59
Dr. Coutant pushed away the brush, stomping a path all her own through the scorched rubble of Antolina Island. “This is unacceptable,” she muttered. “Completely unacceptable.”
“It’s only a matter of time before the authorities find them,” Mark Maddox said.
“I do not find your unbridled optimism remotely comforting.”
“They’re teenage girls, not undercover agents. How long can they remain hidden? How long can they survive on their own?”
“Given their special skills, I fear a long time. Much too long a time. They seem infused with a new maturity and dedication. I don’t think they’re going to be caught buying a skinny latte or getting their nails done.”
“But they will be caught. Eventually. And who knows, maybe this little adventure will do them some good.”
She whirled around. “Do some good? Mark, do you recall that people died in that explosion they caused?”
“We don’t know that—”
She pulled a tree branch back, then released it as she passed, slinging it into Mark’s face. Take that, irritating smitten therapist. “Who else would have committed such an atrocity? They obviously created the explosion to cover their little jailbreak. The first escape attempt failed, so they tried a more violent one. Using Shine, the most dangerous weapon on earth.” The first attempt failed, she reminded herself, because their mole tipped her off. So why didn’t she get the same intel this time around?
“Someone evacuated most of the TYL staff. And it wasn’t the girls. I have a hard time believing that was a coincidence.”
“So word leaked out and someone tried to save people. That doesn’t make those girls any less culpable. Are you seriously defending them?”
Mark drew up his shoulders. “We did have this principle in America. Once. We called it presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
“Their guilt is staring us both in the face.”
“There are other possible explanations.”
“Shine disasters are not new, Mark. Are you going to say the same thing about Seattle? And Santa Monica?”
“Well…”
He almost did, she noted, though he bit it back at the last moment. Why was he questioning her? Because he was crushing on the pretty girl with the wacky blue bangs? Or was there more? She’d picked up on hints that he suspected TYL didn’t just want to rehabilitate Shines. Fine, she could use that. His conflicted feelings would make him easier to manipulate. “Your feelings for that Shine blind you to the obvious.”
“Dr. Coutant, it is possible for someone to have an opinion that differs from yours without engaging in inappropriate or unprofessional behavior.”
She pulled herself over a boulder and climbed till she stood at the apex of the mound. “I’ve been reading people for a long time, Mark. Neuropsychiatry—it’s what I do. I’ve seen the weird, the fantastic, the completely deranged. Nothing fooled me. And neither do you.”
“No inappropriate behavior has occurred between me and any of my clients.”
“I’m not suggesting that it has. Yet.”
“I can assure you that I will maintain my objectivity.”
She cast her eyes toward the horizon. “Did you know I used to have a drinking problem?”
His expression made it clear that he did not.
“Horrible mess. Binge drinker. Pathetic. I came to work drunk. I hid bottles under sofa cushions. In a moment of desperation, I drank cooking wine. I even drank rubbing alcohol once after straining it through white bread. Like I said. Pathetic.”
“I had no idea.”
“Most of my friends gave up on me. My family left me. I engaged in dangerous and inappropriate behavior that led to—well. Never mind.” She hesitated. “I lost so much. Everything that mattered. I haven’t admitted this to many people, but at one point, I considered giving up. I didn’t think I could quit. And I knew if I didn’t, I’d die. So why not just cut to the chase? To be or not to be, right? I decided not to be. Almost killed myself. Till I finally had my epiphany, one dark day. Came to me like the proverbial lightning bolt. All at once, I could see how ego-driven and self-pitying I was. And that’s when I started to get better. I was lucky I was able to pull out when I did. The only key to recovery is that you genuinely want to get better. And I did.”
“You should be congratulated. You’ve done more than just recover. You’ve helped others find a path to recovery.”
“Yes.” But that was a different story, wasn’t it? Just when she’d put her life back together again, someone hijacked it. Forced her to take a direction she didn’t choose and never wanted. And one step led to another, until at last she was doing hideous things. Abominable, unforgivable things. And telling herself it was necessary.
“Eventually I attracted the attention of Bristow Genetics. I was invited to be part of an extra-special, super-secret project. That led to my involvement with Shines. And TYL.”
“It shows how much they trusted you. Handing you such a critical responsibility.”
“It shows something, but I’m not sure that’s it.” She pulled a stray dandelion out of the ground, then blew on it, watching the fuzzy bits of white disperse in the air. “Pretty soon I went from being in a rehab to running one. And from running a rehab to running a de facto prison. Guantanamo for Shines.”
“We never waterboarded anyone.”
She gave the therapist a long look, but said nothing. “And I found myself unable to resist.”
“Meaning what?”
She picked up a rock and flung it into the air. “Shines aren’t the only people who can be locked up in Mordock.”
“What?”
“Can you not see the obvious? Today, anything is possible. Once we infringe the rights of some, we endanger everyone. The powers-that-be are driven by fear and desperation. Now we have a Shine prison break. And this bizarre plague at the Getty? I’m sure you know what the uninformed ignoramuses who post anonymous comments on Internet bulletin boards are saying. They blame the Shines, of course. How else, they argue, do you explain the fact that the plague only strikes men?”
“There are many possible immunological explanations.”
“That’s not what most people are seeing. The government has created an enemy. Very effectively. And now people want that enemy contained. Or destroyed. There’s nothing they wouldn’t approve. And no one they wouldn’t be willing to punish.”
“What do they do in there? At Mordock.”
“Believe me, you do not want to know. And I do not want to experience it first-hand. Which is why it’s so critical that you help me find those girls.”
“Me? Aren’t the police looking?”
“Among others. But so far, they’ve had no success. These girls are proving more resourceful than anyone imagined. And I rather suspect that has to do with your little sweetheart.”
“Aura is not remotely dangerous.”
“Find her, Mark. Find all of them.”
“Why would you think I could do what the police can’t?”
She peered deeply into his eyes. “Because you know Aura better than anyone, don’t you?”
A painful moment of silence followed.
“So do it. Before the whole country looks like this scorched hill. Find those irresponsible girls. So we can deal with them once and for all.”