“No offense, but why should we help you guys?” Justin interjected. “You drugged us. We didn’t sign up for this.”
“Who cares?” Andrew said. “Seriously, what was so great about our lives before this? What are we all honestly giving up?”
Nothing. There was nothing great in Sabrina’s life to give up. The few interactions the five of them had had in the last few days were the most engaging ones she’d had with anyone in years.
“There’s no way what we’re giving up is better than what we’re getting in return. I’m only seeing an upside,” Andrew said.
Justin sucked in his breath sharply. “Speak for yourself, loser. My life was fine before this.” He turned his dark eyes to Patricia and Nash. “I might not get anyone to believe me, but that doesn’t mean I have to help you.”
“If you don’t want to help, there is a simple solution,” Patricia offered mildly. “There is an antidote to this compound. An antibody I can inject that neutralizes it. We wanted to let you experience the effects of the compound firsthand so you could make an informed decision, but if you don’t want to help with the case, we can reverse what’s happened to you at any moment.”
“And the antidote makes everything go back to normal?” Justin asked, though the edge in his voice had softened, as if now that he knew this newfound ability could disappear, he was rethinking whether he was angry.
“Yes. You will all go back to exactly how you were before,” Patricia replied. She added with emphasis, “Exactly.”
“Issues and all,” Sabrina said, and Patricia nodded.
There it was. The choice Sabrina hadn’t been given before was now hers. The options were stark opposites. She could go back to being the addict dismissed by everyone. To being the girl people didn’t trust to string together a coherent sentence. Or she could stay this new version of herself, a girl trusted with a secret. Sure, they only picked her because she was considered a lost cause by everyone around her. But she could still use this as a chance to prove everyone else wrong. To do something of actual value. To make up for all the years she’d wasted.
“What happens with the antidote if this actually works and we find the serum?” Z asked. “Are you going to force us to take it?”
“No,” Patricia answered. Sabrina felt a burst of relief that confirmed everything she’d already been feeling about the antidote. “It will always be your choice whether you want to take it or not.”
Sabrina leaned forward tentatively. “So can you tell us how any of this would work? Us helping you to solve the case and find the rest of the serum?” Sabrina asked. Quickly, she added, “I’m not saying yes for sure. I’m just curious.”
Patricia raised an eyebrow at the group. “It might be easier for us to show you how it would work.”
* * *
Patricia didn’t specify where they were ultimately headed, but Z was still putting one combat boot in front of the other, walking toward Nash’s van in the parking lot with the others. Maybe it was morbid curiosity pushing her forward. Or maybe it was the idea of being on the inside of the biggest story in Cedar Springs. Half the town was convinced that a serial killer was camping out in the woods, waiting for his next victim. If they only knew it was so much bigger than that.
And so much worse.
How do you beat a foreign army who can move bodies with their minds? Or who can figure out the other side’s strategy through just one vision?
“Are you sure about this?” Gabby whispered as she sidled up to Z. “Don’t you think it’s dangerous to get involved in a murder case?”
The danger factor hadn’t crossed Z’s mind. At least not in that way. “Probably. But if some psycho has the serum, we’re still in danger even if we don’t go along with this.”
“I don’t know …” Gabby said, her forehead creasing with worry. “Maybe I should ask for the antidote.”
“Why don’t you come with us and then decide afterward if you want it?” Z suggested. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
Gabby exhaled, relieved not to have to make the decision. “Okay. That’s a good idea.”
Z followed her into the van and Nash pulled out of the parking lot. Z rubbed a hand over the soft fuzz of her hair, contemplating the antidote herself. Did she want to go back to feeling … empty? It wasn’t as though she’d spent the last two days thinking about rainbows and unicorns, but her new world did feel a little like someone had turned up the brightness on a computer screen. Would it be so bad to hear people’s thoughts occasionally? It was kind of like heightened eavesdropping. Now that she understood why it was happening, it didn’t seem such a bad exchange. Provided that Patricia and Nash were telling the truth, which, of course, she could never know. Government agencies were famous for their secrecy.
Even now, she had no clue where they were headed. Patricia just said that once they got there, they’d all have a chance to test out their new abilities and see how using them could lead to finding the serum.
Andrew’s voice broke through her thoughts. He leaned forward toward Patricia. “How is the serum able to do this to us? Scientifically speaking.”
“Great question.” Patricia twisted her body around to face them. “We all possess a range of mental powers we’re usually not aware of. The primary compound in this serum, like that in many drugs, opens the channels within your brain that you’re not typically able to use. LSD, for example, activates the serotonin receptors to allow for heightened perception.”
Z’s ears perked up. Every antidepressant she’d ever been prescribed claimed to increase her serotonin levels, but none of them worked. Until now.
Patricia continued, her eyes sparkling as if she could talk about this subject for hours. “Our compound operates on the so-called ‘psychic neurons’ of the prefrontal cortex of your brain. When this area is stimulated, abilities are elevated, which allows for clairaudience, clairvoyance, psychometry, precognition, telepathy … all versions of what some would call a sixth sense. Individuals with natural talent in this arena — I’m not talking palm readers, but people with true, inherent telepathic gifts — are able to stimulate this neuron naturally. This compound mimics that ability, though it works differently on different people.”
