4:45 P.M.
Nick loosened his tie as he sped back to Bowie. “And you’re sure that’s what you saw?”
“Positive.”
“Two hundred million dollars.” Nick whistled. “That’s enough to kill for.”
“I wonder who they were selling to?” Josie wondered out loud.
“A foreign power, a private company.” Nick ran his fingers through his hair. “Hell, maybe even the Grid. Everyone and their mom would want exclusive ownership of a way to get rid of the Nox.”
Josie nodded. “A traitor. There was a traitor working on Project Raze.” She paused, and looked right at Nick. “It could be anyone,” she said. “Anyone with access to the laser.”
“Even Dr. Byrne herself,” Nick said.
“Would she really keep transcripts of her own illegal activities in her desk drawer?” Josie asked. Seemed like a bonehead move.
“Maybe.” Nick shrugged. “If she felt like she was about to get caught, she could always pretend to be a whistle-blower.”
Josie nodded. “Yeah, that could make sense.”
Nick set his jaw. “If it’s true,” he said slowly, “if she’s responsible for my brother’s death, she’d better pray she never comes back here.”
3:59 A.M.
“NO!”
There’s a crash and a bang from the kitchen, then the violent sound of breaking glass. Jo runs down the hall to the kitchen and stops short at the door.
Her mom is ripping the kitchen apart. She opens every cupboard, every drawer, and pulls their contents out. She examines everything, then drops them on the floor. She dumps boxes of cereal and pasta on the counter. Canisters of flour, sugar, and who knows what else are poured unceremoniously on the table. Plates and silverware, condiments and tea bags—she’s tearing the room apart.
After every inch of the kitchen has been ravaged, her mom leans on the counter, her back to Jo.
“Mom?” Jo asks.
She doesn’t turn around, just continues to lean on her elbows, head hung low, panting.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s gone,” she says, her voice little more than a croak. “I’ve lost it.”
“What?” Jo asks gently. She’s never seen her mom like this.
“I put it in the one place no one would look for it. But now . . .” Her mom babbles on like she doesn’t hear anything. “If it’s back there, I . . . we have nothing. It was our future here.”
“Um, okay,” Jo says. “Then we’ll just go back and get it.” She tries to keep the excitement out of her voice.
Her mom swings around suddenly and storms up to Jo, grabbing her fiercely by the shoulders. “We can’t go back. Do you hear me?” She shakes Jo violently. “We can never go back.”
Jo breaks free. “Why not?”
“The explosion,” she says. “Tony’s dead. You said it yourself.”
“Mom, I don’t understand.”
“The experiment was sabotaged and I disappeared with the last of the formula. See?”
Jo stiffens. This is why Nick hates me.
“There will be a warrant out for my arrest,” her mom continues, a panicked look in her eyes. “And the Grid will be after me as well.”
“We’ll fix it. We’ll have him fix it.” I have to go back. I have to explain this to Nick.
Her mom releases her grasp and turns toward the window, planting her hands on the counter. “We cannot go back. Ever.”
Josie was smiling before she even opened her eyes. Short of a dream showing her the way home, this was the best thing that could have happened. She pulled off the sleep mask and calmly climbed out of bed. She knew what Dr. Byrne had lost. And more importantly, she knew where to find it.
For the first time in days, Josie could see the light in the darkness.
FORTY
12:35 P.M.
“AND IT WAS JUST THERE?” NICK ASKED.
Josie smiled. “Yep.”
“In the coffee bin?”
“Smell it.”
Nick held the vial up to his nose and took a guarded sniff. His eyebrows shot up. “Yep, in the coffee bin.”
“Crazy, right?”
“More like amazing. Do you know how many people would kill to have this? The only specimen of my brother’s injectable left in existence?”
Josie looked around the cafeteria to see if anyone was paying attention, then reached out and covered the vial with her hand. “Then let’s keep it on the DL, shall we?”
