The Enlightened (Mind Dimensions #3)(52)

“What?” Thomas asks.

“In Lucy’s memory, Mark asks why Kyle disappeared from his life. And now I think I know why. Mark married Margret, who’s a Guide, which means she would’ve recognized him had they met.”

“That’s true,” Liz says. “She would have known him, though probably only as much as I do. She was obviously—”

“Wait. It just occurred to me.” I stare at Liz. “You knew my biological mother?”

“Yes,” she answers. “I knew her. I know everyone.”

“You’ll have to tell me about her one day,” I say. “But right now, I have some important business to take care of.”

“I really don’t think—”

“Liz, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Thomas says, “but I think Darren should do what feels right.”

“Men,” Liz says derisively. “All this macho bullshit. If you go through with it, don’t come begging me for therapy.”

“Fine,” I say. “I’m sure I won’t have trouble finding another therapist. Maybe even one who won’t lie to me for over a decade.”

“That’s classic projection—”

“Seriously, Liz. That’s enough,” Thomas says sternly.

To my huge surprise, Liz stops whatever psychobabble she was about to spew at me. I never realized Thomas had the power in this strange relationship. Interesting.

“I’m sorry, Liz,” I say. “I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“No, I was out of line,” Liz says, shaking her head. “Just think before you do anything irreversible. That’s all I’m suggesting.”

“I’ll take your words under advisement.” I’m lying through my teeth. “Either way, we need to find out where he is. He’s still a threat to Lucy.”

“So what’s the plan?” Thomas asks.

“You, Bert, and I will go run an errand,” I tell him before turning to my shrink. “Liz, would you mind keeping an eye on things here?”

“Sure,” she says.

“Sounds good to me,” Thomas says.

Giving them both a grateful look, I phase us out of the Quiet.

“Mom,” I say ambiguously, a trick I developed as a kid.

“Yes?” Sara and Lucy say in unison, and I can’t help but smile. Works every time.

“Since you’re feeling better, Bert and I need to swing by our work,” I say, looking at Lucy. “There’s this big move in the portfolio, and they can’t deal without—”

“It’s not a problem,” Lucy interrupts. “Thank you for saving me.”

“I’ll be back soon,” I say. “You won’t even notice I’m gone.”

Sara gives me a hug, and I kiss Lucy goodbye on the cheek. Then I walk out with Bert following on my heels.

Behind me, I hear Thomas make an excuse and Liz give some weird explanation as to why she’ll stay with my moms. She must’ve greased their mental wheels through Guiding, because they act like Liz’s story makes sense. I really hope that stuff doesn’t cause permanent brain damage.

“Your men aren’t exactly inconspicuous,” I say to Thomas as we pass five big dudes wearing black suits and earpieces in the hospital hallway.

“No, they’re not. But they’re effective,” Thomas says curtly. “Liz will make sure no one pays them any heed.”

Bert is about to comment on something, but I shake my head. Then I phase into the Quiet and pull Thomas in.

“Please don’t talk too much about the Guiding stuff in front of my minion,” I say. “I don’t want to make him forget more than I have to.”

“Why do we need this guy at all?”

“He’s part of my contingency plan.”

“I don’t even know what the primary plan is, let alone the contingency,” Thomas says.

“We’re going to the police department, to start,” I say. “Is that good enough?”

“It’ll do for now. Let’s take my car.”

I phase out, and we exit the hospital.

Thomas’s car is the same one he used in the big standoff on the Brooklyn Bridge. Though he crashed it, the car looks as good as new again. I hoped this would be his ride since this car has a cache of weapons in the back. I’ll need those, but I don’t mention this to Thomas.

Before we leave Staten Island, we swing by my moms’ house. We clean up the scene to make it fit my ‘clumsy mom’ story. The good news is that my moms have so many extra bed sheets and blankets that they won’t even notice the ones they had on the bed are missing and have been replaced.

Next, I change out of my bloodstained clothes and into a pair of old jeans and a T-shirt that I keep at my moms’. The clothes are a little stiff, but they’ll do.

“Okay,” I say when we get back into the car. “Our next stop is the police department.”

Thomas puts the Manhattan address I provide into his GPS and begins driving.

Our trip starts off silently. I don’t want to talk too much since Thomas thinks Bert isn’t supposed to know stuff, plus I’m not in a very talkative mood.

“Here’s what I’m wondering,” Thomas says, breaking the silence after a couple of minutes. “Why didn’t Kyle attack you in Miami?”