Arc Angel (15 page)

“She must have written down the time wrong or something.”

“But she wasn’t there.” Kate spoke even more concisely.

“No, she wasn’t.”

“So that’s why you broke down her door.”

“What? No. No, we thought we heard Miranda inside, calling for help. So Hank broke down the door to come to her aid.”

“Was this before or after the security system went haywire?”

“After. Before. I don’t remember exactly. It all happened so fast.”

“I’m surprised someone with your journalistic skill couldn’t keep a clearer head.”

“The alarm system was deafening. And it took almost a half an hour for the super to override the system and get us out of there.”

“And Ms. James?”

“We never saw her. She wasn’t there.”

Kate was certain the first part of that statement was true, while the second was not. She’d bet only the thick front door had kept them from seeing Miranda. If she’d been in the apartment, and Kate’s gut told her she had been, she must have gotten out before the security system went off. But how?

“Thank you, Mr. Brooks. I think that’s all I need at this time.”

Gavin shot up out of his seat. “Thank you, Detective.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

They walked in silence until they reached the entrance. Gavin looked like he was going to push straight through, without even a goodbye. She put her hand on his arm, making him jump as if he’d gotten a shock.

“Don’t hesitate to call me if you want to talk.” She laughed to herself at his stricken expression. “About the story.”

Relief poured off him like cheap cologne.

“Of course, yes, I will.”

“And I’ll let you know if I have any further questions for you.” She waved his business card at him playfully. “I have your number.”

His smile turned sour, he muttered goodbye and headed out of the station.

Kate tapped the card against her fingers as she watched him go. There was definitely more to Gavin’s story than a simple misunderstanding. And more than ever, she needed to talk to Miranda James.

Chapter 12

Dr. Harris quickly ran through the rest of the typical office tests, examining her eyes and ears, testing her reflexes, and listening to her heart and lungs. After every test, he headed back over to the computer to type more.

Miranda finally found the courage to ask. “This is all completely confidential, right?”

“Of course.”

“But you’re typing everything, and saving it somewhere…”

“I’m using my private network, not the clinic’s. No one else has access to these files but me.”

If his system was like most people’s “private” systems, she could probably hack it in about 15 minutes. Her doubt must have shown on her face, because Dr. Harris added, “Matthews helped me with the security. He’s very good.”

Really? Maybe she and Matthews should have a talk. Of course that would mean talking to Bryce again, since Matthews didn’t ever stray too far from his employer.

“Besides, I haven’t put your name in here anywhere. You’re Jane Doe.”

Miranda nodded, but couldn’t quite let it drop. “Maybe I could look over your system, when you’re done.”

“Sure, why not? If it will make you feel better. And speaking of making you feel better, I’ve done all the tests I can do in here. So far, nothing seems to be totally out of the norm, though your heart rate is a little fast. I think it’s time we moved on to the more thorough tests.”

“Like what?”

“Well, basically, I’d like to check a little closer to see if you have any of the usual symptoms of electric shock.”

Miranda shivered. She hadn’t thought about it like that, but that was sort of true: she had been shocked. Weird.

“Have you experienced any sensitivity to your feet since the incident?”

“No, I haven’t noticed anything strange. Well, not with my feet.”

“That’s very good. That means that the lightning probably didn’t affect your nervous system. Of course I’ll want to take a closer look, but that is usually a pretty good way of diagnosing any trouble.”

“Okay, now what?”

“Now we’re going to move to a different room where I’ve got some fancier equipment. I’ll be using that equipment to get a better look inside you. The first thing to look for is any internal burns, though in most cases those are felt by the patient right away, so I doubt anything will turn up.”

Internal burns. That was what she’d given the mugger. She’d electrocuted him, and he’d gotten internal burns, and he’d died. Miranda swallowed hard, trying to get past the lump in her throat. She couldn’t forget for a minute how serious this was. This wasn’t some comic book adventure. She’d killed a man. She needed to be stopped. And she would do whatever it took to get rid of these horrible abilities. She forced herself to refocus on the words coming out of Dr. Harris’s mouth.

