Asylum (Asylum, #1)(30)

“And let me guess, that place was Brookline,” Jordan said coldly. He obviously still wasn’t convinced.

“It had to be,” Abby replied quickly. “There was stuff about how she was dangerous, and how he had sent her away for her own good. And there was more. . . . Grandpapa kept talking about ‘making a trip to New Hampshire.’ He never mentioned Brookline by name, but . . .”

“But I can see how you would put two and two together,” Dan finished, trying to show at least a little support.

She nodded. “It all adds up. I mean, listen, I didn’t think it was possible, either. Part of me always assumed I was imagining it, or had completely read them wrong. After that first time, my pops found out I’d read the letters and moved them all. But I never forgot. And when I got the letter about this program, well, I thought the fact that it was in New Hampshire was a sign.”

“A sign of how ridiculous this story is,” Jordan protested, sinking down lower in his seat. “I mean what, you just thought you’d come work on your art skills and find your long-lost aunt at the same time? Kill two birds with one stone?”

Abby looked horrified.

“Jordan . . .” Dan warned.

But Jordan barreled right on ahead, gesturing first to Dan and then to Abby. “Let me guess, you guys made this up together, thought you’d have a harmless laugh at my expense. Well, ha ha. Very funny. It’s not working, okay? I am not that gullible.”

“Jordan, why would I make something like this up? It’s too sick. . . .”

Jordan shrugged. “Who knows? Attention? Fun? Take your pick.”

“God, you’re such an * sometimes!” She clenched her jaw and looked at Jordan as if she had never really seen him before.

“Let’s all calm down and just think for a minute,” Dan said, hating to see the anger between them. “First of all, Jordan, I have to ask—do you really think I wrote this note to myself? For attention?”

Jordan sighed. “I don’t know anymore, man. You. Abby. I don’t know what’s going on. I feel like you’re trying to make me look stupid. Like the two of you are ganging up on me.”

“Okay, and Abby, do you think there’s any chance this could be a different Lucy Valdez?” he asked.

“No,” she replied firmly. “I know it’s her, and I bet there’s more evidence somewhere in the old wing about what they did to her.”

Jordan snorted.

Suddenly Abby slammed her fist down on the table. Both boys jumped in their seats. Dan’s plate rattled, his hill of macaroni crumbling.

“What would it take for you to trust me?”

Jordan didn’t say anything.

“I trust you,” Dan said in a placating murmur.

“Uh-huh, Peeta Mellark over here believes you. In other news, rain is wet,” Jordan said. “Color me sur-freaking-prised.” Taking his coffee and pie, he left without another word. The rain and the sounds of the dining hall rose up to fill the silence left by Jordan’s angry departure.

“Are you all right?” Dan asked.

“Would you be?”

“No. No, I guess not.”

“Then there’s your answer.” She took a spoonful of her minestrone. “Ugh. It’s cold.”

Dan scrambled for something helpful to say. All he could think about was how, if Abby could keep such a big secret so well, there might be any number of things she still hadn’t shared. Not that he was any better. “You know what? About Jordan? I think he’s still upset about the date thing. He’s probably worrying that we can’t be a duo and a trio at the same time, you know?”

“Hm? What? A duo?” Abby frowned, staring off into the middle distance. “Oh, right. Yeah, maybe. Maybe that’s it.”

Dan didn’t want to take her response as personally as he did, given the fight she’d just had with Jordan, but she’d really turned cold there at the mention of the word date. Everything seemed to be slipping out of control. His new best friends were quickly withdrawing—from him and from each other. He had to find answers and hold the group together, or they’d be total strangers again. Then the hydra really would be dead.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this whole thing out,” he said.

“I know I will,” Abby said coolly. “I’m going back into that office. One way or another.”





The next morning it was time to pick a new set of classes, which meant that Dan had already been at the program for a full week and counting. In some ways, he couldn’t believe that it had been that long, but by and large, he felt like it had been much, much longer.

Dan planned to wait for Abby and Jordan at the admin building to see if there were any classes they wanted to take together, but when he got there, he saw that Abby was already moving from table to table in the art department area. She gave him a quick wave and then kept on going. Dan felt a pang of rejection, but pushed it down.

“So I might have been out of line last night.”

It was Jordan. He grabbed Dan and pulled him over to the Theoretical Mathematics table.

“Might have been?” Dan asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you’re on her side,” Jordan began, “but I swear I’m looking out for both of us. Between you and me, I’ve seen girls like Abby go through this kind of identity meltdown thing before. This whole story about her ‘aunt’ will blow over, you’ll see.”