Page 8

8

Not Even a Hundred of Their Sincerest Apologies Will Be Enough

A s the five of us gawked at her, Tracy looked back at us, her eyes soft and compassionate. When she smiled gently, it was the exact same smile I’d observed dozens of times in the photo of her and Orson that sat in a silver frame on the bookcase by the TV: the couple entwined in each other’s arms, Griffin’s mom sitting across his dad’s lap, a gray couch the backdrop to the selfie. The jilted husband kept photos of the woman all over the house. According to him, she was the love of his life, and he’d never stop loving her, no matter that she’d abandoned him and their three-year-old son when they’d needed her most.

“Fuck,” Griffin breathed so that no one but me and maybe Layla heard.

After a glance at Chase, and a nod of encouragement from him, Tracy closed the distance between us until she stood across from the huddle of us, within arm’s reach. She wore a pristine white lab coat, currently unbuttoned to reveal a silk blouse and pencil skirt beneath, all the better to show those sculpted legs of hers. I’d heard Orson mention how beautiful her legs were on several occasions. The woman did have perfect legs, their long, lean lines accentuated by the four-inch heels she wore.

Her gaze softened further as it settled on Griffin. “Hi, Griffin. Magnum tells me you’ve been led to believe I was your mother.”

Griffin gaped at her, his jaw slack, and said nothing.

“I can only imagine how difficult it must be to find out that’s not true, and then to see me in person like this.”

Again, no comment from Griffin, but he managed to close his mouth, and the trembling was slowing down. Griffin had always been strong. I knew he’d be working furiously to pull himself together.

“When Tobias and I used to work together, we dated for a time. I’ve seen some of the pictures he’s been displaying of us, and they’re from the time we were together—though many of them have been doctored. I’ve never been pregnant, and yet there are images of me with a swollen belly that are remarkably convincing. Even I would’ve believed I carried a pregnancy to term.” With a dark chuckle, she shook her head in what looked like disbelief.

Griffin cleared his throat. Even so, his question came out as a croak. “My dad … Orson, I mean, his name is … Tobias?”

Tracy nodded. Her mouth, painted in a conservative raspberry, curved downward in empathy. “Tobias Andrew Dole. For a while, he tried to get me to call him TAD, based on his initials. He thought it sounded cooler, but it never took.” She grimaced.

“I told you I had plenty of proof,” Chase said.

He observed all of us from his seat in the hot tub. Both Tracy and Fanny behaved as if Chase doing business from there was a common sight. If I were a man with more money than time, I suppose I’d be inclined to conduct my business from a hot tub too.

“If you agree to study here,” said Chase, “to work with me, I’ll show you all the evidence you can handle.”

Oh boy. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask for the real names of my fake-ass parents, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to take that on yet. I was still reeling from seeing my friends die, thinking I might be a goner, and then waking up to all of this. Give a girl a minute to catch her breath, dammit!

But soon, very soon, I’d need to know. I had to know their real names so I could properly cuss them out. I’d want to know it all.

Tracy studied me next. I returned the favor. Her slim, athletic frame was a close enough match to Griffin, but the rest of her? Not so much. Her hair was a rich, wavy auburn. Her skin was pale, her eyes a flat brown, and her cheeks round despite a thin face. She even had freckles. Griffin, with his olive-hued skin, dark hair, and chiseled features, didn’t even look related to her. And now I understood precisely why we all lacked features in common with our parents .

Hunt sidled up behind me so that his face popped up above mine and asked Tracy, “Were you also involved in these experiments that, uh, created us, I guess?”

Tracy glanced at Chase, who shook his head at her silent question and sat up straighter in the tub, exposing more of his torso. From what I could see, the dude even had six-pack abs, and I didn’t think it was possible to purchase those. The man had to work for them just like the rest of us.

“You’ll have your answers soon enough,” Chase told us. “I wanted you to meet Tracy since she was conveniently here. She’s still in the process of moving over from the other lab to this one.”

In answer to the question that immediately sparked in my mind, Chase continued, “Though my head researchers disappeared on me with everything we’d worked so hard to achieve, we kept going. We persevered. Didn’t we, Tracy?”

Tracy scowled, apparently as put out by the betrayal of our parents as Chase was. “That we did, Magnum. That we most certainly did. I can’t wait to see Tobias again.” And then the pleasant, almost gentle-looking woman bared her teeth. When her face scrunched up, it revealed lines around her eyes and bracketing her mouth that I hadn’t noticed before.

“He owes more than just these kids a major apology,” she insisted.

Chase smiled, the expression reaching his eyes only to chill them to ice despite the warmth of the water he was sitting in. “Not even a hundred of their sincerest apologies will be enough.”

“Are you planning on killing them?” Layla asked, and I started at the question I hadn’t even contemplated.

Chase didn’t. “I haven’t decided yet. It depends on how useful I find them. They have a whole hell of a lot to make up for.”

Well, at least the man was predictably blunt, I had to give him that.

