Perception (9 page)

“How do you know
this?”

“I read the internet
news. The information is easy to find if you know where to look.”

“I don’t know,” I
said. “You can’t trust everything you read on the internet. I’ve met the CEO of
Sleiman personally. He’s a nice guy.”

Noah stared at me. “You
don’t really believe that Ronald K. Smythe actually cares about the people, do
you? Maybe a little bit about GAPs but certainly not about the rest of us.”

I crossed my arms
nervously across my chest. Noah was just jaded. And a conspiracy theorist.

“Does it matter what
I think about him?” I said. “I still don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

“Sleiman has people
on the ground, the underground, actually. Also known as the black market.
Someone’s been dealing to Dexter.”

I was incredulous. “Liam
is not a drug dealer!”

“I’m not saying he
is. I’m just saying that Dexter needs drugs, and Liam works for the company
that makes and supplies them. You were looking for a connection between Dexter
and Liam, right? So, here’s one.”

“There’s got to be
another connection,” I said. “Or this is the wrong Dexter.”

I stood, wiping my damp
hands on my jeans. “Thanks for your help, but I’ve got to go.”

“Just let me put
Davis to bed and I’ll go with you.”

“I can find my way
back myself.”

“Maybe so, but this
isn’t Sol City. No offense, but you’re not exactly street smart.”

I hated to admit it,
but he was right. And it had gotten dark out. I reluctantly agreed to wait.

I saw that the
reclining chair was empty when I stepped out of Noah’s bedroom. Jonathon
already had Davis in the room next door. I glanced in briefly, seeing a banged
up set of bunk beds. Apparently Davis and Jonathon shared a room.

I waited for Noah in
the living room, but I could hear him as he read a story aloud. And then something
else—a prayer?

Noah didn’t look up
when he left the bedroom and headed straight for the front door. I followed him
outside.

We didn’t say much on
the pod trip back to the downtown station, and when I said I could make it back
to the gates alone, Noah stubbornly insisted on walking me the whole way.

Our newly formed
relationship was undefined and uncomfortable. I couldn’t wait to walk through
the gates and get away from him, but before I did I had to ask one more
question.

“Can you arrange for
me to talk to Dexter?”

“Dexter won’t talk to
you about that. Now, if you wanted to go on a date with him...” Noah flashed
one of his infrequent but pleasant smiles.

“I need to–”

“I’ll talk to him,
Zoe. He’s pretty tight-lipped about his love affair with pharmaceuticals, but
we’ve been friends a long time. He might open up to me.”

Noah finally left
when I was through the gates and out of sight. I didn’t relax until I was in my
pod and had removed the wig and contacts. Looking into the visor mirror, I let
out a long sigh. I was blond and blue-eyed again. And safe.

Chapter 9

Alison and Paul sat
close together at the kitchen table, two half-empty mugs of coffee between
them. Partially drawn shades filtered streams of morning light, casting stripes
on the tile floor. The patio doors were unopened, and the cool, filtered air
made me wish I’d put a sweater on. I entered the kitchen quietly, not wanting
to disturb my parents.

“I can’t believe this
is happening again,” Alison said with a tight, constricted voice.

“What’s happening
again?” I said. Alison and Paul startled.

“Nothing,” Paul said,
too quietly.

I didn’t believe that
for an instant. I spoke to the coffee machine, waited half a minute for my
sweetened latte to appear, and stirred it slowly. Leaning against the cool
white granite countertop, I sipped it as I eyed my parents. They hadn’t moved,
nor had they spoken another word.

What had happened
again?

“Dad, you work for
Sleiman. What’s their position on the underground pharmaceutical drug trade?”

Paul’s eyes
fluttered. “What? What are you talking about, Zoe?”

“I’ve been reading,
and I’ve discovered a profitable drug trade is happening on the outside—and
that Sleiman is aware of the problem. I’m just wondering what they’re doing to
stop it.”

Paul shrugged. “I
don’t know. That’s not really my department.”

“But you must know
something. Maybe the students at the university are–”

“Are what?” Alison
snapped. “Are dealing drugs on the outside? Really, Zoe, we have bigger
problems on our hands right now than trying to solve a mythical problem you’ve
read on some hacker’s website.”

She got up abruptly,
took her cup and headed outside through the patio door. I told the shades to
open and watched Alison through the wall of glass as she collapsed onto a
lounge chair by the pool.

I looked back at Paul
but he wouldn’t return my gaze. Whatever my parents knew, they weren’t about to
tell me. I’d have to keep digging for answers on my own.

I headed back
upstairs. Saundra Brody was half way up, dusting the rails. She wore a short-sleeved
white blouse with a black knee-length skirt. A white apron was wrapped around
her waist, emphasizing just how thin the woman was. I paused briefly as I
passed her. Saundra gave me a short, polite smile then refocused on her task. I
considered her, how she worked hard, even in her frail health. Saundra didn’t
know that I’d been to her house, saw how she lived.

She didn’t know that,
in some small way, I envied her.

Once in the privacy
of my room, I tapped my ring and said Jackson.

It buzzed a couple
times, and I worried for a moment that he wouldn’t answer. But then his image
popped up.

“Hi, Jackson.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

What’s up? That’s
what I’d like to know. “Are you busy? I’d like to come by.”

“I’m at the lab right
now.”

“So. You take breaks.”

“Yeah, but you know
they’re not crazy about students having non-campus guests.”

I felt the muscles in
my face spasm. “That’s never stopped us before.”

A pause. “Okay, sure.
Come over.”

“See you in ten.”

Ten minutes to think
about what was happening to us. I climbed into my pod. We were both worried
about Liam, but instead of drawing us together, it was pushing us apart.

