IT TOOK JACK ANOTHER TEN MINUTES BEFORE HE WAS STEADY enough to stand. He limped to the Jeep and floored it. There was no time to get to the safe house—he’d have to go to their house. He plugged in his phone and waited for it to power up as he drove. He tried Taylor’s number and cursed as it rang unanswered. He saw a missed call from her over an hour ago and three from Jeremy. He tried her again with no luck and then dialed Jeremy.
“Jack! Thank God! Where’ve you been?” Jeremy rattled on before Jack could answer. “I don’t know how to tell you this, but Evan’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?”
“Taylor said that someone who looked just like me showed up today. I was on the way when I got pulled over by the police. They claimed I was in a stolen vehicle and wouldn’t let me use my phone. When I got to the safe house a few minutes ago, I assumed you had made other arrangements.” Jeremy’s words came out in a frantic rush.
Jack was flummoxed. “What do you mean someone who looked like you?”
“Someone saying they were me who looked like me. A twin maybe? Or some protégé of Crosse’s who’s had surgery? I don’t know. All I know is that Evan is gone!”
“Where’s Taylor?”
Jeremey cleared his throat. “I tried to stop her, but she took off. I don’t know where she went, and she’s not answering her phone.”
Jack’s heart beat furiously. His thoughts were all jumbled up. Maybe she’d gone back to their house. “Jeremy, I’m in trouble. I was set up. I’ve been injected with that . . . stuff.”
“What stuff?”
Jack now had arrived home and rushed in. As he ran through the house, panicked, looking for any sign that Taylor had been there, he told Jeremy about his meeting.
“Stay where you are. I’m coming. We need to get you back to my lab and watch you. Put you in isolation. This is bad.”
Jack’s phone pinged again. All the texts from when his battery was dead were coming in now. “Hold on.”
He looked through them and saw one from Taylor.
He’s got Evan. I know how to get him back.
Without thinking, he hung up on Jeremy and dialed her. It went right to voice mail. Taylor, what you have done?
He collapsed on the floor, holding his head in his hands. Something in the trash can caught his eye and he slid over, pulling it out. It was a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.
Jack stood up and let out another rage-filled scream. Everything was gone. He started throwing things in a suitcase. He was going to find her. He didn’t know how, but he was going to find her. His arms started itching and he looked down—bugs were crawling all over him. As he started scratching, the last lucid thought he had was that the drug was kicking in. It would take Jeremy at least another hour and a half to get here, and by then, Jack could be full-blown psycho. He dialed 911.
“Send someone fast. I’ve been injected against my will with meth and I’m losing it.” The bugs were everywhere now, and it was unbearable.
“Get a knife and cut them out,” an audible voice said.
His rational mind battled with the drug—he knew it was taking over, and he held on to the thought that at least a part of him knew it wasn’t real. He had to hang on to that until someone got there.
But he quickly realized he didn’t have time. He needed to knock himself out. Before he could consider whether he had any other options, he ran full tilt into the wall. The last thing he heard before falling to the floor was the wail of sirens.