“Dad, I’m sorry, but I really need you to believe me.”
“Believe you? Dana, you’ve done nothing but lie to me. To everyone.”
“Captain Scully,” said Sternholtz crisply, “as much as it pains me to do it, I see no other option but to suspend Dana pending a full review of this matter.”
It was very clear that he was not pained at all. He was the only person here who seemed to be enjoying himself.
After everything else that had happened in the last few minutes, being suspended should have been minor. And yet it smashed into her.
“No…,” she began, but didn’t know what else to say or how to react.
“Dana,” said her dad, “you are going to go home and go to your room and stay there. Be thankful there wasn’t enough of that stuff in your system for these detectives to arrest you. I’d take you myself, but I had to leave an important meeting to come here for this. I have to go back to the base. Go home. Give me your word you’ll at least do that.”
“Dad…”
“Please, Starbuck,” he said, and his deep voice broke. “Please.”
Dana reached for her father’s hand, but her father stepped back. Stepped away from her. Stood out of reach. Stood ten thousand miles away in that cramped office.
“Go home,” he said.
She was a crushed thing, a stepped-on bug. She was nothing.
The principal sat primly behind his desk, fingers laced, a smile almost showing itself on his mouth. The detectives wore their cop faces, which showed nothing. The nurse dabbed at tears in her own eyes.
Dana’s face burned hot as the sun, but the room was cold. So this was how it would be. She walked from the room and took care to slam the door behind her on the way out as hard as she could.
CHAPTER 74
Craiger, Maryland
8:10 A.M.
Dana got halfway home before her anger faded and a great sadness replaced it. The birds in the trees fell silent and shadows covered the sun as if it, too, were ashamed to look at her. As if it, too, had abandoned her.
She stopped at a corner and stood for a few moments, trying to make sense of things, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when everything had fallen apart.
Had it really started when they moved here to Craiger?
All her logical analysis crashed together in her thoughts. The case files, her mental catalog, what she knew and what she’d experienced. Corinda and Angelo.
She did not want to go home. That was going to be too much like showing up for prison on the first day of a life sentence. Dad hated her now— she was sure of that. Melissa was in trouble, too.
On the other hand, running away was not really an option. It sometimes felt like a plan, but there was no way to make it work. She didn’t have money. She was a minor. She was a girl. She had no place to run to. There was no one who would risk taking her in. And Dad would find her. The cops would find her.
Maybe the angel would find her.
And that was a weird thought, because Angelo had been arrested.
Did that mean her visions would stop? After all, how could iron bars stop him from stepping into her dreams? Would he haunt her? Would he target her and try to destroy her? Or more correctly, destroy what was left of her life?
The street corner was empty, and no one stepped out from behind a tree to offer her answers or solutions.
“Ethan,” she said aloud, surprising herself by speaking his name. And then she said, “Sunlight.”
They were still out there. Sure, Ethan had been a jerk, but he was a friend. Maybe more than that. Would he help her? No, she decided, he probably wouldn’t. His uncle Frank was the one who was heading up this investigation. Asking Ethan for help would be cruel and unfair. It would force him to make decisions that could only do him damage.
Which left Sunlight.
Dana turned and faced the direction that would take her to Main Street. She thought about going there, but then realized that Corinda would be there, and probably a lot of reporters. Even so, Sunlight was smart, and he was the most powerful psychic around. If anyone could help, he could. And maybe he would.
Thinking about how lost she was turned some of her fear and heartbreak back into anger. This wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. She hadn’t asked for any of this.
And it made no sense. Everyone lately had been asking her if she was getting high, that her eyes looked weird. She’d seen it in the mirror, too, but assumed it was from everything she’d been through. After all, she really did not take drugs. Just the thought of taking something that would take away some control of her thoughts and actions was both frightening and disgusting. She liked being in control. That was why she did not think she would ever want to do more of the astral projection she’d done with Sunlight. She imagined that was what being high might be like, and she wanted no part of it.
That did not explain the blood test. It didn’t explain Eclipse.
How did she get that drug in her system? Seriously, how was it even possible? She demanded her mind to make sense of it. She went over everything she had eaten or drunk in the last few days. The only things she could not say for sure could not have been tampered with were the food at school and the stuff she ate at Beyond Beyond. She started walking again, not heading in any particular direction beyond “not home.”
If it was the food at school, that could account for some of the victims having it in their system. But if it was cafeteria food, wouldn’t everyone have been exposed? How could someone target specific students? Angelo worked there, but not in the cafeteria. On the other hand, the school janitors went everywhere, and they had keys to every door.
If it had been at Beyond Beyond, then it would make more sense. Angelo worked there, too, and it would have been pretty easy to tamper with a tea bag or a scone. Melissa hadn’t been drugged, as far as Dana knew. She only drank coffee. So did that mean it was the tea?
The tea.
Yes. She had tea every time she went to Beyond Beyond. Every single time.
Dana felt a flush of excitement. Could she get into the place and get some of the tea bags? If Uncle Frank had them, he could do some kind of tests.
Her pace quickened, and she began to walk more definitively in the direction of Corinda’s store.
