Double Blind (26 page)

Well, what do you know.

I pulled out my cell phone to call Rocky Rhodes. Some female assistant took the call, saying he wasn't available. But the attorney knew Jay well, and she was sure Rhodes would get back to me as soon as he could.

“It has to be in the next few hours, or I'll need to contact someone else.”

“Okay. He'll call you.”

I set the phone in my lap and looked to Sherry. If this didn't work, I was in big trouble. “How long do you think I should give him?” It was now after 2:00.

“You don't have time to wait,” Mom jumped in. “Keep looking.”

Sherry threw her an irritated glance. “No, give him at least an hour.”

Here they went again. Another minute and they'd be out-and-out arguing. I put a hand over my eyes, suddenly exhausted. I was tired of being caught in the middle.

Mom touched my arm. “What's the matter?”

I sat back. “Look, you're my mother, and Sherry's my best friend. And I really don't like you snipping at each other. So guess what—I'm not leaving here until you two work this out.”

There. Deal with it.

They looked at each other. Mom took a breath. “Lisa and I have learned quite a few things about each other and ourselves in the last few days.”

Sherry's eyebrows rose. “I'm glad to hear that.”

“I'm sorry for what I said to you. At the funeral.”

One thing about Mom, she never danced around. I bit the inside of my cheek, eyeing Sherry.

She pressed her lips together. “And I'm sorry for what
I
said. I shouldn't have come at you like that.”

An awkward silence followed. Or maybe simply . . . a readjusting. My eyes flicked from one woman to the other.

Mom slipped into a tight smile. “Well then, that's that.”

Sherry nodded. “I guess it is.”

That was
it
? All the ill will—fixed with two simple apologies?

Clearly it was easier to make up with someone other than your own mother. Mom and I had taken a number of days to even begin sorting through our issues. We still had a lot of work ahead of us.

Sherry hit her palm against the arm of the rocking chair. “So, Lisa. You going to tell me what in the world is going on?”

Another wave of tiredness hit. But I'd promised Sherry. “It started from seeing the outside of the murderer's—well, what I thought was the murderer's—house in my visions . . .” I detailed how we'd found Hilderbrand, then Patti Stolsinger. Our meeting with Officer Bremer and his shocking news—Patti was alive. I wasn't too happy having to tell Sherry how I'd behaved at Patti's house.

“
You
did
that
?” Sherry gaped at me.

“I was . . . overcome.”

Sherry tilted her head. “I can understand that. But I understand Patti's reaction too. She had no idea who you were. Imagine if some stranger came at
you
like that.”

“Yeah, I know.”

My story continued. Meeting with Hilderbrand, and finally, his and my agreement. “Which I'm not supposed to be talking to you about, by the way.”

Sherry shrugged. “You haven't signed the document yet. But yes, I'll keep it to myself.”

Mom tipped her head. “Won't your husband be curious?”

“Don't worry, he won't tell anyone either.”

“But that's one more person who would know the details of this agreement.” Mom frowned at me. “Lisa, if this leaks out, Cognoscenti could pursue you for their money back.”

“It's not going to leak out, Mom. Sherry and Jay won't tell anyone.”

“Just make sure you don't.” Mom eyed Sherry.

Oh, no, not again.

Sherry gave my mother a long look. “You can trust us. Alice.”

A fluttering beat ticked by. I almost hoped J.T. would wake up and interrupt us.

Mom nodded. “I'm sure we can.”

Sherry seemed to accept that. She shifted her gaze to me. Some new thought flitted across her face. “One thing I don't get. Didn't you say Hilderbrand told you even his vice president didn't know you were being lied to about the placebo?”

“Yeah.”

“But the vice president is in charge of the trial.”

Jerry Sterne and Clair Saxton had said as much. “True.”

“So . . . even the guy in charge of the trial doesn't know who received a placebo and who didn't?”

I had to think that one over. “Guess not.”

Mom was frowning at the coffee table.

“So it must have been Hilderbrand himself who chose which patients got the placebo and who got the real chip,” Sherry said.

Mom looked up. “No, it would have been done in some random fashion. But maybe Hilderbrand alone had the information on who got what.”

I shook my head. “Why does it matter, Sherry?”

“Probably doesn't. I just find it interesting that the CEO himself is the only one who knows who got real chips in the trial.”

“He's not just CEO, though. He's the inventor. The Empowerment Chip is
his
baby. And his potential huge fortune. He has to make sure the trial goes right.”

Which was why Hilderbrand was paying me a million dollars so he could inspect the chip someone had tampered with. What
would
he find on the thing? And whatever it was—would it lead him to who'd—

He washed the red-stained knife in the sink.

“Oh . . .”

Blood ran down the blade and into the stainless steel, crimson on silver. It mixed with the water and swirled into the drain . . .

I wrenched back to Sherry's living room, my muscles tight.

“Lisa?” Mom touched my arm. “What happened?”

I swayed, still seeing the blood. I knew it wasn't real. Patti
wasn't
dead. Still it seemed so . . . “I just had—”

A clump of blood stuck to the top of the blade, just below the handle. He rubbed it with two fingers.

A thump sounded behind him. He whipped his head around. Patti lay on the floor, still. Eyes open. Another sound. His eyes flicked to the refrigerator. He breathed out, long and low. “Ice maker.”

He turned back to the knife . . .

The scene faded.

I swallowed and blinked hard. My eyes stung with tears. All that
blood
.

“You all right?” Mom asked.

“Can I have some water?”

Sherry scurried into the kitchen. She brought back a glass, and I drained it. She took the glass from my trembling fingers. “What'd you see?”

I collapsed back against the couch and told them. I could still see the blood whirling in that sink. Made me shudder.

Mom put her arm around me. “I can't wait till this is over for you.”

I nodded weakly.
This
was exactly why I needed to get rid of that chip.

Sherry pressed her hands against her cheeks. “This is terrible. You looked absolutely . . . kidnapped. Like your mind was totally somewhere else.”

It was.

The water hissed. He held up the knife, inspected one side, then the other. It was clean.

He laid it on the counter. Washed his hands. Blood on his left wrist caught his attention. It had splattered all the way up to the bevel of his fancy gold watch. A Rolex. He grabbed a tissue and wiped it off. The blood disappeared. Beneath it was a readout of the date.

Monday, March 19—

The cell phone in my lap rang. I jumped, my body tearing back to the present. The cell went off again. I gawked at it.

“Better answer.” Mom picked it up. “It may be the attorney.”

I shook my head, trying to clear it. Half my mind was still staring at that watch . . .
Monday, March 19
. I took the phone from Mom and read the ID.
Rockland Rhodes.

Rockland. That was even worse than Rocky.

I punched on the line. “H-hello?”

“Lisa Newberry?” He introduced himself. “I hear Jay Grubacker referred you. You're in need of an attorney immediately?”

That watch . . . A gold Rolex. Different than the one the man was wearing before.

“Yes. I need someone to look over a legal document before I sign it. It's with a company called Cognoscenti.”

“Ah, yes.”

Oh, no, was this a conflict of interest? “Have you worked for them?”

“No. But I've heard of them.”

He asked me what kind of document. I told him.

“You mean it's a settlement, then?”

I hadn't thought of it that way. “Sort of.”

“How much money is involved?”

“One million.”

“Ask him his fee,” Mom whispered.

“What would your fee be for reading the document?”

“For settlements it's a standard twenty percent.”

What?
I pulled the phone from my ear and looked to Mom. “He wants twenty percent.”

She huffed. “Give me the phone.”

I shoved it into her hand. Fine, let her deal with it.

My mind returned to the bloodied watch. The date on it. A different watch than before.

Why?

“Mr. Rhodes? Hello, I'm Lisa's mother. Look, we're only talking a couple hours' work on your part. I realize there's a standard fee in settlement cases, but Lisa's done all the work here. All you have to do is read over the document.”

