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.“You don’t trust me, do you?” Carroll asks.Running my thumb along the piece of tiger iron in my hand, I wonder how the hell I’m supposed to answer that.“Don’t feel too bad,” I say after a moment.“I don’t trust most people.”He nods, pressing a button on the monitor, and then turns toward me.“It’s all right.I want to make sure you know I’m going to do everything I can to get you the answers you need.”“Why?”When he looks down at Mari, it’s like he’s not seeing her.It’s like he’s seeing someone else entirely.“Because I’ve been looking for the same answers for the last twelve years, but nothing made sense until K.T.found me.” Carroll stares at me, his brown eyes intense.“You don’t have to trust me.I trust you.”The house has been quiet since K.T.and Dawn left a couple hours ago, so the sound of approaching footsteps pulls my attention to the door.“I think I found a location,” Carroll says as he comes into the room with a new IV bag.“Location for what?” I keep holding Mari’s hand but shift slightly for Carroll to get past.“The clinic Horace is helping me set up.”I blink.“You’re setting up a clinic?”Carroll looks down at me, his nose wrinkled.“Well, I had to, or they would have asked a lot of questions when we bought the fMRI machine.”“We bought an fMRI?”“Horace didn’t tell you about this whole—” His mouth closes, and the confusion on his face clears.Shaking his head, he moves to sit on the end of Mari’s bed.“Sorry.He was going to explain, but then he heard about Nadette…” Carroll trails off and shrugs.“All right.You tell me.”“Ultimately, our goal is to figure out exactly how what has happened to you has affected your brain, and unlock the frequencies connecting people in comas to the dreamworld.”His eyes are bright, but it’s not a happy brightness.More like the passion of a fanatic overtaking all reason.Carroll’s hands fly as he talks about brain waves and electrical frequencies and research plans.“Plus, if Dawn and K.T.are able to find other survivors and bring my study sample higher? I might actually be able to—”“What?!”Frank’s shout stops Carroll midsentence.Dana comes running down the stairs as I head for Frank’s office.Carroll follows.“A week, Jacquelyn? A goddamn week?”Frank stands behind his desk, his face bright red and his eyes bulging.“What do you mean you don’t know? How the hell do you not know how long your only child has been missing, Jacquelyn?”Oh, hell.Foreboding crawls up my body, digging its claws in no matter how hard I try to shove it away and ignore it.Frank’s mouth snaps shut as he listens to something.Whatever Jacquelyn says makes his face turn a deep red tinged with purple.“I don’t give a shit!” Frank screams.I’ve never seen him like this.He’s so chill I never would’ve guessed he had this in him.“You waited a week to call the police.If something happens to Julian, you’re fucking right it’s your fault!”Frank chucks his phone against the wall, and it falls to the floor in pieces.Dana and I stand in the doorway, not sure what to do.“What happened to Julian?” Dana finally asks, her voice hesitant.Frank laughs, but it’s a desperate, hollow laugh.“I don’t even know.Either he ran away or he’s been abducted.My screw-up of a little sister isn’t sure.”“Abducted!” Dana sways on her feet, and I reach out to steady her.Tears stream down her face, and her voice is thick and hoarse when she talks again.“Oh God, Frank.I knew we should have offered to take him the last time they were here.”Dana runs into Frank’s arms, and I back off, letting them have some privacy.Carroll’s lips are pressed together, his head tilted toward Frank’s office.“Two missing kids connected to this family in a week.” He takes a breath and shakes his head.“What are the chances this is a coincidence?”I meet his eyes for a second before I pass him.“Honestly? Zilch.”Even knowing that, I also know there’s nothing I can do to help them with something like this.I hope the kid is okay, but it’s taking all my energy to help Carroll take care of Mariella, help Dawn and K.T.with their research, and, apparently, set up a clinic.I can only face one fight at a time, and Mariella comes first [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]