“That’s why we’re not experiencing the same things,” Andrew noted.
“Why don’t you recruit real psychics to help you instead — people who naturally have the gift?” Sabrina asked.
“The FBI does employ psychics now and again to help with a case that’s gone cold,” Patricia answered. “But they’re not always reliable. This serum should be a much more effective way to derive those skills. It’s almost like creating an infallible psychic.”
“Are you a chemist, too, Nash?” Andrew asked.
“No,” Nash answered.
Justin eyed Nash curiously. “So are you, like, the muscle?”
“No.”
When he didn’t elaborate, Patricia added, “Nash is a special agent in the counterterrorism unit.” And not much of a talker, Z thought. “Like I said before, the missing serum is a national security threat.”
The pavement ended and Nash turned off the wooded rural road onto a dirt path.
“Are you going to tell us where we’re going right now or are we supposed to use our superpowers to guess?” Justin grumbled.
When the van finally stopped, Nash looked at their faces in the rearview mirror. “We’re here.”
Z recognized the place from the photographs in the newspaper.
It was Lily Carpenter’s cabin.
Patricia and Nash had brought them to the crime scene.
CHAPTER TEN
Sabrina climbed out of the van with the others and looked up at the dark clouds hanging above Lily Carpenter’s small cabin. They were making it no secret that they’d be releasing their fury in the form of a thunderstorm within the next few hours.
“Detecti
ves have been through the house several times, but the cabin is basically as it was when Lily was found,” Nash told them as he and Patricia led them up the wooden steps to the front door.
Patricia turned to face them. “As I’ve told you, we’ve reached a dead end. That’s why you’re here. I’m hoping your arsenal of skills will expose a lead the rest of us can’t see. Because if we don’t find the serum soon, Lily’s murder will be just the beginning of the damage. We don’t have any more time to waste.”
Sabrina was the first one to duck under the crime-scene tape and enter the cabin. Excitement was the wrong word to describe how she was feeling, but it wasn’t too far off. She’d forgotten how much she loved that burst of energy right before she was about to tackle a challenge. She used to be the girl who would never pick “truth” over “dare” because she couldn’t imagine any scenario she would back away from.
Patricia and Nash had given her this feeling back, and all they were asking in return was to help them solve a murder that could affect the security of the country, of the world, even. It suddenly didn’t seem like too much to ask as she entered the cabin fully alert with anticipation. Was it possible she would see something — or somebody — that blew the case wide open today?
She gazed around the cozy living room, which was devoid of any sign of a crime except for the faded chalk outline of Lily’s body in the center. Several black-and-white landscape prints of what appeared to be the early American West hung on the walls, and a mammoth gray stone fireplace took up a large portion of the room. A worn-in small sofa was positioned in front of it with a basket full of books, newspapers and magazines nearby. Lily probably spent many winter evenings holed up in this exact spot, reading while the fire roared before her.
It was odd, though. The sofa was the only piece of furniture in the room. Yes, it was a small space, but another chair could’ve easily fit. Nash had said everything had been left untouched, so they wouldn’t have removed anything. Did Lily never have visitors? Or did she not want them?
The back of the room opened up to the kitchen, where Lily had set up her candle-making operation. Boxes of wax chips sat on the floor, double-boiler pots filled the stovetop and bags of handpicked cedar, lavender and honeysuckle were arranged neatly on the table. A crate of completed candles was set next to the back door. Any signs that Lily had been in the FBI, or was even a chemist, were absent, except for the meticulous way she had alphabetically categorized her herbs and essential oils.
Nash crossed the room until he was standing next to the chalk outline. “The positioning of Lily’s body indicates the murder occurred here in the living room. There were no fingerprints and no blood in the house except hers. Fibers throughout the house indicated DNA of four different people, but none of them were in our system. We don’t yet know who the DNA belongs to.”
“And there’s no telling when those four people were here or if any of them were involved with her murder,” Patricia explained. “For all we know, one of the hairs we found was left by a repairman months ago.”
“One of the only things the investigators were able to confirm is that she was shot at close range right here,” Nash said.
“Execution-style. That’s what it said online,” Justin added.
A shiver went up Sabrina’s spine as she looked back to the chalk outline. Lily had been killed just inches from where she now stood. When Sabrina looked closer, she saw the spots on the wood floor still faintly stained with blood.
“I also mentioned the burn marks earlier,” Patricia said. “They were found all over Lily’s arms, legs and abdomen. Third- and fourth-degree burns that penetrated every layer of the skin. Some areas on her arms were black and charred.” Her voice quavered slightly as if she was reliving her friend’s pain.
Sabrina looked back up from the floor. Poor Lily’s final moments had been full of excruciating pain and terror.
“Do you think they used one of her candles to burn her?” Andrew asked. “Or heated wax?”
“It’s possible, though there’s no evidence to suggest that,” Nash replied. “It also could’ve been from some kind of blowtorch, given the intensity of the burns, but we haven’t been able to conclude exactly what the perp used.”
