"Yo!" Jay called out as he led Jill into the tent. "Nick, 1 found your Mrs. Claus, though not the one you were looking for."
It was late enough that mostly everyone had changed and vacated the tent. There were only a couple of people still inside; one of them was Nick already dressed as Santa and pacing, a worried expression on his face. The worry dropped away to be replaced with a warm smile at Jay's announcement, but that died away to confusion as his gaze landed on Jill.
"Who are you? Where's Jill?"
"Jill had a family emergency," Jay answered for her. "Noelle here is standing in."
"Oh," Nick said and then asked with concern, "A family emergency? But Jill's all right, isn't she?"
Jill hesitated. In truth she wasn't all right at all. She'd been zapped by a madman and turned into a shape-shifter that the madman was now hunting, intending to cage up and perform horrible experiments on. There was nothing all right about her at the moment. She couldn't tell Nick that though, so she forced a smile and nodded. "She's fine."
"Good," Nick said with a sigh and then glanced to the tent flap as Bev sailed in.
"Okay, everything's ready to go. We just need you two on the float." Bev's expression was pinched and anxious as she entered, but became completely alarmed when her gaze landed on Jill. "Who are you?"
"This is Noelle, Bev," Nick answered for her. "Jill had an emergency and asked Noelle to take her place."
Bev scowled. "See if I do that girl another favor. After all the trouble I went to—" Pausing, she peered over Noelle with pursed lips. "Well, that costume won't do. This is a family parade. There are kids out there."
Jill glanced at herself. The costume was more suitable for a bachelor's party, she supposed.
"You'll have to wear this." Bev moved in front of her to do up the clasp of the red cape she'd just placed on her shoulders.
Jill ran a hand down the cape's white fur trim and frowned. "Isn't this Santa's?"
"We have both a heavy one and a lighter one so that we're covered whether it's cold or warmer. Its cold today, so old Saint Nick here is wearing the heavier one. You'll have to make do with the lighter one." Finished with the clasp, Bev stepped back to peer at her critically. She didn't look pleased, but said, "It'll have to do. But you're going to be cold in that costume. Jill should have given you the one we made. I swear she's going to hear about this." Whirling to the tent flap, she snapped, "Come on you two. The parade is already five minutes late in starting."
Jill breathed out a little sigh and silently cursed John Heathcliffe as Nick led her out of the tent.
The parking lot was still full of people rushing about, but now they were all headed in the same direction, toward the row of floats parked at the edge of the lot. Jill and Nick joined the herd, making their way to the middle float that held the small wooden building with the sign "Santa's Workshop" on it. It was a shed really, but quite charming with all its decorations and left plenty of room for the big black bag with gift-wrapped boxes falling out, the fake reindeer standing around and Santa's chair. There were already several people on the float, not one of them taller than four feet. Santa's elves.
"Up we go," Nick urged as they approached the steps that had been wheeled up to the side of the float.
Murmuring a thank you, Jill scampered up the stairs, her gaze slipping nervously around the parking lot as she went, eyes searching for John. While he shouldn't be able to recognize her as she was, she couldn't help fearing that he would.
"This way, cutie," Jay said cheerfully, leading her toward Santa's chair. "You and Nick stand here and smile and wave."
"Thanks Jay," Jill murmured, following him.
"No problem." He grinned widely and then wiggled his eyebrows and said, "So, if you aren't doing anything later, maybe we could get together and I can show you why us elves are so popular with the ladies."
"Scram Jay," Nick said firmly, joining them at the chair.
"Ah, come on, Nick. Don't be such a spoil sport," the elf complained. "Why should you get all the babes? Anyway, I thought you were interested in Jill. Don't take it out on me because she stiffed you today and didn't show."
Jill glanced sharply at Nick, her heart leaping with hope when she saw the blush on his face. It seemed he was interested in her… but then why hadn't he done anything about it?
"Ignore him," Nick suggested. "He's a rude little bugger, but has a good heart for the most part."
"So you aren't interested in Jill?" she asked, unable to help herself.
Nick was silent long enough she didn't think he'd respond, but then he muttered, "Like I said, just ignore him."