I could hear Rhodes's voice filtering from the phone. “I understand that, but it's also a last-minute case, and I have a lot of things going here.”

Mom's eyes narrowed. “Are you in a large firm? Perhaps you can give it to an associate. We'll pay $200 an hour.”

Two hundred an hour?
I mouthed to Sherry. She nodded as if that was normal.

Well, it was better than $200,000.

Mom went on. “I know Jay will be very happy to hear you're helping Lisa, since his firm sends you so many clients.”

Mr. Rhodes paused. “I'm sure I can find someone to help.”

Sherry raised one eyebrow and tipped her head toward my mother—
She's good.

“Great. That's wonderful.” Mom looked pleased with herself. “I'll hand you back to Lisa to work out the details.”

And so I had an attorney. By the time I got off the phone, Rhodes had agreed to do the work himself for a flat $5,000. Probably more than my mother would have wanted me to pay, but I didn't care. He gave me his fax number and his cell. I was to call as soon as I heard the document was ready. I hung up and sagged back against the couch. “Thank You, God.”

“Better thank your mom too,” Sherry said. “Nice amount of pressure in the right place, Alice.”

“Yeah, Mom, th—”

The watch was clean. Time: 5:35. Date: Monday, March 19.

He picked up the knife. Dried it off on a paper towel. It slid into its place in the wooden block without a sound.

He turned back to the body . . .

“Nnno.” I bent over, pressing my hands against my head. “Go
away
.”

Mom held my shoulders. “It's still happening?”

I nodded. My heart beat in my ears. I waited for more.

Nothing came.

Slowly I straightened. Licked my lips. I was so tired. “I think it's done.” What day was this—Thursday? I had to wait three more days for the surgery? I wanted it
now
.

“What's the date?” I blurted.

Mom eased her hands away. “The fifteenth.”

Hilderbrand, at his sink. Cleaning off the bloodied watch . . .

March 19.

Four days from now. The realization hit me in the chest.

“What if we were off in our calculation of the day, Mom?” My words croaked out. “Maybe it happens next week.”

Sherry frowned. “What happens?”

“The murder.”

Silence from both of them. They must have thought I'd lost my mind for sure this time.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I mean, it doesn't really happen. I know that. None of this is real. But I just saw the date on his watch. A different watch. Monday, March 19. Plus, the time was a little different—5:35. But it's all fake anyway. So it doesn't matter.”

But it did.

But it couldn't.

But it
did.

My teeth clenched. I just wanted to run away from my own brain.

“Come on, Lisa.” Mom tugged at my arm. “Let's get you home.”

“Yeah, okay.” But my legs felt weak as we walked to the door.

Sherry hugged me tight. “You sure you're all right? 'Cause you're scaring me.”

I was scaring myself. “I'm fine.”

But that date . . .

“Call me tomorrow. After you hear from Hilderbrand. Okay?”

“I will.”

Mom helped me to her rental car. On the way home my cell phone rang again. It was Hilderbrand's assistant, saying the documents were done. Did I want her to fax them to me? I gave her Rhodes's number.

“Look,” I asked her, “if we sign these documents tomorrow, can I have the surgery on Saturday?”

“Surgery?”

So the assistant had no idea what the contract was about.

“Just ask Dr. Hilderbrand. Tell him I want the procedure done on Saturday. I need it as soon as possible.”

“All right.”

“When can we meet him to sign?”

“Just a moment, please.” I heard the shuffle of paper. “He's free tomorrow at 11:00.”

Exhaustion clawed at me. “Okay. I'll see if that works with my attorney.”

By the time we walked into the apartment it was almost 3:30. My legs were rubbery, and my head pounded.

Mom set our things on the counter. “Go take a nap.”

My shoulders felt so heavy. Those visions took everything out of me. I wanted them
gone.
“I have to call Rhodes first. Tell him the papers are coming. And see if 11:00 tomorrow is okay.”