Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (48 page)

“No,” I said. “She says, no. This has nothing to do with her. That’s what she is saying, Nathaniel. And she’s saying it over and over again.”

He turned away, looking back at the flames.

“She says to stop. And that it’s not what you should be doing. How, how…”

I paused.

“Go on, Abby. Say it.”

“How it’s ruined you.”

He inhaled raggedly.

“She loves you,” I said. “She wants you to know that she will always wait for you, no matter how long it takes. You were her sun, too, she says.”

Nathaniel stood hunched over and wept softly.

“I have to—” he said. “I have to go.”

He quickly walked out of the library with Emma following.

I sighed.

Nathaniel had heard her this time. But I was pretty sure it hadn’t been the reunion any of us had hoped for.

CHAPTER 48

I stood all alone in the library, not sure what to do.

Seeing his face, I knew he was in pain and despair and that hearing from Emma had broken him. It was obvious that he still loved her as much as ever, even after all these years. And that he had never been able to let go. He had never moved on.

It was strange feeling all this for a man who had kidnapped me and had tried to drown me just a few hours ago.

I walked out in a daze and climbed the stairs to my room. After I got in bed, I heard the lock click on the door.

CHAPTER 49

Simon was at the door early in the morning.

“Here you go, Abby,” he said, handing me the tray.

“Thanks,” I said.

I realized that he hadn’t come into the room, which was odd. He always brought the tray over to the desk.

I looked out at the water and then remembered the strange promise I had made to Simon about eating my breakfast, about how I would need my strength.

I picked up a muffin and gasped.

There was something shiny at the bottom of the small basket.

A key.

Simon had given me a way out.

A note was in there as well.

I’ll be back to unlock the door in an hour.

I stared at the key in my hand and then I walked over to the window and looked out. It must have been to the boat, which was still parked by the dock, bobbing up and down in the water. Everything was deathly quiet outside. I watched as a flock of seagulls floated in the breeze.

It was real, this new escape plan. All I had to do was get outside, run to the boat, start it up, put it in gear, and drive away. I knew I could do it.

I looked across to the island. I would get there today.

CHAPTER 50

Someone was unlocking the door. I knew it was too early for Simon. I slid the key into my pocket and sat down, pretending to eat.

It was Jack. There was urgency in his face as he walked over and grabbed me. He must have known that I had the key.

“Take it easy,” I yelled at him as his sharp fingers dug into my arm.

“Come on,” he said. “You need to talk to him.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to go talk to Nathaniel. What did you do to him? He’s a wreck. He’s been despondent ever since you two had that session last night. I don’t know what nonsense you told him, but there is no way all this is going down the toilet because of your lies.”

“Jack, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Tell him that it was all a hoax, Abby, that you made it all up, those stories about his wife. I don’t know what you said exactly to him last night, but this morning you’re going to unsay it.”

“I wasn’t lying,” I said.

“Yeah, you were, and you’re going to tell him so. You saw an angle and you played it. Now it’s time to tell the truth.”

He pushed me across the room and out into the hall.

“I was telling the truth, Jack.”

“Bull. You were looking for a way out. I understand, but it’s not going to work. I’ve given up three years of my life for this, Abby. I’m not losing everything we’ve been working on because of you. Tell him you were lying or you’ll never see your sister again. I’ll personally make sure of that.”

I clenched my fists.

“Okay, just take it easy,” I said. “I’ll talk to him.”

We walked downstairs, through the living room, down the long corridor. We stopped in front of the door, which was closed over.

It was Nathaniel’s room. I remembered it from the time Jesse and I had found it.

Jack knocked and then turned the knob, not waiting for a response.

“She’s here,” he said as we walked in.

Nathaniel was in a chair, next to the window, staring out at the calm Sound. He was wearing the same clothes as the night before. I almost hadn’t recognized him with his hair down. His bed was still made and it looked like he had been sitting up all night.

He didn’t look at me or get up.

“Jack,” Nathaniel said. “I told you not to bring her. It’s over.”

“She has some things she wants to tell you. She was lying to you before. About your wife.”

Nathaniel looked over at me, but I said nothing.

“Abby, I want you to know that this doesn’t change how I feel about you. But I have to sort through this, and find out what it means for me. For us.”

“There is no
us
, Nathaniel,” I said.

“Damn!” Jack said, suddenly rushing up to the window.

“I’ve been watching it all morning,” Nathaniel said with no emotion. “It’s been circling the area.”

Jack studied the sky for a minute.

“It looks like the plane from yesterday,” he said. “It’s coming our way. Look, Dr. Mortimer. We need you. Let’s get going. We have just enough time.”

Nathaniel shook his head.

“Leave, Jack,” he said.

“We can start over somewhere else, Dr. Mort—”

“Jack, leave now! And take Abby and lock her in her room. Go!”

Nathaniel’s black eyes caught mine. He stood up, walked over to the desk drawer and opened it. My heart raced as he pulled out a small, gray pistol and put it in his pocket.

Jack pulled me away and we ran up to the bedroom.

“He’s gone off the deep end,” he said, shoving me inside and flipping the deadbolt.

I heard his heavy footsteps trail down the hall.

I ran to the window.

CHAPTER 51

It did look like the plane from the day before. It was the same color, the same size.

And Jack was right. It was heading toward the island, even lower this time.

I didn’t know who was on the plane. It could have been anyone really. The owners of the house. But it was a good sign that they didn’t know who it was either. 

I stood watching as it landed on the water and taxied over to the dock. Four men, dressed in black, jumped out.