She was frowning over that, when he said, "I don't know how much Jill explained to you, but the deal is there are boxes of candy canes and treats in the shed. There are two trays. One out here," he gestured to the large tray overflowing with candy canes and toys on the small table beside the throne, then waved to the "workshop." "And one inside that the elves are supposed to use to keep the tray loaded. We throw them to the crowd."
Jill nodded.
"There's also a gas heater in the shed to warm up by if you get too cold, but try to stay on deck as much as possible. The kids want to see Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Okay?"
His glance at her costume suggested he suspected she'd spend more time in the shed than out of it. Feeling self-conscious and stupid, Jill tugged the cape tighter around her, more to hide than because she felt cold.
The truth was Jill wasn't feeling as cold as she knew she should. It was almost at freezing temperature and she should have been shivering in the chill air, but wasn't. Claire and Kyle hadn't seemed to suffer from the heat or cold like other people since being zapped though, so she supposed it had something to do with that.
A shout from the end of the parking lot drew her attention. Bev was at the head of the first float in the parade, waving her arms and gesturing.
"We're about to start," Nick said. "You might want to hang onto this to keep from losing your footing when the float starts moving. You'll get used to the motion quickly, but the first movement might startle you."
Jill moved to his side and took hold of the back of the chair, knowing he was right. Her gaze slid over the float as they waited to move forward, noting that everyone was now on board. There were six elves on their float. Three were children of store owners who'd volunteered to be elves, and the other three were adults, Jay and two of his friends, both little people like himself.
The float started forward, sending everyone swaying where they stood. Once in motion however, Jill quickly adjusted and was able to stand unaided.
"Okay?" Nick asked as she released the chair back she'd been clinging to.
Jill nodded and offered a smile. "Fine."
"Good." He scooped out a handful of candy canes and whatnot from the tray and passed them to her. "Just smile, wave, and toss treats to the kids."
They worked in silence at first, smiling and waving and throwing candy, but Jill found herself repeatedly glancing toward Nick. This wasn't how she'd expected the day to go. Every time they were together they tended to chat up a storm. She'd rather expected this day to go the same, the two of them laughing and chatting and sharing secret smiles as they tossed the candy and waved, but she wasn't Jill today, she was Noelle, and Nick didn't seem interested in talking to her.
Jill supposed she should be glad. After all, she'd taken on the appearance of a model most men would be drooling over, yet Nick hardly seemed to notice she was there.
They were perhaps halfway through the parade when Jill began trying to strike up a conversation with Nick. She pointed out a child on the side with reindeer horns on and a glowing red nose, but while Nick smiled faintly, it didn't lead to anything. She tried again several times, but the man just wasn't receptive. He was polite enough, but cool in his responses until Jill finally just gave up the flirty attempts and decided to try the direct approach.
"Would you like to go out for dinner after the parade?" she asked suddenly, and was amazed at herself for having the courage to do so. It seemed being someone else gave her courage she'd never had as herself. Jill had never been the sort to ask men out, she always waited for the man to ask… which was perhaps why she never ended up dating anyone she was really interested in. Now she waited for Nick's answer, wondering why she'd even asked. She didn't want to date him as stick-thin model Noelle. She didn't even want him to like stick-thin model Noelle. She wanted him to like her, Jill, as herself.
"Look, you seem like a nice woman, Noelle," Nick said gently. "But Jay was right, I am interested in Jill."
She sucked in a breath. He'd just said the one thing guaranteed to make her the happiest girl in the parade, maybe even the town. Here he stood, rejecting a woman with the face and body of an international magazine model for little old Jill. She could have kissed him.
Her glee lasted for a very brief moment and then it was pushed out of her brain by questions. If he was interested in her why hadn't he asked her out? Was he just using that as an excuse for him to let Noelle down easy? And if he wasn't interested in Noelle, or Jill at least not interested enough to ask her out, maybe… God! Kyle couldn't be right. Nick wasn't gay was he?
"What?"
Jill blinked her thoughts away to see that Nick had stopped throwing candy to stare at her. He was frowning under his fake beard as he took in the expressions her thoughts were scribbling across her face and obviously wanted to know what was behind them, she realized. Jill hesitated, but then blurted, "If you're so interested in Jill, why haven't you asked her out?"
