Part 21 (1/2)
”No. We don't have time for that. There's something I need to tell you.”
She offered them a seat and Slade poured out everything they knew, from Holly's mind control to the monsters stealing her baby to Dr. Allan Wellington's superbabies and Dr. Delaney's and Lorraine's involvement and subsequent deaths.
Norma stared at him. ”It's all so...unbelievable.”
”What is the Genesis Project that you and my mother and Lorraine Vogel were involved in at Evergreen Inst.i.tute?” he asked. ”I know you were a patient there.”
”I told you that. L.T. and I were trying to have children.”
”But Dr. Allan Wellington couldn't help you?” he asked.
”You know that, too. But I don't know anything about a Genesis Project. Nor did I know about Dr. