Suspicious Minds (Stranger Things Novels #1)(11)

“Well…” Terry fidgeted.

Ken bailed her out. “It’s actually Terry, I believe.”

“It is. Terry Ives.”

“Huh?” Alice wrinkled her nose. “But I was sure you gave it as Stacey. I remember things.”

They were all watching Terry now.

“Why would you use a different name?” Alice asked. She lowered her voice. “Are you a criminal? Oh, or one of those missing kids? Were you stolen from your family?”

The girl’s eyes were wide circles and Terry could practically see her spinning a whole slew of stories out in her head.

“No, I’m not a criminal or kidnapped. Or a spy. Or on the lam.”

“Figures,” Alice said, so disappointed that Terry had to smile.

“It’s my roomie’s name. She signed up, then changed her mind. I need the extra cash. Plus…” She wanted to say she was here because a chance to do something had finally appeared, right on her doorstep. That they—all of them—might be making history. That the possibility was the reason she’d come. But she settled for a simpler version of that, the one she’d given Brenner. One she hoped they’d be less likely to find ridiculous. “Plus, it feels like this is something important.”

Nodding, Gloria lowered her voice and said, “It does, doesn’t it? A lot of expense to ferry us back and forth.”

Terry leaned forward and Alice shifted so Terry could rest her arms on the back of the seat. Terry spoke to the driver, wondering if he’d bothered to listen to them. “I didn’t realize there was a lab in Hawkins before this. That’s where we’re going, isn’t it?” she asked. “Hawkins?”

“It hasn’t been there long,” he said. “Converted to a lab facility last year.”

“What do they do there?” Terry asked.

“Research.”

Terry waited, but no additional information came. The driver kept his attention ahead of them, the road flat and unoccupied now that they were heading out of town, corn high in the fields stretching out alongside.

“Your roommate doesn’t need money?” Alice asked out of nowhere.

Wow, she’s observant. Terry had thought that part of the conversation was over.

“Not enough to take on another job,” Terry said. “She said this felt like one.”

“White girls,” Alice said, shaking her head and meeting Gloria’s eyes, “don’t know what work is.”

Terry couldn’t argue with the general principle, no matter how hard she herself worked. No matter that Alice was covered in grease stains for her own part. Alice wasn’t exactly wrong.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Gloria said.

“You didn’t have to,” Alice said and winked. “I did it for you.”

Gloria cracked an amused smile, shaking her head. “It will be work,” she said, her voice still low. “They don’t pay this kind of money for experiments on campus. They’re compensating us for something.”

Terry wanted to jump in, curious to get an idea of how much more this paid than a typical experiment, but the driver spoke up.

“You probably shouldn’t talk about the experiment outside the lab,” he said. “It could alter the results.”

They were quiet for a full five minutes. Which might be as long as Alice could manage. “Did you know there’s a new Beatles record coming out?” she asked.

And they chattered about music and non-experiment-related topics for the rest of the drive.





3.


A long line of chain link signaled their arrival. That and a sign marking the entrance as belonging to HAWKINS NATIONAL LABORATORY. The building itself didn’t look new, despite what the guard had said. Then again, he’d only said that the lab itself hadn’t been here long. The building could’ve been retrofitted.

As the van passed a checkpoint staffed by soldiers and angled toward a parking lot, Terry found the reality of the situation sinking in. This was really happening. This was a five-story building big enough to have wings and guards with guns.

Resolve settled into her bones. Becky and their Aunt Shirley always called her the most stubborn person alive when she truly set her mind to something.

Of course, they’d probably get inside and just end up sitting in a circle and meditating or something. Stacey could be an exaggerator.

“Terry?” Gloria asked, and Terry realized they were parked and the van door was open. It was time to get out and go in.

“Sorry,” Terry said.

The four of them walked forward in a nervous clump, the driver ahead but not too far. He kept checking behind him like they might make a break for it.

The parking lot was filled with nice but not flashy cars. Well, except for the shiny Mercedes parked in the spot nearest the door. That one had been at the psych building that first day. It must be his. Dr. Brenner’s.

Alice stopped dead as they approached the entry bank’s glass doors. She stared up at the building.

“What’s wrong?” Terry asked.

Alice shook her head in slow amazement. “I can’t wait to see the elevators.”

To everyone else’s credit, they let the remark pass.

The driver held the door open for them, and Terry waited until the others had gone in.