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SEPTEMBER CLOSED THE lid on the toilet, gingerly sat down, and turned on the water in the sink to keep Teddy from hearing. No more delays. She locked the door and dialed April’s cell. It rang once.
“Yes?” The Ghost Man. Her hand shook at the memory of his weird eyes so close to hers. September reminded herself he couldn’t reach her, squeezing the flash drive in her other hand like a talisman to bolster her courage. She held the cards this time.
“I have what you want.” Her voice wavered, despite her attempt at bravado. “Let me speak to April.” Better. She needed to sound in control.
She heard him tell somebody, “It’s the sister,” and then Lizzie came on the line.
“April’s in the other room.” Lizzie was all business. “Describe the merchandise. Exactly what do you have?” The grandmotherly façade was gone.
September stared at the one-by-three-inch object in her palm. “A flash drive. Shiny, black, strung on a silver chain lanyard.”
“Everyone has those. You get them at the grocery store. Tell me the truth, September. You wouldn’t try to fob off a fake?”
The idea jarred her. Lizzie was right. Steven could’ve collared Shadow with the lanyard days ago. She couldn’t prove it was the right flash drive unless she looked at the contents.
“Besides, I’ve grown quite attached to April, and now Steven has joined the party, so it’s all in the family. Your sister’s busy with her laptop in the room down the hall, removing all traces of Pottinger’s information she accidentally-on-purpose emailed to herself. You remember the laptop, don’t you? The one you nearly killed Gerald over?” The words were a slap.
September flinched. She’d never wanted to kill anyone, but if she’d hit Gerald-the-Ghost harder Pam might still be alive.
“April understands the stakes. Do you understand consequences, September?” She acted the part of fond schoolmarm teaching a hard but necessary lesson. “Steven isn’t the only sick child, and you’ve endangered the lives, the hopes and dreams of hundreds of other children. If I have to sacrifice one little boy to save a hundred, what should I do, September? What would you do?”
Focus on April and Steven. That’s what mattered here. “You want Pottinger’s information, right? I swear to you, I have the flash drive. I can give it to you.” She had to convince Lizzie. She looked closer, and found a logo pressed into the case. “There’s a logo on the side of the flash drive case, a bird on fire.” A Phoenix? “Just let them go, please don’t hurt them.” September ached with the effort to persuade Lizzie without alerting Teddy. Water from the tap gushed and gurgled in its race down the drain, rushing as fast as the hands on her watch.
September whispered more urgently into the phone. “I found Pottinger’s information. That’s what you wanted, and I did it. Steven looped the chain around Shadow’s neck. I’ll give it to you, but I have to know my sister and Steven are both okay.” Her pulse thrummed. “I won’t give it to you ‘til I know, so let me talk to my sister.”
“You’re in no position to make demands. So Steven hid it on the dog. The treatment unlocks hidden talents. It worked for my Gerald, after all.” She sounded delighted. “We could have resolved this amicably, but I can’t forgive you for nearly killing my boy.”
September licked her suddenly dry lips. “He’s your son?”
“Gerald is brilliant. You should thank him for Steven’s cure.” Lizzie’s pride blossomed with the opportunity to sing her son’s praises. “Gerald couldn’t speak, either. He had violent rages. He was locked inside his own head for years. Then a happy accident created the miracle we are now able to share with the world. I didn’t even recognize it; Gerald figured it out for himself.”
“Happy accident? What are you talking about?” Shadow woofed and pressed against her thigh. She welcomed the contact and her nerves steadied in response. September wondered if the pup recognized Lizzie’s voice over the phone. Probably.
“That’s right, September. Gerald took some of my dad’s prescription medicine by accident.” Her breath quickened. “He started talking. After twenty-five years of silence, he started talking. Are you listening to me? You need to understand what’s at stake, September. Are you paying attention?”
“Yes. I hear you. He started talking, it was a miracle.” She couldn’t stop shivering. She wanted to speak to April but was afraid to interrupt Lizzie’s grandstanding.
“That’s right. Gerald told me what he’d done. Taken Daddy’s medicine. We told the doctors and they refused to believe us, and they wouldn’t give us more when we ran out.” Her voice turned grim. “Can you imagine that? They spit on the miracle! And it nearly cost Gerald his life. I won’t tell you what we had to go through to keep him well . . . never mind that. But we knew right away we had to share this joy. Gerald finished school in three years. Only three years and he’s a doctor, a Ph.D. Can you imagine?”
September closed her eyes and nodded.
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Yes, I can imagine. Gerald’s brilliant, like you said.”
“That’s right. My boy’s a genius. He met Dr. Pottinger in school, and together they’ve brought Gerald’s legacy to other poor children who can benefit from this miracle.” Her voice hardened. “That flash drive has information that you don’t need, that only parents of these special children would understand. April understands. You haven’t looked at it, have you? Don’t lie to me, I’ll know. You must give it back. Don’t make me spell out the consequences.” She paused. “You didn’t answer me, September. Do you understand consequences?”
“Yes. Yes, I understand.” September stiffened her back. “But if you want the information, let me talk to April.” She didn’t bother to modulate her tone.
“For the love of . . . Oh all right, I’ll go get her. Just wait a minute, but you must make it quick.”
September waited several impatient moments.
“September?” The voice, though soft and hoarse, was April. “They found Steven. He’s safe here with me. We’re fine. Everything’s fine.” She paused, as though choosing her words with care. “Lizzie says you found Dr. Pottinger’s flash drive information.”
“April, are you okay?” September choked back tears. She was alive, Steven was alive. “Yes, I found it. Where are you? I’m ready to make the exchange.”
“Of course I’m fine. We’re both fine. We’re at Lizzie’s getting ready to drive to the Legacy Center.” April said. “See? Everything worked out.” She paused. “September, you must return that flash drive. You don’t need it anyway, and I already know what’s important. That information doesn’t belong to us, it’s proprietary. I signed papers. Once you give it back, Steven will keep getting his medicine, and he won’t have those nasty side effects, and he’ll be cured.” She paused. “What exchange?”
“The ransom. They want me to trade Pottinger’s information for your safety.”
“Ransom? Don’t be ridiculous. Just give back the flash drive, and you can go back to your life and we can go back to ours. Like I said, all debts wiped clean—”
Lizzie came back on the phone. “Satisfied? They’re fine.”
In the background September heard April’s questions become angry and siren into a shriek that was silenced mid-scream.
“What’s happening?” Shadow barked back at September’s anguished words.
A breathless Lizzie came back on the line. “Everything’s fine. Your sister’s fine. Steven’s fine. I promise. Trust me.” She hesitated. “I’ll call you back.”
September stared at the dead phone. Do killers keep promises?
Teddy rattled the locked handle and pounded on the door. “Why are you yelling? Open up, right now.” He banged again. “I’ll pick the lock, break the door. Open it. You’re scaring an old man.” He juggled the door, and it finally opened. He stared. “What happened?”
“I don’t know.” She was numb.
He shut off the water that threatened to overflow the sink, and looked at the phone in her limp hand. “Who were you talking to? I thought your phone was dead.”
She didn’t answer. The phone dropped, and the flash drive followed, the chain snaking to the floor. She didn’t care.
Shadow pushed himself into her lap, and September wished the doggy weight was Dakota. Her arms hugged his big, warm body. Cold, she was so damn cold. “I think I just killed my sister.”