She saw his mouth tighten between the white mustache and beard and was sure he was going to tell her to mind her own business, so she quickly blurted, "We're friends… and I've been worried about her. You seem to be stringing her along, eating lunches with her, showing interest but not too much interest, never asking her out…" Jill watched the play of expressions on his face, then impulsively added, "Her brother thinks you're gay."
"Gay?" Nick's eyes widened in alarm.
"Yes. He thinks that's why you haven't asked Jill out," she murmured quietly, and then added, "If you are you should just tell her so. She'd still be friends with you, but you shouldn't string her along like this."
Nick was frowning now and looking a bit put out. Jill waited, wondering if he'd tell her to go to hell, or actually respond at all, but then he heaved out an exasperated sigh and said, "I'm not gay."
She felt every muscle in her body relax at this news. Jill had told herself she didn't believe he was, but the possibility had bothered her ever since Kyle had brought it up. His answer eliminated the problem, however. Now she just had to find out why—if he was interested in her—he hadn't asked her out. The easiest way was to ask, so she did. "Then why haven't you asked her out?"
Nick pursed his lips and then said, "Because I haven't been free to do so."
Jill blinked at this simple explanation. Not free? Like how? God! He wasn't married was he? Oh dear God, if she'd gone and fallen for a married guy—
"I was in the middle of a divorce when I opened the store next to Jill's. I've been waiting for the divorce to go through before asking her out. Besides, I didn't want a rebound relationship. The first year after separating from my wife, I dated around a lot, but then I realized I was picking women who were all just like my ex-wife. I decided it would be best to take a year off from dating, give myself that time to deal with all the issues from my marriage, decide what I really wanted in a partner and then consider dating again. The next time I marry I want it to really be 'until death do us part.»
"I suppose there were lots of women you've been interested in during that time," she murmured.
"Yes," he admitted. "There are a lot of attractive women in the world."
"Yes," she agreed with a frown.
"But none of them were as interesting to me as Jill is."
She stiffened, her ears suddenly pricking.
Nick grimaced and shook his head before continuing. "I was halfway through that promised year when I opened the shop here and met Jill. Suddenly, keeping to that year was hard. I actually like Jill. It isn't just sexual interest with her. She's normal and sane and funny and smart and sexy… everything I've ever wanted in a woman."
Jill sucked in a breath at this news, her heart suddenly bursting with hope.
"Actually, I think this year business turned out to be a good thing for us," he said quietly. "It forced me to be a friend to her first and through that I've found we get along great. We work well together as a team. We like many of the same things…" He shrugged. "I didn't even know that much about my wife when I married her. And while I was sure two years ago that I would never marry again, I think I'd be willing to risk it with Jill… if she was interested."
"Oh, I'm sure she'd be interested," Jill assured him with a grin. She felt like her heart was bursting. He liked her! And he thought she was funny, smart, and sexy.
"I guess we'll see when I ask her out."
"When will that be?" Jill asked with excitement. "I mean when is the year up?"
"Both the year and the divorce were final yesterday. I signed the final decree last night." Nick admitted and then gave a dry laugh. "And actually, I had it all planned to ask her out today."
Jill had to grab onto Santa's chair to keep from jumping up and down with glee and squealing.
Nick continued. "I was going to invite her to my sister's Christmas party after the parade. That way there'd be no nervous, first-date jitters, just a relaxed invitation to join me at my sister's. I even invited the others in the parade along too so she wouldn't feel pressured."
"Oh," Jill breathed, thinking he was the most thoughtful man in the world. If he'd asked her out on an actual date the first time, she would have been over the moon, until the first-date jitters set in. Then she would have spent whatever time there was between his asking and the actual date fretting over what to wear, what to say, desperate to have everything perfect.
