The Secret (19 page)

Moving to a red sitting chair, she ran her fingers against the material. “This was created by your father.”

“What?” I turned, trying to understand.

“We decided, when he started to go after the book, that it was time.”

Sam folded his arms. “Time for what?”

Henrietta appeared with the tray of tea and cookies, but she didn’t seem to recognize who I was. She placed the tray down and poured the tea, handing us each a saucer.

“We knew Nicholi was trying to control my mind. And we knew that he was getting crazier and crazier. He had to be stopped. When your father decided to go after the book, we knew there had to be some way to protect the information I had. And it was safer for you and Rob this way. The last time we spoke, when you were asking all those questions, my mind flipped to a failsafe system. That’s how your father set it up.”

“That’s why you haven’t woken up?”

Mom nodded. “Yes.” She sighed and leaned back. “But I’m happy here. It’s like your father is just at the hospital and you and Rob are at school. You see, Lanie, my
reality
is a dream.”

Standing, I sucked in another breath. “This can’t be happening.”

I walked over to the bookcase, leaning closer to see the various pictures that had always been there.

Mom came to my side and put her arm around me. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m really happy here. And I know you’re safer with me here.”

“But you realize your body is wasting away?”

Mom waved her hand in the air. “I don’t really think about that. In fact, sometimes I forget.”

Then I saw it. A picture of my father and Stewart, the airplane in the background.

My mother touched the picture, her fingers brushing over Stewart’s face. Tears budded in her eyes. “They were such good friends—they even saw each other through a war.”

Touching my father’s face, I sighed. “Stewart has been so good to us, Mom. He’s helped us so much.”

My mother’s eyes took on a terrified look. “What do you mean?”

Nervous tension filled me. I didn’t understand why she looked so worried. “He helped us escape—he’s helped keep us safe from Dr. Luth.”

I touched her arm, unsure of everything she remembered.

My mother pulled the picture to her chest. “Lanie, I thought Uncle Stewart—
my
Uncle Stewart—was helping you.”

I took the picture from her and panic started forming inside of me. “We called
him
Uncle Stewart, Mom!”

Mom shook her head. Her hands started to shake and she reached out and steadied herself on the piano. “His name is Nicholi Stewart Petrov. And we did call him Stewart. The only name you have ever heard us call him was Stewart.”

Alarm went through me. “You mean Nicholi is Stewart?”

Her face turned to agony. “When he decided on a military career—he told us he wanted to go by his middle name. He said it sounded more American.”

Tremors coursed through her. She dropped the picture, pulling me to her. “Oh Lanie, you’ve got to get away from him. You all have to run.”

Pounding started in my head and blinding light flashed through me.

Sam picked up the picture. A coin dropped out of the back of the picture and rolled across the floor.

Sam reached for the coin, yelling, “Don’t pull away, Lanie! You’re breaking the connection!”

“I can’t focus!” The loud, white noise and flashing tunnel were back.

Mom’s nails dug into me. “You’ve got to stop him, Lanie! He wants to bring them back—but he can’t! Stop him before he kills all of you!”

Episode 21: Allies

My knees were wobbly and I felt like I was going to throw up.

“What did you do to her?” Jake’s hands covered my shoulders.

Sam hunched over Mom’s bed, gripping the bars. “So nice of you to join us.”

Jake shoved his face into Sam’s. “What were you doing?”

Sam leaned back, falling into the chair beside the bed and wiping his face. “You weren’t invited to this party, Jacob.”

Jake helped me into a chair, glaring at Sam. “Good thing I followed you.”

The realization of Mom’s voice saying his name—Nicholi Stewart Petrov—pulsed through me. I tried to get back up.

Sam shook his head. “Don’t even try to stand. It gets worse if you don’t give it at least five minutes. It’s like an aftershock.”

Silent, murderous restraint leapt off of Jake toward Sam. “I’m going to ask you one more time, nicely. What did you do to her?”

“Oh, step off, Curtis. It appears there’s bigger issues than you worrying I’m scammin’ on your chick.”

Jake didn’t respond to Sam, slowly turning to me with worry darkening the edges of his blue eyes. “What’s wrong, Lanie?”

