Perception (26 page)

“He hasn’t mentioned
you.”

“We’re not exactly
friends. I wouldn’t tell him about me if I were you.”

“Why not?”

“Trust me. He
wouldn’t be happy you were talking to me.”

“I can talk to
whomever I want.”

I cracked a smile. At
least this version of Zoe still had spunk.

“Anyway, I really
have to go. Nice seeing you again, Noah.” She blended into the crowd and headed
over the pedestrian bridge.

With my scooter in
hand, there was no way I could go after her. My lips tugged up in a satisfied
grin. I’d asked for a sign and I’d just gotten one.

Chapter 35

My email inbox
overflowed.

Since I’d gone back
to promoting the movement
Down with Unfair GAP Policies
with gusto, I
was beginning to see a return on my efforts. My blog posts were garnering
hundreds of comments and more than a thousand visits per day. I was putting a
voice to what many people were thinking, and now they were starting to speak
out, too.

I answered the ones
that needed a response, wrote and published another blog post and linked it to
other sites with the same message.

And there was
something else.

I cracked my
knuckles. I tapped my fingers on the desk top. Rubbed my hands along my legs.
Shifted my chair away, and then back to the table again.

Don’t think about
how wrong this is
. I tapped the keyboard, and a
text-message conversation appeared on the screen.

Zoe and Jackson.

I’d hacked into her
ComRing—I’d learned a thing or two from Anthony over the years–I started
reading.

Jackson: I stopped by your house
today, where were you? You need to keep your ComRing on.

Zoe: I don’t have to tell you
everything
.

I smirked at that.

Jackson: You didn’t try to go outside again, did you.?

Zoe: I already promised you I wouldn’t do that again.
Anyway, who made you my babysitter?

Jackson: I’m just looking out for you.

Zoe: I’m sorry for being snappy. It’s just these awful
headaches.

Jackson: Did you take your pills today?

Zoe: Yes.

Jackson: Are you still having those dreams?

Zoe: I don’t want to talk about it.

Jackson: Okay. Don’t forget the swim party tomorrow
afternoon. I’ll pick you up at one.

Zoe: I might be busy.

Jackson: I talked to your parents. They said you were
free.

Zoe: Why are you talking to my parents?

Jackson: You father does work at the University. I saw
him there. Does it matter?

I shook my head. They
had Zoe on a tight leash.

Jackson: Zoe? All of our friends will be there. Could
be skinny dipping involved.

My fingers made fists
under the table.

Zoe: You’re not actually convincing me.

Jackson: I was joking. What else are you going to do?
You keep complaining about being bored.

Zoe: Okay. Fine. What beach? I’ll meet you there.

I checked the time.
I’d have to get moving. First stop: withdraw cash from Zoe’s account with my
copy of her chip. I was counting on the fact that she wasn’t the type to
monitor her statements and that her father wasn’t bothering either, now that it
appeared she was under constant surveillance.

Then I’d have to
trade the scooter in for a used two-seater, solar-electric hybrid car. I knew a
guy who’d still deal in cash.

I sent Skye a text:
I
have a favor to ask. I’ll be by the house tomorrow afternoon.

***

I spotted Zoe walking
toward a group of GAPs–all catalogue ordered: blond, tall and fair. Those GAPs
had no imagination.

She wore a white
sundress with green bikini straps tied around her neck and sunglasses on her
face.

A fire burned in a
makeshift pit, and towels and beach chairs were circled around it. She laid her
towel out and sat down.

The sound bounced off
the ocean, and I could hear them from my hiding spot in the shadows behind the
brick restrooms.

“Hey,” Jackson said,
squatting down beside her. “You made it.” He bent forward to kiss her, and it
was all I could do to keep from storming over and punching the snot out of him.

Zoe turned her head
last minute, so his kiss met her cheek. I couldn’t believe how happy that small
act made me. It confirmed what I was about to do was the right thing.

 “I called you. I
wish you’d answer me,” he said.

“I had my ring off.”

“Why?”

“I was in the shower.
Do I have to report my every move?”

“Of course not. It’s
just, I worry about you Zo. You’ve had a big shock. We both have.”

Her shoulders
slumped. “I’m sorry for being so uptight lately.” She reached for his hand. “I
don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

He smiled at her like
the perfect boyfriend, but I could tell by her body language she didn’t trust
him, even if she couldn’t remember why.

Three girls exited
the ocean and walked up to Zoe. One of the girls was close enough to drip water
on her bare legs. She yelped, “Hey!”

Another one settled
on the towel next to Zoe. “Hey, Zoe, you’re missing all the fun.”

Zoe smiled. “Hi,
Charlotte. Yeah, sorry it took me a while to get here.”

The girls chatted
rapid-fire about clothes, boys and the latest celebrity scandal, and I couldn’t
help but roll my eyes. Zoe didn’t say much, and I wondered if it was because
she didn’t care for the subject matter or if she didn’t remember the details.

Another girl, one I
recognized from the transit pod the first day Zoe and I dared to go public in
Sol City, waved flirtatiously at Jackson.

 “Hi, Jackson,” she
said.

Zoe squinted and
looked confused. I wondered if Jackson had something going on the side with
that chick, and it seemed Zoe was wondering, too. Her friend squirmed under her
gaze then stood, wiping sand off her legs. “I’m going to the restroom. Anyone
coming?” she said.

