The Masked Truth(69)

It’s damning evidence. I need to do more than protest his innocence, I need to prove it. Which means I have to figure out what the hell happened in that warehouse, where a teen therapy group was massacred for apparently no reason at all.

There is a reason. There’s always a reason. Now I have to find it.





CHAPTER 24


I need to talk to Max. The possibility he can add more to my understanding of the situation is a good excuse. So is “offering support when he needs it.” I’m not sure he’ll want that support. The guy who sat in the back of the therapy room doesn’t strike me as someone who particularly wants to talk about his problems. Really, though, I just need to see him, to speak to him.

I’ve now been in the hospital nearly thirty-six hours. Awake for the past eight. That doesn’t mean I’m ready to start doing flying lunges and passata sottos, but I’m on my feet and ready to do battle in a very different way. Which is good, because in my current state of mind it’s probably best not to hand me a saber.

I don’t ask permission to leave my room. I pull on jeans and a shirt that Mom brought for “when I feel better.” Then I sneak from my room and down the hall.

I need to find the psychiatric ward. My plan is to take the stairs down a level—where no one will recognize me—and check out the hospital map by the elevator. I get into the stairwell, and I’m quietly closing the door when a voice says, “Going somewhere?”

I turn to see Sloane with her arms crossed.

“Wh-what are you—?”

“I saw you putting on your clothing and figured you were about to take an unauthorized stroll. Being unauthorized, I knew you’d leave this way. Dad’s not the only detective in the family. I learned a few tricks. Apparently you did too, sneaking down to hear Max’s side of the story so you can defend him.”

“What? No. Yes, I’m sneaking from my room, but only because I want …”

“A cigarette?”

I give her a look. “A candy bar. I’m hungry.”

“Great. Reese’s cups, right?” She reaches for the door. “There’s a vending machine in the waiting room. I’ll walk with you. I might even pay.”

“Aren’t visiting hours over?”

“Nice try, but no. As the immediate family of the poor kid who just went through hell—again—we’re allowed to stay as long as we want. Mom knows you don’t want to see her right now, so I promised to stay. All night. They’re bringing me a cot so I can sleep right beside you.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“But I am. So two choices, kid. Either we hit the vending machine on the way back to your room or we hit it on the way back from Maximus’s room. Is that really his name? I looked it up, and it’s not even a real name. It’s Latin for ‘greatest,’ which is pretty damn optimistic. It also means ‘largest.’ ” She pauses. “Now that one’s more interesting.”

“Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Say what you’re going to say.”

She grins. “And how would you know what I was going to say unless your mind went in the same direction?”

“Yes, his name is Maximus, but he really prefers Max, so let’s stick with that.”

“Not crazy-British-dude?”

“Sloane …”

“What’s Brit-talk for ‘crazy’? Barmy, isn’t it? Can I call him that?”

“No, you cannot—” I take a deep breath. “You don’t understand.”

A moment of silence. Then, “No, I guess I don’t.”

“Can we talk about it later?”

She nods. I start to leave. She moves into my path. “We are going to see Max, Riley. I’m not stopping you. I’m just giving you a hard time.”

When I turn with a wary look, her lips press together before she says, “Seriously? What do you think I’m doing? Setting you up so I can tattle? Have I ever done that?”

“The tree house.”

“I was eleven, and I only did it because you’re Little Miss Perfect, and I was tired of being the one getting in trouble all the time. I wouldn’t do anything like that now, Riley.” Her voice drops, gaze meeting mine. “Not after everything that’s happened. I hope you know that.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“As for talking to Max, I agree you should, because this whole thing stinks of bullshit.”

I must look surprised, because I get another of those annoyed looks. “I might not get your grades, but I’m not stupid. I met Max while you were out cold. He seemed fine. Mom says it’s because he was back on his meds, but he couldn’t have gotten them more than an hour before I saw him, and they aren’t going to turn a raving lunatic into a normal guy that fast. Hell, if he was anything close to raving when he came in, they’d have put him straight in the psych ward. So I don’t know what’s going on, but if you tell me you were kidnapped, then I believe you. Mom would too, if she wasn’t so freaked out.”

I say nothing and she continues, “They had to give her stuff to calm her down, Riley. Valium or whatever. While you were being treated. She didn’t want to take it, but the doctor said she needed to be calm for you when you woke up. So she took the pills and obviously it wasn’t a good idea, because she’s out of it. She’s the one who’s confused. Not thinking straight. So now I need to step up. Play the adult. Yadda, yadda.”