God, what a clever man he was. His way was so much more relaxed. If he invited her with a bunch of people, she would have been relaxed thinking it was just a group thing and—
Damn! Jill's happiness turned to dismay as she realized that John and his craziness had completely screwed up everything. There wouldn't be any relaxed first date because she wasn't here. Her first date, probably, finally their first kiss too. Jill had been fantasizing about that first kiss for so long, she doubted the real thing could live up to it. She would have liked to find out though. Dammit! Why had John chosen today of all days to act like a crazy prick and zap her? If not for him she'd be herself up here and she so wanted to be herself right then.
"Say, why is that guy coming out of Jill's store?"
Jill let go of her thoughts and glanced around with confusion. Nick was peering to the left of the float and she followed his gaze, noting that they'd reached their street of stores. The parade was almost over. At the end of this road, they would pull into the parking lot and disband. Her gaze slid along the storefronts until she found her own and she stiffened as she spotted the man now turning away from the door of her store. John Heathcliffe. His gaze slid over the people on the street and then across the floats passing by until it landed on her where it froze, eyes widening with incredulous recognition.
No, he couldn't recognize her, Jill thought with dismay. She didn't look anything like herself.
"He seems to know you. Who—" Nick's words died as he turned curiously toward her and suddenly froze. "Jesus," he breathed, his wide eyes eating her alive. "Jill? Where did you come from?"
"What?" She peered at him with confusion and then realized he'd called her Jill. Glancing down, she jerked the cape closed with a squeak of alarm as she saw that she'd changed back to herself and now stood on the float with nothing but the cape covering her. She was herself and naked. How? She wondered frantically and then realized that she'd been standing there wishing she was herself. Her body had obviously listened.
And, of course, John had recognized her. That thought forced any concern for her nudity from her mind and she jerked her eyes back to the bane of her existence. Jill wasn't at all surprised to see that John Heathcliffe was now pushing his way through the crowds, fighting to get to the float.
"Jill? What's going on? Where did Noelle go?" Nick was obviously struggling with confusion, but she didn't have the time to explain.
"I have to go," she muttered, and tried to turn away, but he caught her arm.
"Wait a minute," he said. "How—?"
"I can't explain right now, Nick. Please let me go, he's coming. He'll get me," she cried, panic choking her throat as she saw John break out of the crowd and stumble onto the street next to the float behind their own. As slow as the parade was moving, it wouldn't take him long to reach their float and be on her.
"But the parade," Nick said.
"It's done, we're nearing the end of the street now," she pointed out, tugging at her arm. "Please."
Nick glanced around and saw that they were indeed nearing the parking lot where they would disband. They had two more stores to pass. Frowning, he glanced back to her frantic face, then toward John who was now running behind the float, reaching for the edge to boost himself up.
Mouth tightening, Nick began to urge her toward the front of the float. "Okay, let's go."
"What?" Jill glanced at him with surprise as he hurried her to the opposite end of the float from where John was trying to board. "You're coming with me?"
"Like you said, the parade is over," he pointed out with a shrug. "And I don't know what's going on… but I want to."
"Oh," Jill breathed unhappily, not at all sure she could explain everything to the man. She'd have to explain about her brother and his wife, and the molecular destabilizer and that wasn't her secret to share. Besides, she wasn't sure she wanted to. He said he liked her because she was normal and sane, and she had been until that morning. Now she was anything but normal. Once he found that out, would Nick lose interest in her?
"Hey! What do you think you're doing, buddy?!"
Jill glanced back over her shoulder at that shout from Jay to see him and the other two adult elves converging on the spot where John now hung off the float. His upper body was on it and he was struggling to pull his legs onboard, a struggle made more difficult as the three little men began kicking and hitting him while the children playing elves pelted him with candy canes from a safe distance.
"Jump."
Jill jerked her gaze back around just as Nick leapt from the float, pulling her with him. Biting back the scream that leapt up her throat, Jill concentrated on trying to land on her feet, but she was off balance and landed wrong. Her ankle twisted out from under her and she fell.
"Are you all right?" Nick asked with concern, kneeling at her side.
Jill nodded, then glanced down and blushed self-consciously as Nick suddenly tugged her cape down to cover her upper thighs.
"You really have to explain this to me," he muttered, lifting her to her feet.
Jill didn't comment, concentrating on holding the edges of the cape together as he set her upright.