My heart wouldn’t slow down. The initial shock wasn’t wearing off. My throat felt extremely dry and, when I tried to talk, I couldn’t moisten the words. “It’s—”

Jake stood, going to the sink in the room. He took one of the small paper cups and filled it with water. He thrust it at me. “Drink.”

I took it, feeling my hand start to shake.

Jake turned to Sam. “What?”

Sam’s gaze hardened. “It’s Stewart.”

“What?” Jake scowled.

Putting my cup down, I placed my hand on top of Jake’s. “He’s Nicholi.”

Looking back and forth between Sam and me, Jake frowned. He was still dressed in his tux. Black circles darkened the edges of his eyes. Letting his breath out, he turned away from us and ran his hand through his hair. “Is this some twisted joke?”

Sam put his index finger to his brow, looking suddenly bored…and annoyed. “Yes—however did you guess? This is exactly what I always wanted to do on my prom night—sit in a coma patient’s room and play a trick on my date’s boyfriend.”

Jake zeroed in on Sam and sneered at him. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I think you like to do, play tricks.”

Sam stood, his legs shaking. He pulled back his shoulders and took in a breath. His hair fell into his green eyes and the glow from the monitor lights made them look dangerously dark.

My heart skipped a beat and I thought of Sam’s hand in mine with the lights flashing around us.

Sam raised one eyebrow at Jake. “Everything’s not always about you,
Curtis
.” He used the same sarcastic tone that Jake used when he used Sam’s last name.

It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I held to the chair, willing my legs to stand. I couldn’t let this escalate; we had other things to think about. I looked at Sam. “Rob told me he figured out the code. If Stewart knows that he has…we’ve got to get Rob’s computer—now!”

Pulling his eyes from Jake, Sam tilted his head to the side. “I think we need to go back in and talk to your mom. Get some more information.”

Shaking my head, I said, “Later. She said we had to stop him. And the book is the key. We have to make sure he doesn’t get his hands on Rob’s software.”

Jake frowned, looking back at me. “Lanie?”

Acute panic filled my chest as realization dawned on me. “She’s not safe anymore.”

Jake grabbed my arm. “What—”

Sam cut Jake off, pulling my hand down. “Listen—the only people who know that Stewart is Nicholi are the three of us.” He pulled his face into a grimace in concentration. “I don’t think we should tell anyone else, yet. You don’t know who you can trust.”

My head felt fuzzy, but I could see the common sense in what Sam said. I felt myself relax a bit. “Even if he has the codes, he won’t have a reason to take Mom. He doesn’t know that we know who he is.”

Sam’s dimple deepened. “Exactly.”

Jake put his arm up across the door, preventing us from leaving. “What the hell are you both talking about? I’m not keeping a secret from anyone if I don’t get some answers.”

Sam met his gaze. “Move.”

Purposefully, I
didn’t
meet Jake’s gaze, but jerked my thumb at Sam. “Sam told me if I would go to prom with him, he would help me get inside Mom’s head. But I wasn’t allowed to tell any of you the real reason I was going to prom with him.”

Jake’s face turned a touch of red. “I see.”

I started talking faster. “And when Sam and I went inside Mom’s head, we discovered that she is living in a false reality. She was in the house that she and my dad always lived in, but it was all time-warped. She was living in a reality where Rob and I are still little kids. She knew me and realized what was happening. But she likes being there. And she said that sometimes she forgets it isn’t real. My father put her there to protect her from Nicholi.”

I motioned to her still body lying on the bed. “They knew Stewart was trying to mind control her and they wanted to save her. Which makes sense, because Sam said her mind was a lot different than the other dreams he’s been in, right?” I turned to Sam for confirmation.

Sam turned away and grumbled, “Not that I wanted everyone to know I could get inside people’s heads—but, whatever.”

Jake glanced between us. “Okay.”

Sam hit the wall with his fist. “Wake up, Curtis—your friend is a poser. And he’s been playing all of you. And he’s like—he’s like…”

“The Emperor.” Jake looked vacantly at me, his gaze in a faraway place.

I felt my heart pick up speed. “Yes.”

