Indivisible (34 page)

Tia stared after him. Don’t worry? Piper wasn’t his only concern. The depleted force was stretched so thin, how could they hope to find her? If Piper had run to the neighbors, she would answer her cell phone. She would have called for help. Or called Miles. Or her. Tia paced.

Think. If not Bob, then who?

Please God. Why would someone take Piper? Unless it wasn’t about Piper but the people who loved her. Without thinking, she gripped Miles by the arm. “Quick. Come with me.”

With the laptop burning his thighs, Jonah searched Liz/Elizabeth Rainer. In the search he’d run of the criminal database when he first suspected her of the animal mutilations, he had found no arrests or warrants, no juvie record sealed or unsealed. Now it occurred to him there could be something else, an accident or incident that had caused her injury and the emotional instability he’d seen that night looking into her eyes. The chance it had made the news was slim, but he followed his instincts—and found it.

Conjoined twins Lizzie and Lucy Rainer—Controversial separation surgery
. He stared at the photo of blond pigtailed girls, one resting her chin on the other’s shoulder.

A stone sank down inside him.

He read under his breath, “From birth, eight-year-old conjoined twins Lizzie and Lucy Rainer have been inseparable. However, Lucy’s failing health has driven the controversial decision to separate the twins, even though the girls have expressed no desire to live apart. Doctors say the complicated and risky separation surgery would give Lizzie a strong chance of survival.”

Only Lizzie?

“The twins, who were featured on
Good Morning America
, are literally joined at the hip, at which point their spines diverge. Lizzie has all major organs while Lucy’s incomplete complement are underdeveloped. Her poor health has weakened both twins, and survival of either is unlikely without separation.

“Controversy has spiked over the decision to forfeit one twin to save the other. Dr. Marcus Verigo admits Lucy’s chances of surviving separation are remote. ‘Lizzie controls her two arms and two of their three legs. Her pulmonary and digestive systems have predominately supported both girls, but her ability to maintain that has reached a critical point. Without the surgery both twins will die,’ says Dr. Verigo. Representatives of the family say they will deeply mourn the loss of their daughter Lucy if the surgery proves fatal.”

This had to be behind the animal experiments. Understanding what happened? Finding a way to help other conjoined twins? He read the brief follow-up article.

Conjoined twin Lucy Rainer dies in surgery. Proponents on both sides launch debate on the moral and ethical repercussion …
He skimmed down to the final sentence.
The family asks to be allowed to grieve privately
.

Jonah looked at the second photograph, how playful and innocent they were. His first impressions of Liz were that she was strong and confident and compassionate. He imagined her literally carrying her sister, being strong for both of them—but ultimately not strong enough.

Had they gone into surgery knowing only one would come out? He didn’t know which would have been worse, for Liz to know Lucy would die or to lose her unprepared. Certainly Liz was wounded and unstable, but what could it possibly have to do with Piper?

He traced back through all their interactions up to Scout. His chest went cold. If she’d hurt the pup to punish him, what would she do to punish Tia? He shoved the laptop onto the table, reached down, and disconnected his IV.

Thirty-Three

We were two and had but one heart between us.

—FRANÇOIS VILLON

T
wo steel surgical tables side by side. Just like when they’d wheeled her, sedated but not yet anesthetized, into the bright room. She had stared at the two tables thinking that for the first time they’d have separate beds. With Lucy’s arm wrapped around her chest, her head nestled into her neck, fear had formed a taste on the back of her tongue, a bitter taste like tears held too long.

“Lizzie?”
The word came into her mind since Lucy had grown too weak to speak.

“Don’t be scared, Lucy.”

“I wish I were you. You’re never scared.”

But she was. When Lucy had gone into the deep sleep the night before the surgery, they had told her, “Lizzie, the separation could give you a normal life.” And the scary, scary thing was she had wanted it—but only for a moment. Until she remembered she had a special life. They had said so from the start. She and Lucy would always have each other.

“I don’t want to be alone, Lizzie.”

“You won’t, I promise.”

Someone moaned. Liz shook herself. The horse tranquilizer was wearing off. She hadn’t intended it to take Piper through surgery. That would require anesthesia. She dragged the tarp to the nearer table, untied the thin rope threaded through the eyeholes.

Even lame, she was strong, and Piper, though taller, was slight. She looked to the other table where her mutilated sister lay, one leg hanging from a concave torso, so many missing organs. How she had survived so long was a mystery, a miracle. But they’d been miracles from the start.

Unconscious, she had felt no pain, no cutting, no untangling. But she had felt Lucy leave. She had felt the separateness begin.

As Tia drove, Miles hunched beside her, gripping his big knees. Overwhelmed with concern for Piper, he had not reacted to her touch but rushed with her into the Xterra. In a calmer voice than she could have produced, he said, “If she wanted to hurt her, why did she take her?”

Tia frowned. “What do you mean?”

“She cut the pup, but she didn’t take the pup.”

“She wanted Jonah to bring it to her.”

“She could have cut Piper. But you wouldn’t take her to a vet. You would go to a hospital.”

“So you think”—Tia turned too sharply, and the tires squealed—“she wants me to find her?”

“She could have just hurt her, but she didn’t.”

