Lost in Time(47)

No. That couldn’t be right. Adeline reminded herself that Absolom had sent him to an alternate universe, not this one. They were digging for something else. But what?

She heard Daniele call something out, but she couldn’t discern the words.

The tent flaps parted again, and another figure waded out into the late afternoon sun, lumbering with effort, head covered in a white scarf.

Constance.

They were all here. Each with their secrets. Digging up another secret, buried for how long?

*

Adeline was starving by the time she left Death Valley. She ate alone at a small roadside diner. After, she returned to the Walmart. There was one other thing she needed: a laptop. If she assumed Daniele had hacked her phone, her computer was likely also compromised.

At her home, she stowed her bike, the burner phone, and the new laptop in the garage. It was dark by the time she walked back to Daniele’s house.

Inside, she found the first floor empty. Her first instinct was that Daniele and Ryan had gone out.

In the kitchen, she picked up her phone and read the missed text messages and social media communications. There were the routine checkins from a few friends and a question from Daniele wondering if she would be home for dinner—and if so, what she might want.

Upstairs, she heard the sound of laughter. Ryan’s laughter.

Adeline ascended the stairs, following the sound. The two sets of glass pocket doors that led to the library were closed. Through the closest one, Adeline saw Daniele and Ryan sitting on a banquette, a wall of books behind them, a color e-ink tablet sitting on the long table. Ryan was writing with a stylus, eyes down, concentrating. Daniele was leaning over, watching. She said something. He smiled. She continued, and he laughed, and she put her arm around him in a quick hug.

Adeline’s cheeks flushed with rage.

Daniele looked up and spotted her through the glass pocket door. Adeline turned and stalked down the hall to her room, where she closed the door with a little too much force and plopped down at her desk.

She was still stewing when the door opened. Daniele stood at the threshold, studying her for a moment. “Where were you?”

Adeline didn’t look up. “I went for a walk.”

“See anything interesting?”

Adeline’s heart beat faster—from either the fear or anger rising up inside of her. Or maybe both. Her next words came from a place of hurt. And the strength of her voice surprised even her.

“You’re not his mother.”

Daniele gently closed the door, but she lingered close by, keeping her distance.

“Is that the best you can do?”

Daniele’s response caught Adeline off guard. “What?”

“You lost your mother. Then your father. It wasn’t fair. Neither of those things. In the case of your father, it was a wrong very few ever come close to in a lifetime. You feel betrayed, Adeline. You feel alone. Ryan is all you have left. Now, you’re scared to death of losing him.”

“You don’t know how I feel. You can’t even imagine.”

“I can.”

“What do you want from me?”

“When I was young, someone helped me. In the darkest chapter of my life, she was there for me. I wouldn’t have made it without her. I want to be that for you. So give me all the hurt you’re bottling up. Blame me. Shout at me. If it helps you, give me the hate you feel for this unfair world.”

“Get out.”

*

That night, Adeline lay in bed, checking her messages. She opened the BuddyLoc app and once again found Hiro at the home in Las Vegas.

What was he doing there?

Through the closed bedroom door, Adeline heard the faint sound of talking. Daniele talking.

Adeline checked the time. It was after 10 p.m.

At the window, she drew the curtain and scanned the street. There were no cars parked outside. No one had come to visit. Daniele was talking on the phone.

Adeline exited her room and padded quietly across the landing to the rail that looked over the staircase. She could hear Daniele clearly now. Her voice was raised.

“You’ll simply have to be late for dinner, senator.”

A pause. Daniele seemed even more frustrated when she resumed speaking.

“No. You listen to me. If we can’t perform these surgeries on the Absolom convicts, we’ll have to pause the program. What do you think will happen then? To crime? To law and order? Who will they blame, senator? It won’t be us. Because Absolom Sciences is going to issue a statement saying that above all else, we must ensure the safety of the program, and to do that, we need to tag these inmates before departure to ensure they don’t arrive in our universe. Because if they do, it could end everything. And when they ask why we can’t tag the prisoners, we’ll simply tell them that the Senate subcommittee with oversight never acted on our request.”

Another pause. Daniele laughed.

“I don’t make threats. I’m telling you what’s going to happen. You have forty-eight hours to amend the Absolom operating resolution. I want it passed by both houses and on the President’s desk by the time that inmate is prepped for surgery. If not, there will be no surgery and no departures until we can do so.”

Adeline heard a cabinet open, a bowl being placed on the marble countertop, and the freezer door open and close with a swoosh. Soon, the clink of a spoon on the glass bowl echoed up the stairwell. Daniele was eating ice cream, if Adeline had to guess.