I noticed it the day
before on Jackson’s yacht. When I’d laid that kiss on him, the first real kiss we’d
shared in days, it had felt forced. He’d kissed me back, but after that, we’d
refrained from any more PDAs.

It was probably my
fault. I was the one who had pulled away first. I hoped when I got to the lab, we’d
be able to close that gap. First thing I was going to do when I saw him was give
him a real heart-felt I miss you kiss.

It didn’t happen that
way. When I entered the lab, Isabelle was sitting on a counter-top. She wore a
flirty sundress, and her long legs were crossing at the ankles. A pair of
expensive sunglasses were propped on the top of her blond head.

“Hi, Zoe,” Isabelle
said too brightly.

“Hi,” I answered.

“I thought you
weren’t allowed guests?” I said to Jackson.

Jackson pulled off a
pair of rubber gloves. “Isabelle just popped in. Since you were coming
anyway...”

A movement on the
other side of the room caught my eye. Mitchell Redding. He was enthralled by
something in a Petri dish. I didn’t bother him with a greeting, since he wasn’t
exactly the social type. I stuffed my hands in my shorts pockets, and rocked on
my sandal heels.

“What are you guys
working on?” I asked.

“Confidential,”
Jackson said. “You know that.”

“Yeah, I’m getting
there are a lot of secrets I don’t know about.”

“Speaking of secrets,”
Jackson said, “where were you last night? You’re getting really hard to track
down.” He crossed his arms, no sign of warmth in his eyes. This whole thing was
going wrong.

“Uh, you know what?”
Isabelle said, slipping off the counter. “I think I’m going to go.”

Good idea. This
conversation was stressed enough without a spectator.

I forced a smile. “Sure.
See you later.”

Jackson started
fiddling with lab equipment, throwing items into a big, stainless steel sink.

As I watched, I
couldn’t help but compare Jackson to Noah. There was more to distinguish them
besides height and coloring. Jackson had everything he could ever possibly want
and more. Noah seemed deeply unsatisfied. Jackson was laid-back, although with
Liam missing he was more tense. But usually, he was as chilled as they came.
Noah was a dichotomy. He was riled up about his perceived injustices, but he
also had an inner calm, something that shone when he was with his family.

Both guys were
attractive in their own ways.

Wait, did I just
think that? Of course, Jackson was gorgeous, but Noah? Yesterday I’d admitted
to myself that I thought Noah wasn’t bad-looking, which I supposed could happen
once you get to know someone a little. But had he notched up to attractive?

I recalled how his
face lit up when little Davis ran into the room. Noah’s dark eyes were like
warm pools of pudding, his jaw was no longer sharp but strong. When he smiled, I
could see that his front tooth was slightly crooked. None of my friends had
crooked teeth. All were straight, all the time.

But I liked it—it was
cute. And the way his arms bulged as he wrapped his brother in a hug...

“Zoe?”

Oh my god. I couldn’t
believe I’d just been daydreaming about Noah Brody while standing in front of
Jackson!

I needed help. Or at
least more sleep. Even if Jackson and I weren’t a couple, there was no way in a
million years I could ever date a natural. For one thing, he’d start aging in
his twenties and thirties at double the rate...

“Zoe!”

“Oh, sorry.” I forced
myself to focus on what was happening right now. “Yeah, I’ve just been really
upset about Liam. I think my parents know something but aren’t telling me.”

I looked at Jackson
imploringly. “You’d tell me if you found something out, wouldn’t you?”

Jackson’s shoulders
softened. He took a step toward me. I returned the gesture until I was pressed
against his chest, his arms tight around me.

He stroked my hair. “Of
course I would.”

I took a moment to
enjoy his affection, knowing the next thing I said might turn him off.

“I have kind of a
strange question.”

“Yeah?”

“I know Sleiman
Enterprises is connected to the university and I’m just wondering if they are
involved with providing pharmaceuticals to the outside.”

Jackson pulled back
to study my face. “Of course we make pharmaceuticals. That’s common knowledge.”

“I mean, does it get
sold on the outside?”

“Sure, they’re sold worldwide.”

“I mean underground.
Illegally.”

“I suppose. That’s an
age-old trade. I’m sure the authorities are doing what they can to stop it. But
why are you asking? Wait, you don’t think Liam–”

“I don’t know what to
think.”

“Listen, Zoe. I can’t
tell you what happened to Liam, but I do know one thing for sure. He wasn’t
selling drugs.”

I can’t tell you
what happened to Liam...

“Why can’t you tell
me, Jackson? What happened to Liam?”

He pinched his eyes
together, and when he opened them again, he stared hard at me. “I don’t know
what happened to Liam.”

Why couldn’t I
believe him?

Chapter 10

Noah was filling in
for Saundra, and he didn’t hear me as I approached the kitchen. I watched as he
cleared abandoned breakfast dishes for two off a table that could seat twelve.
Our kitchen was at least three times bigger than his, with large, energy
efficient appliances outfitted with smart-glass surfaces. The refrigerator’s
built-in computer automatically updated used or outdated items, awaiting
instructions as to whether they should be reordered from the local grocery
super-store. An internet window imbedded in the glass streamed a news channel
while another window flashed photos.

Noah stopped what he
was doing to watch the pictures of me and Liam as they flipped up.

“Hey,” I said.

He jerked backwards
and lifted his chin with a quick nod. “Hi.”

A dirty coffee cup was
in his hand, and he stood frozen to the spot. Yesterday, I had been on his turf;
now he was on mine. I couldn’t say we were friends, but our time together had
turned into something friendly. His eyes drifted to the dirty mug and back to
me and he tugged self-consciously on his white serving blazer.