CHAPTER 75
Craiger, Maryland
8:10 A.M.
“There she is,” said Danny.
He was Gerlach’s driver today because the usual guy had called in sick again. So had the new guy. It was becoming a thing with anyone who spent a lot of time with the red-haired agent. Danny understood it. No one was sick. They were just afraid of Gerlach. The rumors among the lower-level agents was that Gerlach could sometimes get inside their heads. Danny knew it firsthand, and though it creeped him out, he could roll with it. Maybe if the other agents were there to watch the monitors and see what the angel was doing, they wouldn’t be as freaked about Gerlach.
“I see her,” murmured Agent Gerlach. He had his hat on, the brim pulled low so that it rested on his small, powerful binoculars.
“What’s the call? Do we pick her up?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Don’t we have to, though? She can ID our boy.”
Gerlach watched Dana Scully stride away from Francis Scott Key Regional High. He sat chewing his gum, saying nothing.
“She’s moving,” said Danny.
“I see that.”
“She’s not going home, though.”
“I can see that, too,” agreed Agent Gerlach.
“I thought that was the plan. She goes home and we take her.”
Gerlach shook his head. “That was a possibly contingency. There are a lot of ways this thing could still go.”
They watched Dana walk away.
“I could put a bullet in her from here,” said Danny, reaching back to pat the sniper rifle in its case on the backseat. “One shot and we close the book on her.”
“Maybe,” said Gerlach. “That’s another conti
ngency.”
“So … what are we supposed to do?”
“We follow her and see what she’s up to.”
Danny started the car. “Say, boss … what do we do about Angelo Luz?”
Gerlach gave that a few moments’ thought. “That’s a whole different problem,” he said.
“Do we, um, have contingencies for that?”
The red-haired agent smiled. “We always have contingencies, kid.”
The black sedan drifted along a block and half behind Dana Scully, moving silent as a shadow.
CHAPTER 76
Beyond Beyond
9:13 A.M.
“Dana,” said Corinda, a bright smile blossoming on her face as she looked up from the counter. “I’m surprised to see you this early. Don’t you have school today?”
Dana marched up to the counter and slapped both her hands down on it, making Corinda jump. There were only a handful of customers in the place, each dressed for yoga and heading toward the back, with their rubber mats rolled up under their arms. They glanced at Dana, clearly reading the fury and tension in the taut lines of her posture. Dana ignored them and leaned forward and nearly spat her reply at Corinda. “I got suspended.”
“Suspended? Why?”
“You’re the great psychic. I thought you’d already know.”
Corinda’s smile leaked away. “Okay, you’re clearly upset. Your aura is crackling with negative energy.”
“My aura’s fine,” snapped Dana. “My life’s falling apart and it’s your fault.”
“Mine?” Corinda looked truly surprised. “How is it my fault that you got into trouble at school?”
“How? How?”
“Stop yelling.”
“You went to the cops. You were all over TV. Your face is in the papers. I think you know.”
Corinda hustled out from behind the counter, took her by the arm, and half led, half pulled her to the table on the other side of the screen. “You need to sit and calm down, Dana.”
“Why? Because you don’t want people to know what kind of egotistical jerk you are?”
“No, because this is a sacred place of spirit and there is a yoga class starting. Show some respect.”
Dana lowered her voice but not her intensity. She sat with her back to the partition but leaned across the table to hiss at Corinda. “Sunlight was going to talk to the sheriff.”
“I know.”
“So why did you?”
“Because he was thinking about it and I didn’t think we could afford to wait any longer. I did try to find him, though, but he was out. I waited as long as I could, and then I drove over to the sheriff’s office.”
“You made this all about you,” said Dana. “You made this all about the great and powerful psychic Corinda Howell.”
Corinda’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly would you have had me do? Tell everyone that a fifteen-year-old girl was seeing angels and devils? That the dead were talking to you?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Sorry to break it to you, sweetie, but the truth isn’t always the best thing. If I’d told the absolute truth, they’d have put you in the spotlight. What chance would you ever have for a normal life? They already think I’m weird. I’m the strange lady who runs that weirdo store in town and does tarot card readings and talks to the spirit world. That’s me and that’s who I am already. If people think I’m some kind of nut, it won’t exactly be a news flash. But, Dana, you’re new here in town. You’re still a kid. I know what it’s like to be strange in school. I was mocked and made fun of my whole life. I never had a chance for a normal life. Never. You still do. I can make it so that the thing that happened to you in the locker room was because of your exposure to me. I can sell that and people will buy it. The focus won’t be on you, and after a while people won’t even care about that. Not even the kids at school. The story is already so much bigger than your vision of Maisie that you aren’t even mentioned in the papers. You’re mad at me because I’m taking credit for it? Sure. Be mad, that’s okay. And later on when you’re able to make friends at school and meet guys and go to proms and have a regular life, maybe you’ll take your ego out of high gear and realize that what I did was done out of empathy and compassion for you.”
Dana sat there, stunned into silence.
Corinda reached across and took her hands. “I’m your friend, sweetheart. I always will be. I care enough about you that I can deal with you being mad and even hating me at the moment. It won’t change how I feel, and it won’t drive me away.”