“…want to be sure that the fast heart rate I found earlier is simply due to some lingering anxiety and not an actual problem. So I’ll be doing an echocardiogram. And then I’m going to need a picture of the rest of you. Normally, I’d do a full body CT scan on you, but I think we’d better go straight to an MRI, since I’m not sure what the radiation in the CT scan would do to you. I don’t want to risk it. So what do you think, Miranda? Are you up for all of this?”

She didn’t have a choice. “Let’s do it.”

***

The rest of the tests took several hours, but Miranda didn’t complain once. Every time she got impatient, she simply reminded herself that learning more was the first step toward putting this whole thing behind her. When Dr. Harris finished the last test, she braced herself, ready to hear whatever he had to tell her.

“I should know more in a couple of days.”

Her heart sank. She’d hoped this would be over sooner. Like right now.

“What? A couple of days?”

“I’m sorry, Miranda. I know you want answers now. But even though I’m lucky enough to have this equipment to myself, it will take awhile to get and analyze the results.”

“You aren’t going to do it yourself?”

“I’ll definitely look everything over myself, but the results have to go to the lab I use. But don’t worry. Jane Doe, remember? And I’ll be sure that only the tech I usually use sees them, so we can limit it even further, okay?”

Definitely not okay, but what could she do?

“I’ll call you the minute I know more. I promise.”

“I don’t do phones.”

“I could call Bryce…”

She tensed. Dr. Harris continued smoothly, “Or you could give me your e-mail.”

She pulled out her phone and said, “Give me your address.” As he rattled it off, she added it to her contacts. “Okay, I added you to my approved contact list. I’ll send you a message so you’ll have mine as well.” She punched away at her phone. “Do you mind if I wait in here until my cab shows up?”

“But I thought you came in Bryce’s car?”

“I did.”

“Look, Miranda, I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but Bryce is a good guy. He’s had some… challenges in the last few years.” He held up a hand to ward her off. “I can’t say more. Doctor/patient privilege, you understand.”

Strangely, she’d actually wanted to ask.

“I’ll be honest with you, Miranda: I was really starting to worry about him. He’d started pulling away from things, from people. It seemed as if he’d given up. I haven’t seen him interested in anything but his comic books in months. And even that seemed to be paling. So when he called me to ask if I would help you… well, let’s just say I took that as a very positive sign.”

Miranda knew Dr. Harris was implying that she should feel special. But she also knew that Bryce wasn’t interested in her, Miranda James. Only one woman truly interested him: Arc Angel.

But she didn’t want to get into it with the doctor, so she simply nodded and hoped her cab would get there soon.

“I need to finish up sending off these tests. Why don’t you go out to the waiting room? Talk to Bryce. I’m sure whatever misunderstanding exists between you two could be easily resolved.”

Not a chance in hell. Still, she didn’t want to delay the doctor.

“Maybe I could look over your computer system first? To be sure it’s secure?”

“Sure, go ahead. You can access it in my office, which is down the hall on your left. My password is 1electro1.”

Miranda headed over to his office computer, logged in and started looking around.

Dr. Harris had been right: Matthews was good. She made a few minor alterations to the firewall, but couldn’t find anything obviously vulnerable. Too bad. She’d been hoping she’d need to spend at least another hour or two back here, working on it. The longer the wait, the higher the chance that Bryce would give up and leave without her.

Apparently the wait hadn’t been long enough.

Bryce sat in one of the chairs facing the hallway to the exam and testing rooms, drumming his fingers on the wooden armrest. The instant she pushed open the waiting room door, he sprang up and strode toward her.

“What did he find out? Was he able to tell you what happened?”

“He doesn’t know anything yet. He hopes to have the test results back in a couple of days.”