Nick grinned sheepishly, and slipped the vial into the hip pocket of his cargo pants. “Sorry. I’m a little excited.”
“I know.”
“This is my brother’s legacy. And he died trying to prove it could work.” Nick stared at the table for a moment, fingering his uneaten sandwich, then looked up at Josie. “You’re amazing, you know.”
Josie’s heart hiccupped, but she forced herself not to give in, to let her heart go. “No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. Remembering that the canister in your kitchen had tea not coffee? Putting the pieces together. Not many people would have been able to figure out that Dr. Byrne hid the vial in your own kitchen.”
Josie felt a blush creep up her neck and dropped her head to camouflage her embarrassment. “I’m sure anyone would have known. Penelope. Madison.”
At Madison’s name, Nick cocked his head to the side, opened his mouth to say something, then thought the better of it. He picked up his sandwich and took a monstrous bite.
Way to go, Josie.
“Talked to Penelope in first period,” he said, his tone very businesslike as he changed the subject. “She’s going to borrow Mr. Baines’s laser rig and set it up tonight. She wouldn’t tell me what she’s planning, only that it required some ‘tweaking.’ Any idea what she’s working on?”
“Nope.”
Nick shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to just wait and see. Also, I thought I’d take you to Old St. Mary’s after school today.”
Josie dropped her head so Nick couldn’t see her smile. “You don’t have to.”
“I know. I’ll wait in the car if you want, but I thought . . . I don’t know. Maybe you’d like to see her again.”
“Thank you.”
“Besides, maybe she can tell us something about her work that can help. We need to do everything we can to get you home.”
Home. Right. She wanted to go home. And Nick wanted her to go home. Sitting there across a cafeteria table from Nick, she’d momentarily forgotten that little fact.
Nick leaned across the table. “You . . . you do want to go back, right?”
“I need to get my mom home,” she said without actually answering the question.
“Then there we go.” Nick stood up, his face serious. “I’ll see you after school.”
3:05 P.M.
Josie’s mom was sitting up in bed this time when Dr. Cho ushered Josie into her room.
“She’s much improved in the last twenty-four hours,” Dr. Cho said when she greeted Josie. “Your visit made a world of difference.”
Josie forced a smile, hoping her face looked benignly happy. “Hi, Mom!” Josie said with an abundance of enthusiasm. Her mom scooted over and Josie sat down on the edge of the bed. “I hear you’re feeling better?”
“Much.” Her mom’s smile was genuine, but her eyes lingered suspiciously on Dr. Cho.
“You two have a good visit,” Dr. Cho said, closing the door as she backed out of the room. “I’ll be back soon.”
Josie was all smiles until she heard the security door click into place, then her Mouseketeer persona vanished. She leaned close to her mom and dropped her voice to little more than a whisper. “Are you okay?”
Her mom let out a deep breath. “Better. They seem excited with my ‘progress.’” She used air quotes.
“Good; let’s keep it that way. Dr. Byrne needs to have a miraculous recovery. I’m pretty sure that’s the only way I can get you out of here.”
“A recovery?”
&
nbsp; “Pretend it’s all coming back to you. From what I understand you were conducting an experiment, using laser-generated micro black holes.”
Her mom laughed drily. “That’s ironic. That’s almost exactly what I was doing when I ended up here.”
“Really?”
“Controlled creation of micro black holes using ultradense deuterium and laser-generated fusion.” Her mom shook her head. “Apparently not so controlled. We had a small explosion in the lab. I blacked out for a moment, and woke up here. In this world.”
“That would explain it. If you and the other Dr. Byrne were doing the same experiment at the same time.” Josie made an explosion motion with her hands. “Boom.”
Her mom nodded. “Any idea what composition of deuterium they were using?”
“No, only that it was an injectable compound.”
“An injectable? That’s amazing. I’d love to see the formula.”
“Do you think it would help?” Josie asked. “If you knew what was in the formula, maybe how it caused the explosion that sent you here, do you think we could figure out a way to get home?”