Sam released a little chuckle and I saw his eyes widen. “But if he’s the Emperor, that would make Luth—Darth Vader? And you—” Sam laughed. “And you’re Luke Skywalker? Give me a break.”

Jake ran his hand through his hair, but he still had that faraway look in his eyes.

Purple, red, black, and white soared through my mind. I vacillated between information overload and wanting to sink into the floor and cry. “We have to make a pact to tell no one. At least not yet. It is imperative to my mom’s safety—got it?”

Sam met my eyes. “Absolutely.”

Jake focused on my face, but his voice seemed unsure. “Okay.”

I swallowed, pushing back the emotion welling inside of me. Stepping to Mom, I gave her a soft kiss on the forehead and wiped the tear that dropped onto her skin. Determination burned through me. “I’ll stop him and get you back—I promise.”

Jake watched me, slowly putting out his hand for mine. “Let’s go.”

Brushing away the rest of my tears, I sucked in a breath, feeling the weight of everything ease with my hand inside of his.

Holding the door for Jake and me, Sam’s eyes met mine. “How sweet. He takes you back so easily.”

Dipping his shoulder, Jake shoved Sam into the wall and held him for a moment. “Let’s get one thing clear,
Turner
. I’m not Skywalker...I’m Han Solo—he gets the girl.”

Episode 22: Needs

The apartment was dark. Rob and I usually left the kitchen light on for each other. It was just something that we did. Fear poured through me and I wiped away a sudden tear, wondering how dark it was in Rob’s cell.

As I fumbled with the keys, Jake and Sam stood behind me, both breathing loudly. We needed that computer.

I finally got the door to open and dropped everything on the table, switching on the light and starting down the hall.

A loud thump sounded from Rob’s room.

Jake and Sam both reached for me, taking hold of my shoulders and pulling me back.

“Shh.” Jake’s warm breath hissed into my ear.

Luth’s face came to my mind. Would he be here to do the dirty work for Stewart?

Another loud thump came from Rob’s room.

Jake ran forward. “Don’t move.”

Sam followed Jake. “Stay back, Lanie.”

I didn’t stay back. The thought crossed my mind that I should really be in front of both of them since I was better skilled to take on whoever was here.

Jake flipped on the light switch in Rob’s room.

“What—” Karen sat up on Rob’s bed, a frightened look on her face and mascara smeared under her eyes. She was still in her prom dress.

Jake stared at her incredulously. “Karen?”

I noticed that her royal blue dress with black lace looked partially ripped.

Sam looked around the room. “What are you doing here?”

Jake looked at Sam, annoyed, and moved to Karen’s other side.

The looks Jake and Sam were giving each other reminded me of two children fighting for a possession.

Karen’s lip quivered. “I—I’ve been so worried about Rob. I couldn’t sleep, so I came here.” She held up a silver key. “He gave me a key a few days ago, telling me I could come over anytime I wanted.” She shrugged. “No one was here so I just let myself in and went to Rob’s room. I just feel closer to him here.” She broke off, shaking with sobs. “We have to get him out of that place.”

I sat next to her on the bed and began patting her back. Now was definitely
not
the time to tell her about the whole Nicholi/Stewart thing. Jake and Sam were already starting to search for Rob’s computer.

I continued to rub her back. “Rob’s tough—don’t worry.”

Karen straightened, smoothing down her crisp A-line dress and sucking up her tears. “Yeah. And he told me at the jail that he cracked the code. He was so excited to talk to Stewart, too.”

Jake and Sam both froze.

I kept my hand on Karen’s back. “Karen, where is Rob’s computer? We need to find it.”

Frowning, Karen looked around. “Oh, he was working on it before prom at the warehouse. It must be there still.”

Jake moved past me, taking my hand. “Let’s go.”

Sam held back, his phone buzzing. “I’ll meet you guys there.”

It didn’t feel right, leaving Karen here by herself, especially if someone else was looking for Rob’s stuff. I reached for her. “Come with us, Karen. Rob wouldn’t want you to be alone.”

The warehouse was dark, except for the dim hue from the television in the front area.

Reed jumped in his spot on the couch when we came through the door. “What the—”