“Damn. I’d hoped he’d be able to find something today. Well, alright, while we’re waiting for the tests, we’ll do our own research. I’ve had Matthews tracking down any information he can find on lightning strikes. I’ve also been looking into the role of lightning in the supernatural. Because of my dream, we can’t rule out the paranormal. I haven’t found much so far, but I’ve barely scratched the surface. When we get back to the car, we can—”

“I’m not going with you.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you are. I know you want to go back to your apartment, but there’s no reason to go right away. You can come back to the house with me and—”

“I sent for a cab.”

“What? Why? Because of what happened on the way over here? I told you, I was just a little surprised. It’s no reason to run off by yourself.”

It was every reason. She needed to be by herself, to regain her equilibrium. To get used to the idea, the disappointment, that she couldn’t truly trust him.

“What does it matter where I go? The doctor’s tests won’t come back for awhile, and you certainly don’t need me hanging around while you and Matthews do research. We’ll both be fine on our own. And my apartment should be secure, now that the guards are in place, so I’ll be safe.”

He reached out as if to grab her arm, but obviously thought better of it. “But I still don’t know enough. You’ve never told me the whole story. I need to know exactly what you were doing, thinking, feeling the night you became Arc Angel.”

And there it was, clear as could be. He didn’t care about her or her well being. He only cared about Arc Angel. Enough.

“I’m tired of catering to what you need. It’s time to do what I need. And what I need is to go back to my apartment. By myself. I’ll be sure to e-mail you about the test results.”

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. “My cab is here. Goodbye, Bryce.”

“Miranda, wait.”

“Goodbye.”

Head held high, Miranda left the room, and Bryce, behind.

***

The cab waiting for Miranda outside the clinic had a different driver today. She’d probably freaked the other guy out so much yesterday that he’d refused to drive for her again. Or maybe he had today off. Not everything was about her.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket before she’d even settled into the backseat. Miranda’s senses immediately went on high-alert. What now? Why couldn’t people leave her alone? If this was that damn reporter again, she’d throw the phone out the window.

But the phone listed Detective O’Hara as the caller. The message asked Miranda to meet her at a nearby coffeehouse. An unofficial meeting.

While Miranda assumed unofficial meant that if she chose not to go she wouldn’t be hauled into jail, she didn’t want to risk pissing off the detective. She sighed and dropped her head back against the cab’s upholstery. She didn’t want coffee, despite the fact that caffeine always sounded like a good idea. She wanted to go home, to finally be alone and try to regroup.

She sighed again and let herself wallow in the unfairness of it all for another moment before giving the cab driver the coffeehouse’s address. She sent a short text to the detective: “
B thr in 10.”
And then she went back to the wallowing.

***

The coffee date had been a last ditch effort on Kate’s part. The brusque reply to her text this morning had been all the proof she needed that Miranda had no interest in talking to her again. But after Kate’s interview with Gavin Brooks, she needed to speak with Miranda. The girl was involved with something dangerous, and Kate wanted to be sure she realized it.

Kate walked the two blocks from the station to the coffeehouse, enjoying the faint warmth of the late-September sun and the smell of falling leaves. She tried to get out of the station at least once a day, weather permitting. Sometimes she only had time for a quick walk around the block, but other times she headed down to grab an espresso.

She got two café lattes and sat at a small table tucked in the back corner, far from the window. Habit, she supposed. Always sit so you can survey the area and keep your back against the wall. She watched as the yellow cab pulled into the parking lot, and Miranda James climbed out of the backseat.

Miranda looked exactly like she had yesterday—either she was wearing the same clothes, or she had a wardrobe of identical sweatshirts. The young woman may have been home last night, but this was more proof she hadn’t been there this morning.

Miranda stepped through the glass door and blinked as she looked around. Kate waved her over.

“I got you a latte. Hope that’s okay.”

Miranda nodded and sat across from Kate. She sat as far back in the chair as possible and kept her eyes down, though they kept returning to the extra paper cup. Kate pushed it across the table and was gratified to see Miranda pick it up and take a sip.

Alright, step one: peace offering. Done. Step two: relax the suspect. Not nearly as easy as step one.