The Speed of Sound (Speed of Sound Thrillers #1)(38)

He seemed to know he’d done it.

Skylar glanced around the room, checking for sharp objects, then toward the door, hoping that Nurse Gloria was in the immediate vicinity when things didn’t go as planned.

When the counter read one hundred percent, he looked up at Skylar with a spectacular smile, which he’d been practicing for years. For the very first time in his life, Eddie seemed to be expressing himself emotionally. But, given the circumstances, neither he nor Skylar paid much attention. “What would you like to hear, Skylar?”

She remained calm, as well as dubious. “Eddie, I think you should choose.”

He thought about it for a moment. “It would probably be a good idea to start with a recent date. There will be considerably less distortion and white noise to filter out.”

“Okay.” She prepared for the upcoming tantrum.

Eddie studied the recent Timeline of Wave History for Dr. Fenton’s office. He moved a designator from the end of the timeline (the present) to yesterday (Friday), then pinpointed the most clearly identifiable sound waves. He looked up to Skylar. “Are you ready to hear something that no one has ever heard before?”

She inched closer to Eddie. The more he built up the moment, the more she prepared herself to spring into action. “I think so.” She immediately began to doubt whether she could restrain him by herself. She envisioned him thrashing about, hurting her as well as himself, and, worse, damaging the echo box. She dreaded the thought of having to explain the incident to Fenton. Skylar considered trying to stop Eddie from proceeding, but didn’t act quickly enough.

“These are the first sound waves ever re-created.” He hit “Play.”





CHAPTER 31

Harmony House, Woodbury, New Jersey, May 27, 10:10 a.m.

At first, all that could be heard was low-decibel HISSING and WARBLE. Skylar immediately grew concerned, expecting Eddie to explode.

But, surprisingly, he didn’t. “Now that I’ve been able to rebuild the waves, I should be able to clean up most of this harmonic distortion by running it through a series of filters.”

She nodded, pretending to understand, when she suddenly froze. The impossible became possible as Fenton’s voice was heard through the laptop’s speakers: “Stephen, I don’t remember who my ten thirty is with. God, I really am getting old.”

Skylar’s eyes bugged out with disbelief. She forgot to breathe. “Holy shit.”

“That expression confuses me,” Eddie replied.

Fenton’s voice continued after a brief pause. “Reschedule it. Next week, or, better yet, the week after.”

Skylar recovered quickly. “Sounded like he was on the phone with his assistant.”

Through the laptop, Skylar and Eddie heard the sound of a phone hanging up.

“Give the lady a booby prize.” He tried to sound like Jerome had in the cafeteria. Eddie worked his laptop, running the reconstructed sound waves through several more filters.

When he played Fenton’s phone conversation with his assistant again, it sounded considerably crisper. The dialogue was distinct.

Skylar wanted another demonstration before she was really going to believe what she was hearing. “Can you find a conversation he had with someone in person?”

“Yes.” Eddie moved the time designator to the day before yesterday (Thursday), but the waves were only single sets, which meant they were one-sided phone conversations, like the one they’d just heard.

Eddie was looking for two sets of overlapping waves, which meant a conversation between two people in the same space. He slid the designator to Wednesday, where he found what he was looking for. “This was a conversation Dr. Fenton was having with someone else in this office. It was approximately the time we took our walk in the yard to nowhere in particular, which I still think was a strange destination.” He hit “Play.”

Through the laptop, they heard a light knock. Fenton said, “Come in.” The door opened and closed. The sound reproduction was a bit garbled but still distinct enough. Someone had entered the office, but Eddie couldn’t make out the footsteps.

Fenton asked his visitor, “Mr. Barnes, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Barnes answered, “Your new doctor’s boyfriend has been looking into Eddie.”

Skylar’s face dropped. She didn’t recognize the man’s voice, but realized Barnes must be the head of Harmony House security. She couldn’t believe he was talking about Jacob.

Eddie turned to her. “I don’t recognize who Dr. Fenton is talking to. Do you?”

She shook her head no. Her mind was already reeling.

Eddie said, “I think he must be the mystery man, because he’s the only one who works here whose voice I have never heard.”

“Shh.” Skylar listened intently.

Dr. Fenton’s was the next voice heard: “What have you got?” The sound of documents being reviewed was clear. Evidence was being examined.

BARNES: Either she’s got loose lips or he’s been sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

Goose bumps became visible on Skylar’s arms. She was barely breathing.

BARNES: Could be nothing, but I thought you should be made aware.

There was a momentary pause.

FENTON: I don’t like it.

His voice was cold. Emotionless.