“They most definitely do,” Tracy chimed in. The woman I’d mistakenly believed to be soft didn’t balk at the thought of her employer murdering a bunch of scientists.

I glanced at Fanny. Her expression was steady, blank. In that moment, she reminded me of a mix between a seasoned Judi Dench and a Helen Mirren, when playing their most kickass roles. She’d seen it all already and didn’t shirk from whatever life was going to throw her way next.

To us, Chase added, “You’ll be seeing lots more of Tracy. When you decide to stay here, you’ll be working with her closely.” When, not if . “Now, Fanny, please take them to their new house. They look exhausted.”

No, we looked shot at, pissed the fuck off, and like our brains were on overload. After all that, once the smoke drifting from our ears settled, then we probably looked as tired as we felt.

“I think you’ll find we gave a lot of thought to your space,” Chase said. “I hope you like it.”

Then he turned toward his computer monitor, waking it from sleep mode. Dismissed .

Without another glance at their boss, Tracy and Fanny walked toward the elevator, expecting us to follow.

Without anything better to do, we did.

Don pulled up in front of “our new house” just as the sun was about to set, and immediately scanned our surroundings. Above the tree canopies that enveloped the structure, their branches soaring toward it, the sky was slowly tingeing a beautifully riotous pink.

With her usual agility, Fanny jumped from the cart, her long skirt flaring for a second. My friends and I were slower to follow. This time, it had less to do with our steady healing and more with the building that no reasonable person would ever describe as just a house.

“This is a fucking mansion ,” Layla said with a whistle, this tendency of hers so similar to Brady’s, reminding me they were twins.

Fanny chuckled fondly, as if her boss was just so dang cute. “Yes, I’d also describe it as such. Magnum doesn’t do anything halfway.”

“We’re starting to get that,” Layla responded, her head tilted back to take in the cantilevered roof that jutted strikingly out over the entrance, and the glass wall that lined the entire front wall.

Like the buildings on the rest of the campus, the mansion consisted of sleek lines and sharp angles, all elegantly understated and … perfect. The modern style reminded me of the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and Ray D. Crites, two of my favorite architects, both long gone now.

Straight boards of dark wood sheathed the exterior walls, beautifully complementing the rest of the long lines and angles, and all that open glass.

Layla chuckled at my obvious appreciation as she shored up beside me. “Uh-oh. Nerd alert, nerd alert.”

Griffin stepped to my other side, his arm a breath away from touching mine. Hunt and Brady joined us in staring at the place.

“It’s not just Joss,” Hunt said. “I really don’t wanna say it, but this place is …”

“Freaking. Awesome,” I said on a gush, not even attempting to hide how impressed I was. At least Chase wasn’t here to witness my reaction, though no doubt Fanny would dutifully relay our reactions later.

She raised her tablet, her fingers racing across it. Okay, never mind. She was tattling in real time.

When she finished and her tablet was back beneath her arm, she smiled. “It’s even better inside. Come on.”

Jaw as slack as when I’d seen Griffin’s long-absent “mother” appear in Chase’s office, I didn’t hesitate to follow.

“I think you’ll enjoy exploring the place on your own,” Fanny called over her shoulder, “so I’ll just show you some highlights before I leave you to it.”

We followed her up a path that wove around the house and led to a garage beneath the structure.

“Be still my beating heart,” Brady said.

I couldn’t help a snort. “Didn’t think I’d ever hear you say that , Brade.”

“Neither did I.”

“Don’t blame you though,” I added as I took in the car silhouettes visible through the large wall of glass despite the failing daylight.

“Magnum thought you’d appreciate this,” Fanny said as she bent over another keypad, pressing her thumb to it. “The house is keyed to the five of you. All you need to do to enter is press your thumbprint to any of the sensors.”

Layla crossed her arms over the chest of her scrubs and frowned. “Of course you have them on file already.”

Fanny didn’t so much as blink. “We have every piece of data the scientists collected on you.”

So when “the scientists” spied on me and my friends, going so far as to tap our private spaces and phones, Chase now had all that info too. Fucking splendid .

Fanny pushed on the metal frame of the glass wall and the entire door spun on a hinge in the center.

Despite myself, I ooh ed. Griffin stayed beside me as Brady, Hunt, and Layla rushed in. Only when I advanced did he enter too.

“Clyde,” he whispered reverently. And there it was, his 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra II coupe, its body and sleek silver paintjob still damaged from when he’d gone over the cliff.

Bonnie was parked beside Clyde, the 2014 Shelby GT500 as pretty as ever, her deep-impact blue shimmering beneath the warm, incandescent lights that came on automatically when Fanny opened the door.

My unfinished 1999 SVT Cobra coupe, which I’d named Cleo, sat up on blocks, alongside two other Mustangs that had amazing bones despite their current rust-bucket statuses.

There was a Mustang for each of us, even Layla, who was supposed to share Bonnie with Brady, though we all knew Bonnie was more his than hers.