"Come on." Nick tugged her quickly through the crowd. It took her a minute to realize he was leading her back to his store, then they were there and he was retrieving keys from his pocket and unlocking the door.
Jill shifted from foot to foot and glanced anxiously back toward the float, cursing when she saw that John was now standing on it surrounded by angry elves. He was ignoring them, however, his attention fixed on her.
"Inside." Nick caught her arm and tugged her inside the dark shop.
"He saw us," Jill said anxiously, moving to peer out the window toward the float as Nick locked the door again.
"I know. He's probably headed here then," Nick said grimly and caught her arm to urge her away from the window. "We won't have much time."
"Time for what?" Jill asked with despair. It seemed to her they didn't have any time at all. She should be headed out the back door that very minute and without Nick. He wasn't the one John wanted and should be safe so long as she wasn't with him.
"I'm calling the police."
Startled out of her thoughts, Jill glanced around wildly and realized that Nick had drawn her to the store's back room and released her to move around the desk and pick up his phone. Lunging forward, she pressed down on the phone receiver, hanging up on him even as he started to punch in the number.
"What are you doing?" he asked with surprise.
"No police," she said, her voice panicky.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jill." He pushed her hand out of the way. "This guy is obviously bothering you or something. The police—" His words died and he lifted a disbelieving expression to her as she suddenly ripped the cord out of the phone.
"I'm sorry," she said at once. "But I can't let you call the police. I can't explain, but this doesn't affect just me, but my family." She glanced down at the cord still in her hand and dropped it with a sigh. "I'll replace that, I promise."
"Where are you going?" Nick hurried around the desk after her when she opened the door between the back room and the shop.
"I'm going to wait until he's looking in the front door and then slip out the back door. He'll leave you alone then and come after me. You'll be safe."
"Are you crazy?" Nick pulled her away from the door and into the middle of the back room, real anger on his face now. "You must be if you think I'm going to let you draw him off so I'm safe while you try to handle this on your own."
"He doesn't want you," Jill pointed out on a sigh. "This is—"
They both fell silent and turned to glance to the front of the store as they heard someone try the door. As they watched, John released the knob and used his hands to frame his face against the window, trying to see inside.
"He can't see us," Nick murmured. "It's dark back here."
Jill bit her lip, watching John with the same fascination she'd watched a snake about to strike. She then became aware that Nick had moved away from her.
"What are you doing?" she asked in a whisper as he moved back to the door between the front and back of the shop, then her attention shifted back to the front door as John began to tug at it again as if he could force it open by sheer will. Nick paused too, she noted, but her attention was on watching John try to open the door, then the scientist suddenly stopped and moved away on the sidewalk, trying to look nonchalant. They understood why when a police officer appeared in front of the store and approached him.
Jill supposed the officer had spotted him working at the door and briefly hoped that he'd arrest him or something, which would leave her and Nick safe and free, but the officer merely spoke to him for several minutes, then turned and continued along the sidewalk. Jill supposed there wasn't really anything he could arrest him for. Trying a door wasn't an offense.
"The cop must be keeping an eye on him," Nick murmured when several moments passed after the policeman moved out of sight, and John didn't return to his efforts with the door. He was merely leaning against the telephone pole out front, his gaze fixed on Nick's storefront. "It looks like he's decided to wait out front for us to try to leave."
"Until he remembers there are back entrances and tries that," Jill said unhappily.
"You're right," Nick muttered and suddenly pushed the door between the back of the store and the front closed. "We'd better be quick."
Hurrying to her side, he caught her arm and urged her toward the back door. "We'll slip out through the alley and—" He paused and turned to frown when Jill didn't budge, but held her ground. "We have to move quickly, Jill."
"Not like this. Santa and Mrs. Claus are too conspicuous. He'd spot us a block away like this," she pointed out.
Nick peered from her red cape to the padded Santa costume he wore and sighed. "You're right."
Jill was about to point out, as patiently and gently as she could that it was safer for her to go alone, when he suddenly brightened, "I keep a change of clothes here in case of spills or such. They're in my office. You can wear those."
"What about you?" she asked with a frown.
"Unlike you, I have jeans and a t-shirt on under here," he said dryly. "I'll just strip off the costume and beard."
