Tremble (Denazen #3)(25)

I held my breath, sure she was about to call me on breaking into her room and getting into the file, but to my surprise, she simply asked, “Did you find her?”

Alex frowned. He shot a quick glance my way before turning back to Ginger. “Didn’t make it in time. Aubrey said her parents got her. There was nothing we could have done.”

“Aubrey?” Dax asked, surprised. He grabbed Mom’s hand as she passed and tugged her into the chair beside him. Thank God. She was starting to make me dizzy. I was a pacer, but when someone else did it, it drove me nuts. “Why would you believe anything he says?”

“He’s no saint—but he did save me. Twice. He helped us avoid Kale last night, too.” While I probably wouldn’t give him my home address and e-mail password, I did believe he wanted to help.

“Kale?” Mom leaned forward. Her voice rang of worry, but her eyes sparked with hope. “Kale was there, too?”

Ginger leaned back in her chair, unfazed. “And what else did Aubrey have to say?”

“He confirmed what Alex suggested earlier about a Six switching Kiernan and me in Kale’s memory. Some chick named Mindy. They’re making him see her every day so they don’t lose control of him.” If I could convince them getting Kale away from Denazen sooner rather than later would benefit us all, then I was going to do and say whatever it took. “He’s in there, Mom. I saw him. He’s messed up and confused, but he’s in there.”

The expression on her face was somewhere between regret and pity, and it took a second until I realized why. She didn’t believe we’d get him back. None of them did. Mom loved him, but she didn’t believe he’d ever come home.

“Dax and I are heading to the airport,” Mom said. Dax stood and tugged her to her feet. “One of the names on the list, Andrea Marko, lives in California. Our flight leaves in three hours. We confirmed with a contact in the area she’s alive and living on her own in an apartment in SoHo. Hopefully we can convince her to return with us.”

“We’re not going to find the others alive,” Alex said. He looked at Dax with an expression that caused my chest to tighten. “I think we should focus on finding this Penny chick and dealing with Kale. We all know how Cross works. He’s a twisted f*cker. He’ll send the freak after Dez.”

“I have people following leads on Penny Mills,” Ginger said. “Until something comes of it, we continue chasing the Supremacy offspring. We won’t save them all, but we will get some. I’m not giving up on them.”

We will get some.

It was the closest thing to a revelation since she’d told me the worst was yet to come and that Alex and I would pay the biggest price. I probably should have been standing around waiting for the sky to fall, but if I did that, I’d never get anything done. The sky in my world always seemed to be coming down. My biggest issue with her plan was that we were wasting time chasing down people she might already know were gone when we could be focusing on Kale.

“Since everyone is up, we might as well get started.” She fished into her pocket and pulled out two small slips of paper. Handing one each to Alex and me, she said, “Get ready and head out. These are the next two semi-local names. The last two, actually. The rest are out of state and Dax and Sue will deal with them.”

I took my slip, but Alex didn’t make a move for his. He glared at her hand like she’d asked him to cuddle a cobra. “Different names? This doesn’t seem like the brightest move.”

I gave him a sideways glance, begging him to be quiet. He’d sided with her on everything lately and he picked now to open his mouth?

“Yesterday you said no one goes alone. Today you’re changing your tune?” he continued. “What the hell?”

“You won’t be going alone. You’ll be taking Jade,” Ginger said.

“Because that’s so much better than going alone?” he quipped, snatching the paper from between her fingers. “And what about Dez?”

“I’m sure she’s touched by your concern, but she’ll be fine.” Ginger slammed her cane against the table. “Now get moving!”

Grumbling, Alex stood and stalked from the room. If I had to guess, he was off to wake up Jade. Last time, he’d dumped a gallon of ice water on her head. She, in turn, hit him with a jar of cold tomato sauce the next morning. It was a good match-up. Denazen wouldn’t dare attack them—they’d be too afraid to get in the middle of their squabbling.

When I turned back to the room, Mom glared at me. “Can I trust you—”

“To behave?” I finished for her. “Not likely.”

“Behave?” she balked. “The most I can hope for is that you exercise some amount of common sense.”

As Mom settled into her new role in my life, it had become obvious we were a lot alike. I got my strength and stubbornness from her, as well as my gleaming sarcastic wit. “I’ll be careful,” I said.

She nodded, but beside her, Dax didn’t look convinced. They left without another word, leaving Ginger and me alone.

“Who are you forcing me to take? And if you say the kid who can read minds and smells like mothballs, deal’s off.”

“You can go alone,” she said after a moment.

“Can?”

“I leave it up to you.”