Her mom thought for a moment. “Maybe. Do you have the injectable?”
Josie bit her lip and gave an almost imperceptible nod of her head. Then she cleared her throat. “No. No, I don’t,” she said loudly, in case anyone was listening.
There was a commotion outside the cell and Josie heard hurried footsteps clicking across the floor. They didn’t have much time.
“We’re trying to figure a way to get you out of here,” Josie said quickly.
Her mom’s face went blank. “We?”
“Some friends of mine.”
Josie’s mom gripped her arm tightly, digging her fingers into Josie’s flesh. “Don’t trust them. You can’t. Josie, you can’t trust anyone here, do you understand me?”
Dr. Cho rushed into the room. “I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly. “I’m afraid your mother is due for her medication now. We’ll need to cut your visit short.”
Josie forced the sunny smile back onto her face. “Oh, that sucks.”
“Hospital regulations,” Dr. Cho replied.
More like prison regulations.
Josie stood up, but her mom pulled her back, wrapping her arms tightly around her neck.
“You can’t trust anyone,” she whispered frantically.
A cold sensation spread down Josie’s spine, like an ice cube melting against her skin. All of her hope in getting her and her mom home rested in the trust she’d put in people: Nick, Penelope, even Mr. Byrne in his ignorant way. Had she been wrong? Was she placing them in even worse danger?
“I love you too, Mom,” she said out loud, pulling away. The image of her mom’s haunted, bloodshot eyes followed her from the room.
3:59 P.M.
Jo tiptoes down the hallway, careful to avoid the creaking floorboard right outside her mom’s room. She can’t wake up. Her mom would have a fit if she knew what Jo is about to do.
She opens the door to the basement a centimeter at a time. Her heart pounds in her chest. She has to hurry. It’s already time.
Jo flips on the desk lamp in her mom’s makeshift lab and squints against the light. The darkness is so lovely, but she needs to see what she’s about to do.
The mirror faces the wall with a heavy wood beam leaning against it, securing it to the concrete. Jo crouches under it, pushing up with her legs and lifting the beam with her shoulder. She pivots a few inches, then lets the beam come to rest against the wall itself, freeing the mirror, if only temporarily.
Jo pulls the letter from her pocket as she eases the mirror away from the wall. The mirror’s surface is smooth, reflecting Jo’s old bedroom. But Jo doesn’t waste any time. She reaches through the portal and drops the letter on the floor of her room, then lowers the mirror. . . .
“Wait!” Josie screamed.
The car swerved. “Whoa,” Nick said, both hands firmly gripping the wheel. “What the hell?”
She’d fallen asleep in the car. “Jo,” she said breathlessly.
Nick’s head snapped in her direction. “Did you have another dream?”
“She opened the portal.”
“What?”
“She put a note through.” Josie pounded on the dashboard. “Fuck! Why wasn’t I there?”
It was too much. The portal, her mom. Too much. Josie hung her head in her hands and cried.
FORTY-ONE
4:21 P.M.
“HEY,” NICK SAID SOFTLY. HIS HAND CARESSED her shoulder. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Josie wasn’t sure how long she’d been crying, but apparently Nick had pulled the car off to the side of the road and killed the engine. She looked at him, his face sad and calm, and tried to control herself. After a few moments, her sobs, though still erratic, were less frequent, but she felt weak and helpless.
“If only I’d been there,” she said, wiping tears from her cheek. “I could have—”
“You could have what? Beaten the crap out of Jo?”
Josie smiled. “Maybe.” The thought was appealing.
“But it wouldn’t have done your mom any good. She’d still be in that hospital, and it’s not like you could force Dr. Byrne to go back and clear everything up.”
The boy had a point.
“You said it yourself: your best chance is to replicate the experiment that landed your mom here in the first place.”
Josie nodded. He was right. She knew he was right.