The other girls
jumped up, but Zoe looked unsure. I stepped further back into the shadows.

Then she stood. “I’m
going, too,” she said to Jackson.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Jackson, really. You
don’t have to chaperone me to the restroom. I’m sure I’ll be okay between here
and there.”

He settled back into
his towel. “Fine. I’ll be right here.”

Zoe dragged her toes
in the sand, obviously in no real hurry to get there. The door to the public
facility was wide open and I could hear her friends talking about her.

By the expression on
Zoe’s face, she heard them, too.

“Something’s really
off about Zoe, lately.”

“I know. She hasn’t
been herself since her brother died.”

“Honestly,” the
cheater’s voice crackled through the air, “I don’t know why Jackson stays with
her. She’s all pouty and solemn all the time. Pity, I guess. They broke up
once, remember? I don’t know why he took her back after what she did.”

Zoe sunk back around
the corner looking like a lost puppy. She pressed against the outside wall, and
waited until the girls left.

This was my chance.

“Zoe?”

I stepped out from
behind the trees. I pressed the cloth in my hand against her face, and she
squirmed for a few seconds before slumping in my arms.

“I’m sorry.”

Chapter 36

Zoe groaned in the
passenger seat of the car I’d bought the day before, her head leaning against
the window. I pulled into our garage, moved quickly to the passenger door and
carefully scooped her up into my arms.

“Noah?” Skye’s eyes
widened in concern as I carried Zoe inside. “Is she sick?”

I carried her to the
sofa and laid her down gently. “Skye, you’re not going to like what I’m about
to ask you to do, but I’m begging you to trust me.”

“What is it? What’s
going on?”

“I need you to remove
the chip from her hand. Now.”

“Are you out of your
mind? This is Zoe Vanderveen!”

“I know who she is.
Please, she’s in trouble.”

“With who? And
wouldn’t her own family be able to help her?”

“Her family’s the
danger, Skye. The Senator has messed with her head, stolen her memories. We
need to help her get away from him.”

“What? Stolen her memories?
Are you sure?”

“I’m very sure.”

Wrinkles formed on
Skye’s forehead. “Noah, this is so illegal.”

“I’m aware of that.
But what they’re doing to her is immoral.”

Zoe groaned, her
eyelids fluttering.

“Do you have
something to keep her out?” I said.

Skye went to our
mother’s old bedroom, hers now, and returned with a medical bag. “I keep this
handy for emergencies.”

She tapped a pill
from a jar into her hand. I helped her prop Zoe up, and she pushed the pill
down Zoe’s throat, assisting her with a sip of water.

“That should keep her
out for a few hours.” Skye lifted Zoe’s hand and felt the fleshy part for the
chip. Her eyes questioned me. “I don’t know.”

“I realize this is
extreme, but it’s life or death. Please, Skye. Once they confirm she’s missing,
they’ll track her here. We need to remove the chip and destroy it before that
happens.”

Skye threw her hands
in the air in defeat. Then she went to work, moving quickly and professionally.
After donning plastic gloves, she applied a local anesthetic to Zoe’s hand. She
removed a sterilized scalpel from a pre-packaged sleeve, and with a steady
hand, she made a small incision. She mopped up the blood that spurted out with
gauze then plucked the chip out with a pair of sterilized tweezers.

Then she placed it in
my open palm.

“I hope you know what
you’re doing.”

“I do.” I took the
chip outside to the garage where we kept a few tools. I used the hammer to
crush the chip into the sidewalk. “That’s for you, Senator.”

When I got back to
Skye in the living room, she was finishing up the last stitch. She bandaged the
incision with gauze and medical tape.

“Okay, it’s done. You
should probably get out of here before the boys get home from school.”

I picked up Zoe’s
limp body.

“I can’t thank you
enough, Skye.”

“That’s true. Just
promise to visit me if I end up in jail.” She held the door open. “Where are
you going?”

I leaned in and gave
her a quick kiss on the cheek. “It’s better if you don’t know.”

Chapter 37

I snapped to
attention as Zoe grabbed her head and moaned. She’d slept fitfully on the cabin
sofa overnight. Her arm reached over to the side grasping at air, like she was
expecting to find something there.

Her eyes popped open
and moved slowly around the room. Instead of her deluxe bedroom, she saw
wood-framed walls, an unused wood stove in the corner, a simple table set for
two people. Her nose wiggled. The room smelled like the bacon and eggs I’d
prepared for breakfast.

She sat up carefully
and her eyes settled on me.

“Where am I?”

“Good morning,” I
said.

“Noah?” Her eyes
fluttered as she tried to make sense of things. “Why am I here? Did I spend the
night?” She glanced down at her clothes and patted at the dress and bikini she
had on from the day before.

I brought the frying
pan over to the table and dished scrambled eggs and bacon onto each plate. I
didn’t answer her questions. “Hungry?”

“I have a splitting
headache. I need my pills.”

I placed the empty
frying pan on the stove top, and picked up a pill jar. “Tylenol.”

“No, my prescription
pills.”

“You don’t need
those. Take these.”

She reached with her
right hand, then pulled back. “Ow.” She noticed the bandage wrapped around her
palm. “Did I hurt myself? What happened last night?

“Just take a couple
Tylenol, and I’ll explain everything over breakfast.”

“Did you
kidnap
me?”

I appealed to her
gently. “Let’s eat first.”

Zoe popped the pills,
then examined her bandaged hand.