And then I saw her.

Kate.

Kate was getting out of the plane.

Tears pooled in my eyes as I pounded on the glass, screaming out her name.

“Kate!” I yelled. “I’m up here!”

Dr. Mortimer was next off the plane. He looked up in my direction.

“I’m up here!”

He saw me. They all ran toward the house.

A moment later I heard shouting. Then it sounded like they were knocking on the front door. It was soon followed by a loud crash.

They were in the house.

***

There was nothing to do but wait.

I heard more yelling and then running. And then it was quiet for a long time. I pounded on the door with my fists, shouting.

“I’m in here. I’m in here!”

But no one came. A strange, ghostly quiet settled upon the house.

And then I heard a gunshot.

And I knew that someone was dead.

CHAPTER 52

I sat on the bed, holding my head.

“Please don’t let it be Kate,” I said softly. “Please let her be okay.”

Someone started yelling and knocking on the door.

“I’m in here!” I called out.

“Abby!” I heard.

The lock clicked and the door flew open.

And then I saw Kate.

I ran up, throwing my arms around her.

“Abby!” she screamed in my ear.

We stood there, in the middle of the room, for a full minute. I held on to her tightly, thick tears running down my face. I didn’t want to, but I finally let her go. She put her arm on my shoulders and walked me over to the bed.

“You okay?” she asked, wiping her face and looking around the room.

“I just can’t quite believe you’re really here. I can’t believe you’re here.”

She smiled and nodded.

“I have to help secure the rest of the house,” one of the men standing in the hallway said before leaving.

“We’ll get you out of here as soon as we can,” Kate said, sitting next to me. “We’re waiting for the police. They’re on their way.”

“I thought that was the police,” I said.

“No, these men are a security team that Ben hired.”

She grabbed me again and gave me another long hug.

“I love you so much, Abby,” she whispered. “And I’m so grateful that you’re okay.”

I couldn’t talk anymore, the emotions rippling through me were all too much. I just sat there, my head on her shoulder, a sudden exhaustion washing over me. There was so much I wanted to tell her, so much I wanted to know, but none of it mattered right now.

All that mattered was that Kate was here, next to me, and we would be going home.

“I heard a gunshot,” I said after a while.

She looked over at me.

“He’s dead,” she said. “The bastard is dead.”

CHAPTER 53

Kate didn’t want to, but I made her take me to him anyway.

We walked into his bedroom.

Dr. Mortimer was sitting at the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard us come in and stood slowly. He came over and wrapped his arms around me.

“I’m glad you’re safe now, Abby,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

“Thank you for coming,” I said.

His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. I could tell he was trying to smile, but his facial muscles couldn’t manage it. He sat back on the bed, looking down. Kate went over and sat next to him, holding his hand.

I looked over at the corner where Nathaniel was slumped on the floor, up against the wall, the gun by his side. I walked over and stared into his black, lifeless eyes.

And said a prayer.

CHAPTER 54

We stood outside on the ferry in the chilly twilight, watching the Puget Sound disappear behind us. The sky was mostly clear, with just a few wispy thin clouds spread out on the horizon in different shades of gray and black.

It was too cold to be standing on the deck, but I wanted to feel the air on my face as we headed back home.

Home.

I was finally going home.

Kate stood next to me. I watched her as she looked out at the water. She looked tired and pale and older. The stress and emotions of the past weeks had left their mark, but I was hoping that with a little time, she would recover.

That we would all recover, in time.

We stayed a few days longer than we had wanted, on the island across the strait that I had dreamed about reaching for so long. The police had a lot of questions about Nathaniel Mortimer and about my kidnapping. For days, we answered their questions as best we could and then did it again for the FBI.

Four of the others had been caught. I was sad to hear they had Simon, but also troubled by the fact that Jack and Phil had escaped. At night I wondered how they had gotten away, how they had left the island prison. No one seemed to know.

There hadn’t been any news reports yet. Kate wasn’t sure why, and had wondered if it had to do with the powerful corporations that owned the house. She was content with the quiet, at least for now. I was grateful for it too. I wasn’t looking forward to being a news story again.

The ferry blew its horn and I pulled my coat tighter around me. I turned around, looking at the Seattle skyline.

“I’m glad he’s dead,” Kate finally said, looking over at me. “And I don’t feel bad about it at all. Not at all.”

I wanted to agree, but Kate and I were different that way. Or maybe it was because in the end, I had seen Nathaniel break apart, had seen that he was human. It’s not like it erased all the bad things he had done, but seeing him in that kind of pain had touched me in a way. Had caused me to feel something else besides hatred toward him.

And there was also the matter of the serum. I couldn’t escape it any longer. I was now certain that it had brought me back to life after I died at the bottom of that lake. And I wasn’t just taking Nathaniel’s word for it. There was Jesse and the glow he saw in me. And there was Emma. Something she said kept coming back to me. When she had been trying to warn me.

She had said that he expected to “bring me back again.”

Again.

I knew what that meant. Nathaniel Mortimer, in addition to everything else he had done, had brought me back from the dead.

I wasn’t sure I would ever fully get my head around it. It wasn’t something that fit neatly into the back of a closet or could easily be forgotten. It wasn’t the kind of thing you found peace with. It was something to live with. Something that would forever find and haunt me in the dead of the darkest night. The kind of thing that would make me glad to see the first light of day.

“I just hope Dr. Mortimer is okay,” I said after a while.

Kate shook her head, lost in thought for a moment.