Dana was too confused by the rush of conflicting emotions in her heart and head to say anything. Corinda patted her hands and then went off to fetch tea and a muffin for her.
She set them down and then had to go off to ring someone up.
Dana stared at the little carrier of tea bags, and as she did so her fear and anger returned. Quieter now, though. She picked up one of the kind that she usually drank. The small paper label read SOOTHE. She sniffed it, then glanced around to make sure no one was looking as she quickly stuffed it into her backpack. There were three other Soothe tea bags, and she took a second one, stripped off the little paper tag, stashed the bag with the other one she’d taken, then took a plain tea bag of a common commercial brand, removed the tag, crumpled the SOOTHE tag around the string, then dunked the bag into her cup. She pushed the tea carrier away.
CHAPTER 77
Beyond Beyond
10:04 A.M.
Dana was about to get up to leave when she saw Sunlight come out of his Chrysalis Room. He wore baggy black pants like a modern dancer might wear, and a blue velour shirt embroidered with spinning planets and suns. He spotted her and came over quickly and slid onto the opposite bench seat. His handsome face was creased with concern.
“I hate to crib a line from the movies,” he said, “but I sense a disturbance in your Force.”
“You could say that.”
“Is it because of the news story?”
“Kind of. How come you let Corinda take all the credit? I wanted you to talk to the sheriff.”
Sunlight smiled. “She feeds on attention, Dana. I don’t.”
“But—”
“Give her some credit. She kept you out of it.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m so out of it.” She told him about the blood test and being suspended.
His smile did not waver. “Don’t worry about it, little sister,” he said. “I have every confidence that this is all going to work out. You’ll be fine. I still intend to have my conversation with the sheriff, and I know Mr. Sternholtz as well. I can have a quiet word with him.”
“You know him?”
“It’s a small town, Dana, and I pay a lot of taxes. That gives me a forum for—shall we say—frank discussions.”
“Oh. Well … that’s…”
He shook his head. “Be calm, Dana. This terrible matter is coming to a close and you’ll be fine.”
“But what about Angelo?”
“Ah, poor Angelo.” Sunlight shook his head. “I am seldom wrong about a person, but I was wrong about him. We all were.”
“How?” she asked. “If you and Corinda have all these super psychic powers, how did you not know it was him?”
“Remember I told you that the angel had powerful qualities, too? This is what I meant. He clearly possesses the ability to block psychic perception. That’s a great gift, and it’s so sad that he used it for the wrong purposes.”
She shook her head slowly. “I know that he’s the angel, but I still can’t believe it.”
“That is the nature of charismatic personalities, Dana. They can convince you that they are angels or saints or people who can and should be trusted. Cult leaders and politicians have used the power of charisma for thousands of years. A psychic with control over his own charisma is to be greatly feared. I can only imagine what will happen during his trial. He is no doubt powerful enough to influence the minds of the prosecutor, the jury, and even the judge. Our legal system is not
structured to cope with a person like him.”
“What are you saying? That he’ll get released?”
“It’s possible. Which is why you need to continue developing your own qualities. I can teach you techniques of psychic defense.”
She sipped her tea but didn’t answer.
“This must all hurt you very badly,” Sunlight said gently. “I don’t need to be psychic to see the pain in your eyes. You liked Angelo, abrasive as he was.”
“I liked a killer, great. At least until he chased me down the street. That says so much about me.”
“You showed compassion and kindness to someone who had lived a hard life. Take that part of it and own it. It speaks to your character, Dana. Being fooled and lied to speaks to his.”
She nodded. “Thanks.”
“I expect I won’t be seeing you for a while,” said Sunlight.
“You’re right, because I got suspended.”
“But a suspension won’t last forever, and even your father won’t actually keep you grounded until you’re old enough to retire.”
“He’ll try.”
“He won’t,” Sunlight assured her. “Now … listen to me. I am going to help you figure this out. You’re one of mine now. You belong to my spirit family, and we protect our own. I may not be as dangerous as Angelo Luz, but I have my moments. I have my qualities. And there is nothing I won’t do to protect my family.”
“I … don’t know how to even…”
He shook his head. “You’re dangerously close to blowing some important fuses, Dana. Here’s what you need to do. Go home. Let your parents yell at you. Nod and look contrite and promise to be a good girl. Tell them whatever they need to hear so that they stop lashing out at you. Play the game their way and let them win this round. Then, when things cool down, they’ll reward you for being a nice, obedient daughter who has clearly learned her lessons, and they’ll lift their restrictions on you. So will the school. And then you’ll come back here and we’ll get to work. I’ll teach you everything I can to make you as powerful as you can possibly be, and I believe that you possess incredible potential. Together we’ll apply our qualities to what is going on in this town. If Angelo really is the angel, then we will get the proof that will make it impossible, even for him, to manipulate his way to freedom. We’ll figure out who is selling Eclipse in Craiger and we will shut them down. As we become the most powerful versions of ourselves, we’ll show everyone what people like us are capable of. Not just reading palms and telling fortunes, but being actual forces for good in a troubled world. That’s what I offer, Dana.” He held out his hand. “How does that sound?”