Tia tried to put herself in Liz’s place. The woman had come to the house and to the store. Both times she’d seen her with Piper.
“What are you doing here?”
And Piper’s
“I live here.”
Liz must have hoped she would guess, known she would act.

Tia drew a deeper breath than she had yet. “It does her no good to hurt Piper. If she wanted to lure me—” Or was she the real target? Maybe … “It’s Jonah she wants. She despises me.”

Miles turned. “You would call him to help Piper.”

Her knuckles whitened. “Doesn’t she know he’s in the hospital?”

Miles shrugged, miserable. “To help Piper, maybe …”

“He’s been shot, Miles. What can he do?”

“But if you called him, he might help.”

Lord
. Groping, she raised her phone, speed-dialed and, when he answered, said, “Jonah. I think it might be Liz.”

“I think so too.” He sounded winded. “And pathology could be extreme.”

“What do you mean?”

“She had a sister.”

“Yes, I know. She’s ill. Liz buys her scented melts.”

“No listen. They were twins, conjoined twins. Her sister died in separation.”

“What?” She thought of Liz shopping, the tenderness in her eyes, her brittle smile. “Did you know about a sister?”

“She never said a word. Whatever she’s doing, Ti, it stems from that. The raccoons. All of it.”

The raccoons. The cats. The … pups. “I thought it was like Scout. That she was luring us—you—to her again.”

“I don’t know what it is. But you keep away from her. I’m on my way there now.”

“Well,” Tia turned in and hit the brakes. “I’m already there.”

An antiseptic smell filled the room as Liz sterilized the instruments, light glinting off the stainless steel. Attaching Lucy’s damaged organs to Piper’s would be the most tenuous part. But without that Lucy would die.

She took her twin’s limp hand and kissed it, then laid it gently back. “I wish this could be me, Lucy, but I have to perform the surgery. I’ve done the best I could.” Her twin was so small, had hardly grown at all. Piper had strong legs, a strong back, healthy organs. She could carry her, sustain her. She would not let Lucy die.

Piper stirred. Liz bent and slipped her arms under the young woman’s back, clasping her wrists over the breastbone. She pulled her up to sit, and Piper’s head lolled. She had found Lucy a beautiful body. Only the best for Lucy.

And when her twin had someone else? What then?

Rest
.

She pushed the thought away. With all her strength, she rolled Piper’s upper body onto the table, pushed her hips and legs until she lay on her side. Piper blinked. Should she sedate her again? She had hoped she wouldn’t have to. Anesthesia was tricky enough, but Piper gripped the edge of the table, fighting for consciousness. She had no choice.

Liz reached for a needle, just enough to keep her still until all was ready. “I’m doing this for Lucy. She’ll die without you.”

“Liz,” Tia said behind her.

Liz snatched a scalpel from the sterilized tray and held it to Piper’s neck. She turned to Tia, frozen beside an enormous man.

“What are you doing?” Tia’s voice was calm, caring, but she knew better.

“I’m saving Lucy.” She looked at the table, saw Lucy’s pleading eyes. “She can’t make it on her own. She isn’t strong enough.”

She expected a harsh response, but Tia’s eyes softened. “You love her so much.”

“More than you could know.”

Tia took a step toward her. “But you can’t save her, Liz. As much as you want to now, as much as you wanted to then.”

Liz jerked.
“She’s awake. Doctor, she’s looking.”
Coming out of anesthesia. Seeing her sister, what was left of her sister … Then darkness.

“Lizzie,” Lucy moaned.

Liz shook her head. “They took you once, Luce, but they won’t take you again.”

Tia took another step. “You’ve done everything you can to keep her alive. But I know you’re tired.”

“No.”

“That’s why you needed Piper. Because you can’t do it alone. It’s too much.”

“I’m the strong one.” Liz shook away the flashes of Lucy on the operating table. She had been a whole person before they cut her away. “Stop it.”

Tia moved in again. “It must have been like losing yourself.”

“My other self,” Liz breathed in a voice closer to Lucy’s.

A siren sounded outside, another farther away.

Her whole body quaked. “I have to save her.” Tia’s voice came soft and low. “The only way you can is to save yourself.”

Liz shook her head. “Why should I?”

“You’re as valuable as Lucy.”

She clenched her jaw. “They cut her off like a tumor, a malignancy.” She heard someone at the door, saw Jonah with a gun held down along his leg. Would he shoot her? End it now? Liz trembled.

“Step back, Tia.” His voice was firm, commanding.

But she didn’t. Tia held out her hand. “Give Lucy the dignity she deserves. Let her die in peace.”

Liz looked over, expecting Lucy’s pleading eyes, the rasping breath, but the table was empty. A racking sorrow started deep inside, wrenching her apart with an animal groan more primitive than words.

The scalpel clattered to the floor. She stared at Tia, a woman whose friendship she had coveted, at the young woman on the table who had known that friendship. She felt Jonah’s grip on her elbow, the man she had hoped to love, saw the deep concern in his eyes. Maybe it was real, but how would she know? How would she ever know real again?

Confused and disoriented, Piper pressed up from the table.

Tia stood beside her asking questions, but before she could answer, Miles crossed the room, pulled her into a hug, and squeezed her tight.

“Wow,” she breathed. “Wow.”