"Oh." She was silent for a minute, then nodded. "Yes. Go find the clothes."
The moment he disappeared into his office, Jill headed for the back door. Despite what she'd said, she had every intention of slipping away. She'd be doing them both a favor. The man had said one of the things he liked about her was that she was normal and sane. If that was so, he'd hardly be interested in her once he knew the truth of what she'd become. There was nothing normal or sane about being a shape-shifter.
No, it was better this way, she decided unhappily. She'd get out of his life before she forced him to break her heart by rejecting her.
Jill's hand was on the doorknob to the back door when she spotted the calendar on the wall next to it. Pausing, she stared. It was open to December and showed a couple walking down the city street in warm winter gear. Jill glanced from the picture down to herself and back. She'd be less noticeable in the calendar woman's face and outfit than as herself. And as much as she wanted to spare herself the humiliation of explaining everything to Nick—if she even could—she didn't wish to do so at the expense of getting caught and caged up for the rest of her life by a madman.
Shifting to look like the calendar girl seemed her safest route, and it would only take seconds, Jill assured herself. She'd be changed and gone before Nick got back.
Decision made, she released the door knob and concentrated on the picture, imagining herself looking like that woman. Wanting it. Needing it.
"Jesus."
Jill blinked and glanced toward the door to Nick's office, a small gasp slipping from her lips as she spotted him standing frozen in the doorway. He was beardless and in only his street clothes, the clothes he'd sought for her a bundle clutched to his chest, but it was the shock on his face that concerned her.
She glanced down at herself, not surprised to see that she had changed successfully to the calendar girl. Her only wonder was whether he'd been there long enough to see her change or if his shock was at finding a stranger in the room.
"Jill?" he said with disbelief. "How did you do that?"
Well, that answered her question she supposed, her shoulders sagging. He'd seen her change. Now he knew how un-normal and unsane she was.
It was all so unfair, she thought miserably. Up until this morning her life and everything about her had been boringly sane and normal… well, except for her brother and Claire and Beth. Now, because of one idiot mad scientist, everything was topsy turvy and any hope of romance with the one guy she'd really liked in a long time was screwed.
"You changed from yourself to this in like a heartbeat." Nick tossed the clothes he'd collected onto the nearest box and began to walk around her, surveying her from every angle. "The only thing that didn't change is the cape."
Reminded of the cape and knowing she couldn't wear it out of the store for fear of tipping off John to who she was, Jill slid it off and draped it over the clothes on the box.
"Noelle was wearing that cape," he said suddenly.
Jill stiffened and watched unhappily as he put things together in his head.
"Then you were wearing it," he went on slowly. "Then you turned into someone else wearing the cape."
Jill let her breath out on a resigned sigh. She'd always known he was intelligent. It was one of the things she'd liked best about him. She shouldn't be surprised he'd put things together so quickly.
"You're like a… What do they call them? Shape-shifter?"
Despite watching him figure it out right in front of her, she still felt a bit shocked when he said the words. She supposed she'd imagined that he'd need her to give him the explanation for what exactly she now was capable of doing.
"Don't look so surprised. I watched Star Trek growing up," he murmured, continuing to examine her, then added, "I didn't think shape-shifters were real though."
"Neither did I," Jill muttered under her breath. She really hadn't thought such things were possible, not even when Kyle had explained their work to her. She hadn't believed right up until Claire had got zapped and turned into Brad Cruise.
"Does it hurt? To change like that?"
"No," she said warily.
He didn't look like he believed her, but merely asked, "Can you do it again?"
When her expression became surprised, he said apologetically, "I know it's rude to ask. At least, I think it is, but even though I saw it once, it's hard to believe…"
Jill felt her tension return when he suddenly went silent, a frown claiming his mouth. She had a feeling he'd just thought of something, and it was obviously something that didn't please him. She realized why when he said, "I told you—When you were Noelle, I told you—"
"I'm sorry," Jill said at once. "I mean I'm not sorry you told me. I'm glad you like me. I like you too, but I'm sorry I let you tell me…" She paused and sighed, then finished unhappily, "Of course, now that you know this you might not be interested anymore and I'll understand if that's so, but—"
A noise from the front of the store made her pause. They both peered to the closed door between the two sections of the store, then Nick hurried to it, cracked it open, and peered out. Jill was just moving to join him by the door when he closed it again and turned to hurry back to her.
