Perfect Lies

A throat clears. “Hey, Annie.” Adam always announces himself when he enters the room. I appreciate it.

“Can I sit?”

I nod and feel the motel couch give under his weight. Without a word I hand the phone to him. He’s been as anxious about getting word from Fia as I have; he’s the one who tracked down a charger so the cell wouldn’t die.

“No missed calls or texts,” he says, stating the obvious.

“Who’s ready for some lunch?” Sarah chirps, bringing with her the scent of grease. My stomach turns uneasily. I hate myself as soon as I think it, but I really miss the Keane school chefs. I also miss my own cell phone, with raised buttons so I could use it without help. And my white cane that folded neatly into a purse. And my braille display for my laptop.

And … I miss knowing where I am. Being stuck in the school for so many years has turned me into an unwilling agoraphobe. I spent all that time either knowing the exact confines of my space or out with someone I trusted completely. Being untethered is kind of terrifying.

I miss Eden.

“Where to today?” I ask, needing distraction. We’re all staying in a suite in some motel outside Denver. Our travel pattern deliberately makes no sense. Cole decides on the spot where we’re going, and we never stay anywhere for long or plan more than a few hours in advance. Sarah says it’s the best way to avoid anyone on the lookout for us, though she seems confident no Seer is going to have an eye out for me.

I’m dead, after all. So is Adam.

“Do you want me to cut your food for you?” Adam offers, and I shake my head. He’s constantly trying to help me. I wondered at first if maybe he had a crush on me, but it doesn’t feel like that.

Then again, how would I know? This is the most I’ve been around guys close to my age since I went to the school.

“I have good news,” Sarah says. “I haven’t seen anything. I think we’re safe to go to home base.”

“Finally,” Adam says, his voice desperate with relief. I bite my lip guiltily. He lost his parents, his schooling, his apparently brilliant future. And it’s my fault. I put him on Keane’s radar.

Cole surprises me by talking. Once again I didn’t realize he was in the room. “Settles that, then. We’ll go to the California house and make reintegration plans for our two corpses.”

“Actually, we’re headed to Georgia.”

Cole’s voice is suddenly cold. “Why Georgia? I don’t see any reason to involve them further.”

“We need help, Cole. We can’t do this on our own.”

“We’ve been doing fine.”

“Did you even hear what Annie was telling us? He has women in the White House! This is so much bigger than we can fight, and if working with Rafael is what we need, then—”

“You don’t know enough about him.”

“I haven’t seen anything that makes me worried.”

“You don’t see everything.”

A door slams. Judging by Sarah’s sigh, I assume Cole is gone. “What was that about?” I ask.

Sarah sounds falsely bright. “Nothing. Cole likes being independent. Lerner has always been a really loosely connected network, to keep us safer. But we’re starting to organize and get funding, and it makes him nervous. I’ll go pack your things and we’ll head out!”

“I’m already packed,” Adam says. Sarah leaves, but he stays on the couch next to me. “So much research data all around me, and I can’t do a thing to study it. I need to work before I go crazy.”

“You can’t!” I blush, embarrassed at my outburst. “I mean, you can’t keep pursuing it, right? That’s how they found you.” I’m how they found him, but the vision still swirls in my head, unsettling me.

He sounds thoughtful. “Sarah thinks we can manage it. And she feels like it’s really important, like it might finally give us an advantage against Keane.”

My thoughts are scattered, my nerves frayed. What if it did? What if that’s what my vision meant? That we’d find the women and then help them disappear? Maybe I’m interpreting it wrong. It wouldn’t be the first vision I was wrong about.

Probably won’t be the last, either.

The car slams to a stop, my seat belt digging into my collarbone. “What is he doing here?” Cole snaps.

“Who?” Sarah asks. “Oh. I didn’t know he was coming.”

The car eases forward and then stops again. I hear doors open, so I unbuckle my seat belt and climb out, kicking my foot to find the curb.

“Cole,” a man calls from nearby. He sounds older than Cole and Adam. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Nathan,” Cole says, his voice icy. “Why are you here?”

“Permanent security detail with the boss.”

“Right.” Cole’s voice is edged with tension and anger. He must have a headache all the time if he carries as much tension in his neck as he does in his voice. “The boss. Great.”

Sarah takes my arm. “Don’t worry,” she whispers in my ear. “Cole’s just PMSing.”

I snort, instantly more at ease. I don’t think Cole will stick around any longer than he has to, which is a bit of a relief. He stresses me out.

“Come on in,” Nathan says as we walk up three steps. “And who is this?”

I don’t like the shift in tone of Nathan’s voice that indicates he’s talking about me. It’s as though he’s no longer addressing an equal but a child or a plaything.

“None of your business,” Cole snaps.

I frown in his direction. I don’t need him defending me, but I’m surprised that he’d sound so … protective on my behalf.

We walk past Nathan, who wears a spicy aftershave that clears out my sinuses. I instantly decide I don’t trust men who wear too much cologne. What is he covering up?

The air shifts as we enter the house, less heavy with humidity and cooler. “Rafael!” Sarah says, sounding happy.

“Sarah! So good to see you again. And this must be Adam, which makes you Annie.” The speaker has a soft, musical accent that makes it harder for me to get much from his tone. It also makes me wish I could see his face, because his voice is very, very hot. A cheek brushes mine and I start, surprised, as he kisses the air next to my face.

He backs away, laughing. “I hate shaking hands. Don’t look so frightened, Adam, I promise not to kiss you. Where are you from, Annie?”

I smile nervously. “Colorado, originally. Lately of Chicago. I’m dead, though. Just for the record.”

“Naturally.” Rafael sounds amused, and I want him to like me so I can hear him talk more. “So you’re Fia’s sister.”

The way he states it gives me pause. “Do you know her?”

He laughs again, a laugh that holds secrets. “We’ve met, yes.”