Kate Brian - Endless

Liam looked at me. “I guess that’s a…good thing?”

“It ups the chances that it was an accident,” Teresa replied.

“Maybe, but it doesn’t prove anything,” I said. “Dorn made it sound like everyone knew Cori wasn’t a great swimmer. If he shoved her into the water, the way it’s been raging lately…”

Liam went green and I trailed off. I didn’t want to think about it in too much detail, either—the callousness it would take to do something like that, the terror Cori would have felt as she slipped away.

“You could go in and try to wake him up if you want,” Teresa suggested, tilting her head toward Pete’s bed.

I bristled at the thought. Nothing that I had to say to Pete would make him want to wake up. I was just about to tell her as much when Pete suddenly sighed and turned his head. His eyes were still closed, but I froze, grabbing Liam’s arm. Beneath my grip, his whole body went tense.

“Oh my—” Liam said, biting down on his lip.

“Pete?” I asked. “Pete? Are you awake?”

Teresa slipped a tiny flashlight out of her pocket and moved to the bed. She pried open one of Pete’s eyes and shined the light in it. He didn’t flinch.

“He’s still out,” she concluded, shrugging at us.

Liam’s skin had gone waxy and pale. “I think we should go.” He darted for the door like the room was on fire.

“Shouldn’t we stay in case he wakes up?” I said.

Liam paused with one hand on the doorknob. “Why? She said it could be days. I say we go up to the mayor’s and find out if the Tses are talking.”

It was tempting. At least I knew the twins were conscious. I glanced back at Pete, whose eyes stayed stubbornly closed, his chest rising and falling at a normal, calm rhythm.

“I can radio you when he wakes up,” Teresa said, laying a comforting hand on my arm. “Go ahead. Neither one of you should be going anyplace alone.”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “Thank you.”

Liam shoved through the door. I listened as his footsteps retreated down the long hallway, but I didn’t follow. Instead, I waited until Teresa left the cell and closed the door behind her. Pete had ushered my father and my sister and Aaron and Jennifer and all the other innocent people to the Shadowlands. I wasn’t going anywhere until I knew for certain that he was locked up good and tight.

Teresa pulled out a big, old-fashioned key and placed it inside the lock. When she turned it and the catch slid into place, it let out a loud, satisfying clunk.

“Where does that go now?” I asked, eyeing the key.

“Back to Chief Grantz,” she said. “His is the only key.” She smiled in a friendly, knowing way. “You can come with me if you like.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just—”

“Honey, if I were you right now, I wouldn’t trust which way was up,” she said, giving my hand a quick squeeze. “This way.”

“Thank you,” I said, and meant it. It was the first time anyone had made me feel as if my insane emotions were understandable in such simple terms.

I followed her down the long hall, which opened up onto the back of the police station. Together we walked to Grantz’s office, and I watched her hand over the key, which he tied to a chain that was attached to his belt. Liam was waiting for me near the front door.

“Good?” Teresa asked, turning to me with a smile.

“Good,” I said. “You’ll call me when he’s awake?”

“The second he starts talking,” she assured me. “Don’t worry, hon. One way or another, this is gonna be over soon.”

I nodded and joined Liam at the door, feeling heavy and hollow at the same time. One way or another. It didn’t inspire much confidence.

“Something really weird happened to me today,” Liam said.

We were climbing the hill to the mayor’s house through the wind and the rain. Both of us were bent forward against it, like two storm-tossed ships trying to cut through the waves.

“Weirder than usual?” I asked.

He nodded as we reached the top of the bluff. “I was helping Nick up after he got pounded by a wave, and I got this flash.…I saw how he and Lalani died.”

There was a crack of lightning directly overhead. We ran for the cover of the porch roof at the mayor’s house. Heaving for breath, I pushed my hood off my hair and looked at Liam. His face was half lit by the overhead lamps, and he looked, understandably, freaked.

“That means he’s your first charge,” I told him. “He’s the first person you’re going to usher. Once we get this mess figured out.”

Liam looked at his feet. His Converse were soaked through. “That’s what I figured.”

“Are you okay?” I reached out to touch his arm, and he flinched, violently, away. I drew my hand back, my heart hammering. “Liam?”

He scoffed at the ground. “Sorry. I just…it’s been a weird day.”

Then he turned and yanked open the door, ripping his jacket off as he barreled inside. I took a deep breath, shaking off the awkwardness, and followed. Joaquin stepped away from the wall where he’d been leaning, and Krista hurried toward me from her post near the office door, where she’d clearly been attempting to eavesdrop.

“Well? How’d it go?” Joaquin asked.

“What did he say?” Krista added.

“He’s unconscious,” I said flatly, shedding my rain jacket and hanging it on the nearest hook.

“What?” Fisher blurted. He was sitting on the stairs with Bea, who leaned the side of her head against the wall, looking exhausted.

“Teresa thinks it’ll only be a few hours,” I said, trying to stay positive. “How’s it going here?”

Liam had lain down on one of the couches in the living room and was rubbing his face with both hands. Kevin was on the other couch, across the coffee table from him, his arm slung over his eyes. I could hear him snoring lightly. It was an odd time to take a nap—what with our number one suspects being interrogated in the next room—but I could hardly blame them. Every last one of us could have slept for weeks at this point.

“She’s still in there with them,” Joaquin said, nodding at the office. I could hear voices talking in calm tones from inside. “You should have heard the way they freaked when we brought them here instead of the police station. Those two are not of the wallflower variety.”

“Did you find anything at their place?” I asked Bea.

Bea sighed and pushed her curly hair back from her face with both hands. “Nothing. Not even the coin you guys saw. He must have it on him.”

“How the hell did he get ahold of a coin?” Krista asked, running her hands up and down her bare arms.

“Maybe he woke up with one next to his bed,” Fisher mused. “There’s been a lot of random crap happening around here lately. You never know.”

We fell silent. I didn’t like the idea that the coin was simply a mistake or a coincidence. I wanted the twins to be part of this. I needed someone—anyone—to blame. Someone to tell me what the hell was going on and how to fix it. I wanted my sister and my dad back so badly it was causing a constant ache in my chest.

“I’m gonna go upstairs and check on Lauren and Tristan.” Bea pushed herself up slowly.

Lauren had taken the day shift on Tristan Watch, hanging out by his bedside in case he woke up. She’d taken Nadia’s and Cori’s deaths—the very fact that we now could die—harder than anyone, and was clearly terrified of losing Tristan as well. Somehow, being with him comforted her, as if simply watching his chest rise and fall gave her hope.

Bea had climbed two or three steps when the office door suddenly opened. Fisher stood up. Joaquin pushed away from the wall again. Even Kevin flipped over on the couch, blinking at us with bleary eyes.