Майкл Корита - If She Wakes

Shannon walked around the back of the car and opened the driver’s door, and then she and Abby were briefly face-to-face with no glass between them.

“I’m sorry,” Abby said. The words sounded as hollow to her as Shannon’s expression told her they felt.

“Backseat,” Dax said, folding the driver’s seat forward and allowing access to the back. Shannon hesitated, and he cocked the revolver. She crawled into the backseat, scrambled across the leather, and crouched in the far corner. Dax followed, swinging the door shut behind him and sealing them all inside, Abby tied to the front passenger seat, Shannon and Dax and the gun in the back.

“All together now,” he said. “Terrific. This thing is close to done, Shannon. Closer than you think. You’ve got a big job to do, though. You’ve got to get our beloved little phone to your sister and unlock it and bring it back. You’ve got to do that quickly and without anyone else seeing it. Otherwise, the killing starts fast.”

Shannon had been staring at Abby, but now she looked back at Dax and seemed to be sizing him up. Other than having the gun, he didn’t appear all that imposing. Abby remembered the night she’d made the same mistake.

“You need to listen to him,” Abby said. “And not for me. I’m not worried about myself anymore. But you need to listen to him because you need him to go away fast.”

“That’s excellent advice,” Dax said. “Abby’s been along for the ride for a while now. She’s seen some things. I’d trust her wisdom if I were you.”

Shannon Beckley looked at Abby and then back at Dax, and Abby knew her mind was whirling, and she was almost positive she knew what she was thinking.

“When the Department of Energy agent gets to the room, she isn’t going to be able to help,” she said, and Shannon’s eyes widened. “Nobody in that room can help, because he can hear you. He’s listening to the hospital room. Has been.”

She’d taken this chance expecting retribution from Dax, expecting maybe even a bullet, but instead she received a smile.

“That’s right,” Dax said. “But we won’t need to worry about ears anymore. Shannon’s going to give us eyes too.”

He took off the black baseball cap and extended it to her. She recoiled and smacked against the door. But she had nowhere to run, and it was far too late for that anyhow.

“The agent is en route,” Dax said. “My understanding is that she’s very close. That puts some added pressure on you, Shannon. I’m sorry about that, but...” He shrugged. “I’m not the one who sent for her. It’s your turn to wear the black hat.”

Abby watched in the mirror. Shannon took the hat from his hand like she was accepting a snake, then put it on. She pushed her hair behind her ears and settled it down. It looked natural enough. Looked good, even. But it wouldn’t look right to the doctor who was in that room.

“Why’d she leave and put on a hat?” Abby said.

“Good question,” the kid answered, not looking at her. “Why’d you do that, Shannon?”

Silence for a moment, then Shannon said, “I don’t know.”

“I think you do. I think you get migraines from the lights in the hospital. Stress and bright light? That can definitely bring on a headache. You took some Excedrin, you put on a hat, and now you want everyone to just shut the hell up about you and focus on your sister. I think everyone is ready to focus on Tara.”

He reached into his pocket and withdrew Oltamu’s phone. When he tapped the display, Abby watched Shannon’s face change. She understood the picture. Or at least, she wasn’t confused by it.

“You’re going to need to hold this up to her eyes,” Dax said, “and hope that it unlocks. It asks for a name, but I think that’s bullshit. It just needs her eyes. If I’m wrong, though... there’ll be a lot riding on Tara figuring out what to do then. Because I know your mother and stepfather are in room four eighty-one in the hotel next door, and they’ll die fast if you make a bad choice.”

He pressed the phone into her hand. Her hand was trembling, but only a little.

“You can save a lot of lives tonight,” Dax told her.

“They’ll be watching me,” Shannon said. “At least, Pine will be. The doctor. How do you expect me to explain this to him?”

“Convincingly,” Dax said. “That’s how I expect you to do it. I’m not a fan of scripts. People get hung up on them, they forget their lines, and then things go to hell fast. I like quick thinkers with room to be creative. Maybe you want a word in private with your sister. Maybe you’re angry with Dr. Pine. I don’t know. But I think you’ll figure it out. And Shannon? Make it believable. Because if that phone finds its way back to my hand, your family stays alive. If it doesn’t...” He inclined his head toward the front seat. “Ask Abby what happened to the last person who disappointed me today.”

Shannon didn’t look at Abby. She put Oltamu’s phone in her pocket and said, “May I go now?”

“You in a hurry?”

“Yes. I don’t want any strangers around. Let me go now, before the detective or agent or whoever gets here.”

“Wise,” Dax said, and then he moved back, keeping the gun pointed at her, opened the door, and stepped outside. He lowered the gun and kept it down against his leg as she climbed out. He actually offered her a hand, looking like a high-school kid with his prom date. She ignored it and climbed out alone. She ignored the gun too. She ignored everything and just started walking toward the stairwell.

“He sees and hears you,” Abby called after her. She knew how pathetic the warning sounded, but she was terrified for Shannon. She was going to try something. Abby was sure of that. She might not have a plan yet, but this woman was absolutely going to try something.

Dax leaned on the roof of the car and sang, “‘He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good, for goodness’ sake!’”

The stairwell door opened and clanged shut, and Shannon Beckley was gone.

Pine wasn’t as helpless over the sister as he’d claimed because when Boone arrived, he came down to meet her and said that the sister was gone and it was just Tara now.

“Shannon will come back,” he said. “I’d be stunned if she didn’t. Maybe we should wait.”

“We are not waiting,” Boone said. “Less is more, Doctor, when it comes to time and witnesses in this scenario.”

She didn’t give him a chance to consider that, just walked in front of him and down the corridor as if she knew where she was going. Using motion to push past hesitation was one of her favorite techniques, and it worked. Pine reacted as most men in positions of authority did and quickened his pace in an attempt to not only catch up to her but make it seem as if he were actually leading the way, that the rush had been his idea all along.

The corridor ended in a T, and Pine turned left and exchanged quick greetings with two nurses in the hall. If they had any interest in Boone, they didn’t show it. She was just another stranger here to look at the brain-dead girl, evidently. Pine had done a good job of shutting down the chatter about Tara Beckley’s return to consciousness in his own hospital, at least. The girl’s mother had carried news outside the walls, but inside, it was business as usual. For the first time, Boone was pleased that she’d gotten here so late; the hospital was quieter at this hour.

“The process will seem simple to you,” Pine said. “It will seem easy, even. She moves her eyes to give you answers — what could be less taxing, right? But I warn you that it is a laborious process for her. We’ve pushed her hard already today. At some point, the fatigue will catch up to her. Remember that as you phrase your questions.”