“Or perps,” Patricia added. “We can’t rule out the possibility that there was more than one person involved.”
Patricia hadn’t been exaggerating about having no leads, Sabrina thought. Whoever killed Lily knew how to cover his tracks.
“How many people even knew this serum existed?” Andrew asked, his eyes darting around the room. It was like you could see his brain moving in hyper-drive. “Doesn’t that narrow down the suspect list?”
“By our count, less than ten,” Patricia answered. “With most of them currently working at the FBI, already interrogated and completely cleared of suspicion. The few who have retired or quit the FBI were also questioned.”
“What if they told other people? Did you track them, too?” Andrew asked.
“All of the agents who knew about the serum said they did not disclose their classified knowledge to anyone outside the case,” Nash replied.
“But you didn’t interview Lily,” Sabrina said. “She could’ve told someone.”
“I don’t think so,” Patricia replied. “She knew what we were dealing with. She didn’t want this in the wrong hands any more than I did.” Nash looked a little less sure.
Sabrina walked over to a framed picture on the mantel. It was of Lily on the beach with her arms wrapped around a man, both of them beaming at the camera. It grabbed Sabrina’s attention because it was the only personal photo in the entire room. “What about this guy?”
Gabby plucked the frame off the mantel, then inhaled sharply, and her eyes rolled back in her head.
“Gabby! Are you okay?” Sabrina reached out to her grab her in case she fainted.
Patricia stuck her hand out to block Sabrina. “She’s fine.”
“Really? How is that fine?”
Z gave Sabrina a knowing look. “Relax. I’ve seen her do it before. She’s having a vision.”
Sabrina couldn’t take her eyes off Gabby, who stood rigidly still, her face expressionless except for her fluttering eyelids. After less than a minute, Gabby’s eyes popped open and her body relaxed, like a statue coming to life. “That man in the photo is Lily’s husband. I just saw them on the beach on their honeymoon.”
Patricia frowned. “Actually, Robert is her ex-husband now.”
“An ex-husband whose picture she keeps on her mantel?” Z smirked. “Kind of a bizarre decorating choice, right?”
Andrew agreed with a nod. “Has he been ruled out as a suspect?”
“Yes,” Patricia said, with a hint of disappointment. “He was on a plane from Denver to New York that day.” She pursed her lips as if she wished she could eliminate this little fact.
“Did they have kids?” Gabby asked.
Patricia hesitated. “No.” Out of the corner of Sabrina’s eye, she saw a questioning look cross Z’s face. Had she heard Patricia’s thought? Or someone else’s?
“But he knew about the serum?” Andrew asked.
Nash nodded. “He was adamant he never told anyone about it.” Now it was Patricia who didn’t look as sure.
“This is a good time to discuss what we do know about Lily Carpenter,” Nash continued. “She moved into this cabin three years ago, after her father died and left it to her. Before that she lived in several locations throughout the Southwest. This was the most settled she’d been in the ten years since she resigned from the FBI.”
“Why did she move around so much?” Sabrina asked. “Did it have anything to do with why she left the FBI?”
Patricia shook her head. “No, she’d just had enough. The pressure was getting to her. She’d never had much leisure time. She enjoyed having the ability to travel freely.”
Sab
rina was formulating another question, when a foul odor entered her nostrils so powerfully that she lost her train of thought. “What is that smell?”
“What smell?” Justin asked. The rest of them were staring at her blankly.
How could they not smell that? It was as if she’d just put her nose directly into a dumpster. But it wasn’t only the smell. There was a sudden chill in the air, too.
Out of nowhere, she started to hear a faint knocking sound like shoes tapping across the wooden floorboards. But when she looked around, no one was moving.
Sabrina suddenly felt the presence of another body.
A split second later, Lily Carpenter wrapped her long fingers tightly around Sabrina’s wrist.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
If Anthony had looked as if he was being lit from within when Sabrina saw him, Lily appeared to be standing in the shadows, in stark contrast to the beaming woman in the photo. Everything about her, from the color of her cheeks to the color of her dress, was faded and dull. The only vibrant part of Lily was her fierce gaze, which had the same intensity as her grip on Sabrina’s wrist.
She couldn’t tear her eyes from Lily’s.
“I know …” Lily’s breath was choppy and labored as she whispered to Sabrina. She blinked rapidly, as though saying the words was agonizing. “I know why they want it.”
Before Sabrina could ask her whom and what she was talking about, Lily was gone. When Sabrina looked down at her wrist, there were red marks from where Lily’s fingers had dug into her skin. She stared at them in disbelief as they slowly faded, her body pumping more adrenaline than she’d ever felt with any drug.
Everyone was watching her. Especially Nash.
“What just happened?” Patricia asked, practically jumping out of her skin.
“I saw Lily,” Sabrina told them. She felt nervous, out of breath. “Lily was right in front of me. Actually touching me. I could feel it.”
Gabby wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes darting around the room as though a spirit was about to reach out and grab her, too. “That sounds terrifying.”
The Lost Causes Page 7