And the garage wasn’t just for parking the beauties either. There were two fully loaded state-of-the-art bays, equipped with lifts, for working on our cars. There was even a contained paint booth off to one side. Five carts, each laden with brand-new tools for each of us, were tucked into a recessed niche in the wall that was clearly designed especially for them.

Slowly, I turned to look at Fanny, who was waiting with a smug smile. “Magnum also asked me to inform you that if you need anything else for your cars—parts, anything, no cost is too great—you just ask me, and I’ll make sure it’s delivered ASAP.”

“He’s really not messing around, is he?” Brady asked.

“He never is.”

“He really thinks he can buy us that easily,” Hunt commented.

“Like I said earlier,” Fanny said, “Magnum gets his way regardless. It behooves you to make it easy on yourselves.”

“And you feel good about working for a man like that?” I asked.

Fanny’s smile dropped. “Magnum is many things, not all obvious to those who don’t know him well.”

“And you know him well?”

“Very.”

“So you approve of him killing us to get us here?” Layla pressed.

“Everyone does questionable things. That doesn’t inform the entire picture of what they’re about, who they are, why they do the things they do.”

Layla opened her mouth, no doubt to question that remarkably dubious standard of hers, but Fanny beat her to it.

“Now that you’ve seen the garage, I’ll show you the rest of the house.” Her tone was flat. Like, How dare we criticize the perfect little murderer?

“No thanks,” Brady said, some of his former awe remaining despite the fresh reminder of why we were standing in this truly outstanding garage. “I’m gonna live right here with Bonnie. I won’t even ask how he got her here; I’m just happy to see her.”

A hint of her previous amusement danced across Fanny’s face. “Then perhaps I’ll leave you here to make your own way upstairs.”

Half of us still taking in the cars, we nodded.

“The fridge is fully stocked. When you go to your classes, training, or checkups, staff will come in to clean and tidy up, and a chef will prepare your meals. If you have any specific requests, send them to me, and I’ll make sure Magnum gets them.”

“Oh-kay,” I said. This was all so over the top, I was finding fewer words than usual.

Fanny’s gaze alighted on me. “Do any of you need a nurse to come check you out?”

“Not at the moment.”

“If that changes, day or night, you let me know. You’ll find clothes to match your personal styling in each of your wardrobes, along with everything else we could think of. Joss, when you’re ready for your dog—”

“I’ll let you know.” No way was I bringing Bobo here till I was convinced he was safer here than with the traitors. So far, it was a close call. At least here he’d be with me. But he’d also be in the den of a killer who did nothing to hide his glaring lack of qualms.

“What about our phones?” Layla asked. “How are we supposed to get in touch with you?”

“You may have your phones tomorrow. But your communications will be limited to messaging only, and your texts will be assessed before they’re allowed out. In the meantime, you can reach me by pressing the ‘information’ button on any of the keypads, and I’ll be here tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. I imagine you’ll need some extra rest to recover from your ordeal.”

Layla growled, her nostrils flaring. “That’s some fucking bullshit.”

“It’s for your safety as much as ours.”

“I highly doubt that,” Griffin said on an incredulous snort. “What does everyone think about us disappearing like this? When they were all loaded up into the ambulances”—he glanced at the four of us—“no one saw us, but surely they noticed something went down.”

All business now, Fanny smiled sharply before letting it drop. “Everything’s been taken care of. The gymnasium of Ridgemore High burned to the ground, but Magnum is generously building an even better facility to replace it.”

“Super fucking generous of him, yeah,” I said.

Fanny’s eyes flashed with irritation. “You’ll find that Magnum has a good reason for everything he does, and he doesn’t leave messes behind. Everywhere he goes, he leaves things better than he found them.”

“Sure,” Hunt said dismissively. “What about our friends? Where do they think we are?”

Or the sheriff, whom I told about our ability to come back to life in order to get him to defibrillate Griffin? Or the EMTs who were there to witness Griff and Brady’s resurrections? Or the surgeons and hospital staff who wouldn’t stop blathering about the “miracle kids”?

“They think you’re being treated for smoke inhalation and currently unable to receive visitors,” Fanny said. “After that, you’ll be transferring to an elite private school abroad that is much better suited to educate geniuses with your abilities. When Magnum discovered five students with your test scores were at the same school as his nephew, he took interest. He’s offered to fund your education for your final year, to give you the best opportunities in life by placing you in the best ‘gifted’ program in the world.”

I gulped. They really were orchestrating our entire lives without our input. “And what of our former parents?” I asked, picking up on the defeat in my own voice and not liking it. I straightened my shoulders against it.

Fanny stalked to the door, and with her hand already on the frame, turned back toward us. “What do they matter? They’ve done nothing but betray you.”

When none of us had anything to say to dispute that depressing conclusion, she walked out, closing the door behind her.

After several seconds of quiet, I exchanged looks with my friends. “Well then. I guess … welcome home, motherfuckers.”