time. He doesn’t know I’m here speaking with you. He wouldn’t approve of what I’m doing.”
“Which is?”
“Betraying a man he and I both respect.”
Sully’s heart pounded against his ribs as Gerhardt paused in apparent thought. Sully knew without possessing Snowy’s gift of clairvoyance she was about to sell him out to Gerhardt.
Escape was now more necessary than ever, but it sounded like Gerhardt and Snowy were speaking not inside an office or other room, but in the hall, just a few doors down. Sully could run, and no one immediately present in the basement could catch him. But Emily might not be as fast, and he wouldn’t abandon her here. Anyway, there was the problem of all the staff on the premises. Even if Sully and Emily escaped the building, a simple phone call from Gerhardt would have the gates shut and staff on alert before full escape could be made.
They had no option but to stay put and keep silent.
“All right,” Gerhardt said at last. “I’ll bite. Who do you mean?”
“I need your assurance.”
“As I understand it, your son’s problems are rather deeper than just his doings at Lockwood during your escape.”
“One problem at a time,” Snowy said.
“Fine,” Gerhardt said. “I won’t make efforts to find either of you in future.”
Sully wouldn’t have put much faith in anything Gerhardt promised, but Snowy forged on anyway. Whether that was suggestive of her claim she couldn’t read Gerhardt like she did others, or whether it was simply a sign of desperate times calling for desperate measures, he didn’t know. All he knew was what she said next.
“Sullivan Gray. He’s alive.”
Another pause, one into which Emily interjected with a squeeze hard enough to crush Sully’s fingers.
“He died in a cave collapse shortly after his own escape,” Gerhardt said. But the tone was slow and thoughtful rather than immediately dismissive.
“I can assure you, Doctor, he is very much alive. I’ve seen him. I’ve spoken to him.”
She paused, and Sully was left to wish he shared her ability to read minds.
“Phoebe?” Gerhardt prodded.
“He’s here,” she said.
“Here, as in Kimotan Rapids?” he asked.
“Here, as in right down the hall.”
23
Sully’s stomach dropped.
Just a few words, and Snowy had as good as destroyed him.
In the dim light from the hall, he could make out Emily’s head as she turned toward him. She’d never be able to see him in the dark, but she didn’t have to. She’d know the expression he was wearing without having to look him in the eye.
Sully was sunk. But Emily didn’t have to go down with him. That was more than he’d allow.
“Stay here,” he whispered.
“No.”
“Emily, you have to. I need to face Gerhardt. I don’t have a choice. Please, just stay here. Keep your gun at the ready, just in case, okay?”
“I’ll call your brother.” The tone was hopeful, not threatening. But whichever way Sully looked at it, having Dez here was not an option. He had far too much to lose, and Sully had cost his brother too much already.
“No,” he said. “This is about me and Gerhardt. Please, don’t involve Dez any more than he already is. Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
Emily sucked in a breath but said nothing more, and Sully slipped past her before she could think up another argument. Nothing she said could change his mind.
He could hear Gerhardt questioning Snowy further, disbelieving. Sully would have to make this quick, confront Gerhardt before he had time to cal
l in backup. If a search became necessary, Emily would be discovered too. Emily whom Gerhardt had already tried to kill once.
Never again.
Two doors separated Sully from the office he’d just left a few minutes ago. Judging by the light coming from the room, Gerhardt had taken the conversation with Snowy there, no doubt to allow him to use the phone.
He could hear Snowy’s voice. “I’m telling you the truth.”
“I’m sure you believe that,” Gerhardt said. “Don’t worry. I’ll call in some help to ensure a thorough search of the place.”
Sully checked his phone, relieved it still had charge. He opened the recorder app and hit the red button to get it running.
Then he stepped through the door.
“You know, you could just search the floor yourself. Or are you afraid of what would happen if it was just you and me, Doc?”
Sully had kept his hood up until now. Now it no longer mattered. He reached up, drawing it down around his shoulders, revealing his face.
Gerhardt’s hand had been on a phone sitting atop the desk; he dropped it like a hot potato when he made eye contact.
“My God… My God.”
“Not quite,” Sully said. He risked turning his glare to Snowy, who stood this side of the psychiatrist’s desk, hands over her mouth as if startled by the sight of the fellow psychic. Sure, she’d known he was there, but seeing him face to face, that was a whole other matter.
“I trusted you,” he said.
Her eyes filled with tears, and a sob erupted from her throat. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just wanted it to end. Terrence, he doesn’t deserve this.”
“Terrence’s biggest problem isn’t Gerhardt. That’s your problem. Terrence’s concern is Lowell Braddock. Don’t try to tell me you coming here like this was all about you being a concerned mother. You were looking out for you.”