"The cop must be gone. That guy who's following you is trying to pick the lock. We have to go." Nick grabbed her hand as he moved past, drawing her to the back door. Jill allowed him to drag her out of the store, but reached up to grab a long winter coat off the rack by the door as she went. She wasn't cold and appeared to be wearing winter gear, but Nick wasn't. He was now wearing only jeans and a t-shirt. He'd need the coat.
She waited patiently as he locked the door, then handed him the coat and said, "I have to get to my brother."
"Why is this guy after you?" Nick asked as he shrugged into the long coat. "Is it because of what you can do? Does he know you're a shape-shifter?"
"Oh, he knows all right. He's who turned me into one," she said dryly, turning to lead the way up the alley only to find her hand caught as he whirled her back around.
Nick's expression was shocked. "What?"
Jill was silent for a moment, arguing within herself as to whether she should explain everything or not. This wasn't just her secret. Her brother, his wife who happened to be Jill's best friend, as well their daughter, would be affected by this.
On the other hand, Nick was risking himself to help her, and the cat was already out of the bag, so to speak. It only seemed fair to explain. But they had to keep moving. If John got the door unlocked and got inside the store, it wouldn't take him long to realize that they'd slipped out the back and then he'd be out here after them.
Taking Nick's hand, Jill turned and started up the alley. She paused only long enough to send out a silent apology to her brother, then quickly explained about her brother and Claire's courtship, the experiment they'd been working on and then everything that had happened that morning.
"So your brother and his wife were among the scientists working on a molecular destabilizer, this John creep zapped her, your brother got zapped pulling her out of the beam, and they both suddenly found themselves able to shift shape?"
Jill nodded.
"I get why they told their boss, this Dr. Cohen, that the machine didn't work and convinced him to break it down. It's obviously dangerous… But then why on earth would he rebuild it in his own basement?" he asked with disbelief.
"Kyle and Claire are worried their cells might now be unstable or there might be other problems they can't foresee. Kyle wanted to test the effects on animals with faster metabolisms. They have no idea what pitfalls or problems could be in store for them or Beth and he wanted to find out and hopefully find ways to avoid them," she explained.
"But then why did he bother to convince the company he worked for that the original didn't work? He wasted years rebuilding this new one. Wouldn't it have been faster to just admit that he and his wife had been zapped and were changed?" he reasoned. "He would have been able to experiment right away."
Jill frowned. "He didn't realize it would take so long to rebuild it, and he thought it was too dangerous to let them keep working on the original. He was afraid of what they'd do with such technology. He also feared once they realized he and Claire had been zapped, the two of them might end up the lab animals, being experimented on."
Nick nodded in understanding, and then said, "That John fellow probably took your niece downstairs and placed her behind the machine to get you under the beam."
Jill glanced at him with a start as they paused at the mouth of the alley. "I hadn't thought of that. Do you really think so?"
Nick shrugged. "He tricked your sister-in-law under the beam. And he admitted to you that he wanted to zap you to have someone to experiment on. It probably isn't just a happy coincidence that you ended up knocked out under the beam."
Jill supposed it was too much of a "happy coincidence." John probably had taken Beth downstairs and used the child to get her under the beam.
"You're right. We can't go to the police," Nick said suddenly, drawing her gaze again. He was looking grim and determined. "We can't risk revealing all this to the authorities and having you and your family locked up in cages to be experimented on. We'll have to deal with this ourselves."
"I need to talk to Kyle," Jill said quietly. "I tried to call him earlier, but there was no answer at the house. He and Claire must have taken Beth and gone to get new locks for the basement door or something. I need to talk to him to figure out what to do."
"Yes, we can—" Nick's hand suddenly tightened on hers. Startled, Jill glanced up to see him looking past her. They were standing at the mouth of the alley and a glance over her shoulder made her suck in a sharp breath as she spotted John weaving his way through the crowd toward them.