“Ginnie told you to give a book to Alan. Her idea of having you sing that nursery rhyme was clever, but not clever enough. That nurse made out enough of Ginnie’s words. I know your father is alive. What’s in that book? I suggest you give it to me, or I’ll take your sister and you’ll never see her again.”
I couldn’t let him take Dee—all he needed was one DNA screen and he’d find out she wasn’t his daughter. My eyes followed the dim glow from his LED. The dust was filling my nostrils and I prayed I wouldn’t sneeze.
“Nina… just give me the book, Nina. Are you listening to me?” His voice became strident. “You know that it’s because of your father that I’m a Chooser. I used to be top-level B.O.S.S. People worked for me. I told them he never drowned, but they said I was crazy. I spent ten damn years trying to get the truth out of your mother. But when I give the GC proof that Alan’s alive, they’ll have to reinstate me.”
His voice lowered. “I really loved her.” There was something close to tenderness in his words. “She despised me,” he went on. “You think I didn’t know that? Even after having a kid with me, she still loved your father. Funny, ain’t it? He’s alive, she’s dead. How unfortunate for her.” His voice lowered to a growl. “Even with that knife to her belly, she wouldn’t give him up. Almost couldn’t go through with it, though,” he said. “That woman turned me on—what a waste.”
Then there was silence, horrible silence. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. The taste of bile filled my mouth. Ed had killed my mother. I think I’d known all along that he’d killed her. I clenched the pipe more tightly, my rage growing.
“I’m getting tired of this, Nina. You know what, Nina? I don’t think I need you to get that book. I think Dee knows where it is, and you know she loves her dad. That leaves you… well, now, I can’t just leave you, can I? Not with all you know, now. That just won’t do.” He kicked some rubbish. “But what to do with you, now… There’s an old saying ‘like mother—like daughter.’ What do you say we find out if that’s true? And if I like what you do, I might not kill you, least not right away.”
Pervert! I wanted to scream so badly. Scream and scream and scream, until I’d screamed him into oblivion. I knew if I made a sound it would be all over for me, for Wei… And after he got to me, he’d go for Dee. I couldn’t let that happen, no matter what. I had to keep focused.
The faint beam of his LED trailed along on the other side of the counter.
This would be my only chance to get away. I watched the light getting closer and closer. Pressing my back against a piece of countertop, I braced myself. He stepped closer to my hiding place, his LED shining right in front of me. I held my breath, waiting.
The moment the light moved past me, I leaped up and the full force of my rage and every other emotion I’d been holding inside surged out. I let loose one horrible shriek and with both hands brought the full force of the pipe down on Ed’s head. I heard a sickening crack and Ed crumpled into the rubble.
XLII
Ed’s LED wobbled across the floor, the light throwing shadows everywhere. I grabbed it, then raced to the storeroom and out into the night.
I pulled out my PAV and called Sal. “Sal—I need help, NOW! Wei and I are at Robin’s Roost. Come through the alley. Come now!”
Wei—I had to get back to her, but what if Ed came to? I began to shake and it wasn’t from the cold. I couldn’t leave Wei in there, alone with him, unconscious. I had to risk it. I turned to go back inside when the door creaked open. I pressed against the building, paralyzed, hoping I blended in with the shadows. If Ed found me, I knew what would happen.
“Nina?” Wei’s voice was weak and thready; she slid down the doorjamb into a heap.
I ran to her. “Get up. Come on.”
She tried to sit, but only managed to slump forward, holding her head.
“Wei, come on, we’ve got to get out of here,” I said. “Ed’s inside. I knocked him out but he’s gonna come to. If he finds us…”
She struggled to her feet, and I half carried her up the steps to the alley. We had almost reached the entrance to the street when I saw Sal and Mike.
“Sal, Mike, over here! We’ve got to get Wei some help. She fell… and…”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m just a little woozy.” Her legs kept giving out under her. “No worse than other falls I’ve taken. I just need to sit for a minute, okay?”
The guys supported Wei as we snuck out of the alley and crossed the street. A three-story walk up, with large bushes on either side of the steps loomed in front of us.
“You girls get behind those.” Sal pointed to the bushes. “We’ll keep watch until Ed comes out.”
Ten minutes passed… nothing. Twenty minutes later, Ed still hadn’t come out. Wei and I stayed hidden behind the bushes. Much as I ached to call Sandy and make sure she was all right, I couldn’t. Ed might have come to and would, no doubt, be looking for me. He might be able to hone in on my PAV signal. I dared not take that chance.
Everything Ed had said inside Robin’s Roost ran through my mind. He’d killed Ginnie. What was to stop him from… No. I refused to believe Ed had killed Sandy, too. Maybe he hadn’t even raped her—maybe it was just talk to scare me. She’s probably at Soma already, I thought, talking to some guys. That had to be it. I checked my PAV receiver for the millionth time to see if she’d called while I’d been inside Robin’s Roost. She hadn’t.
“Ed couldn’t have gone out any other way, could he?” Sal asked.
“Maybe we should go take a look?” Mike said.
“You can see through those windows into the basement if you get close enough.” My voice was trembling as bad as my insides.
“You guys stay here.” Sal walked nonchalantly across the street to Robin’s Roost. He took something out of his pocket and dropped it. Kneeling down, he pretended to search for it, but I saw a flash of light—must have been an LED—and figured he was looking inside for Ed. Eventually, he stood up and continued walking toward the corner. When he got there, he glanced up and down the street, then checked his chronos. He strolled back and sat down next to Mike. Perfectly normal—a guy waiting for someone on a Saturday night.
“He’s lying on the floor. He’s not moving.”
“You don’t mean… he can’t be… I didn’t hit him that hard.”
“Maybe you did,” Wei said. “We should call my parents.”
“No,” Sal said. “If the GC had your dad questioned in Greenland, that means they’re already suspicious about Nina’s visits to your house. I’ll get in touch with Aunt Rita. Let me go take another look.”
“The hotel’s DZ.” My voice was shaking and my insides were roiling like a pond full of carp at feeding time.
Sal reached behind the bushes and took my hand. “It’ll be okay, Nina.” Then he crossed the street and disappeared down the alley.
Two seconds later I doubled over. Wei held my hair back while Mike diplomatically looked the other way. I felt as though I was turning inside out.
By the time Sal returned it was pitch-black outside. “Come on, let’s get going. Derek’s probably wondering where we are. Sandy, too. I’m surprised she hasn’t called you.”
“Sal… is Ed really…?” I didn’t want to know, but I needed to.
“Yeah.” Sal steadied me. “I checked.”
I lurched forward into the bushes and anything left inside me heaved out onto the ground. Soon I was empty, but I couldn’t stop retching. Wei took my arm and pressed her thumb above my wrist, hard. In a few moments, the nausea subsided.