“And I’m going to help.” His eyes swept over to her face, down to her neck, and fixed on something there. The necklace. He shook his head, as if snapping himself out of a dream, and quickly sat up straight. He started the car and pulled back onto the highway. “Let’s see what Jo had to say, huh? Now I’m curious.”
4:40 P.M.
Josie,
I’m sorry about all this.
There’s more going on than you know. Even if I could tell you, I doubt you’d believe me. I’m sure you hate me right now, but believe me when I say I didn’t have a choice.
But maybe I can make it up to you.
I need to find something. I thought it was here, but I don’t know if you noticed all the strange items that were switching back and forth between our worlds for the last couple of weeks? I had been missing a pair of shoes that miraculously reappeared a few days after I’d torn the house apart looking for them. Things like that. Back and forth without any warning.
The thing I’m looking for? That’s what happened to it. I think.
You need to search the house when Teresa and Daddy are gone for a black kitchen canister filled with coffee. Yes, I realize that sounds totally bizarre, but I need that canister.
In twenty-four hours I’ll reopen the portal and then, if you have the canister, we can both go home. Deal?
—Jo
Nick lowered the note to the bed and shook his head. “Yep,” he said. “This totally sounds like Jo.”
“Does it?”
“The tone. The way she tries to make you feel that she’s sharing with you when really she’s playing everything close to the vest. Just like her mom.”
Josie was intrigued. “Yeah?”
“My brother said she was single-minded about her job. Like a sociopath, practically.”
“I noticed,” Josie said with a dry laugh.
“Which made her a good scientist, but a crappy colleague.”
“I can see that.” Dr. Byrne was utterly and completely obsessed with her work. “Do you think she did it? Do you think she’s the one who sabotaged the experiment and was going to sell your brother’s formula to the highest bidder?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Nick said. “I mean, she was cold-blooded enough, clearly hiding something. And you did find the chat transcript in her office. If she was suspicious that someone else was the traitor, wouldn’t she have gone to the authorities? She definitely would not have continued the experiment if she thought it was sabotaged, you know?�
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Josie shuddered, thinking about the woman she’d been living with for the past six months. A woman who apparently had no compunction about letting people die in exchange for a hefty payday.
“Jo’s like that too,” Nick continued. “Single-minded. When she decides on something she wants, she doesn’t stop till she gets it.”
Josie smiled. “Like you?”
He steadily met her gaze. “And you.”
“Wish I’d known that four days ago.”
Nick leaned toward her. “Wish I’d known you four days ago.”
Josie wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but it made her feel all warm and fluttery inside. She picked up the letter and lay back on her bed, propping her head up with a pillow as she read through it again. The note was so calculated. Josie could see that now—the cool, collected machinations of the Jo that everyone here seemed to know and loathe.
Why hadn’t she seen it before? Hard to say. Josie had seen what she wanted to see: a perfect family and a boyfriend who adored her.
But now, Josie had the upper hand. It was what Jo omitted from her note that was the most interesting. No mention of Josie’s mom at Old St. Mary’s. No explanation as to why she’d tricked Josie into switching places. She didn’t want Josie to know that she’d reunited with her mom.
Because Jo and her mom had no intention of switching back.
“What are you thinking?” Nick asked softly, lying down next to her.
“They don’t want to come back,” she said. “Jo and her mom. I’ve seen it in my dreams. Dr. Byrne is terrified. She’s lost the vial of the injectable formula, which was her only bargaining chip. She knows she’ll be blamed for sabotaging the experiment and for your brother’s death. And I think she’s more scared of the Grid than anything.”
“She should be.” Nick inched his body toward her. “And what about Jo? Why doesn’t she want to come back?”
“Jo’s got her sights set on . . .” Josie stopped. She almost said, “. . . on my ex-boyfriend.” But she hadn’t told this Nick about his doppelgänger in her world, and her relationship with him. Nick gazed at her as he lay on his side next to her, his face so close to her own she could feel his breath against her cheek. She couldn’t tell him. Not now.
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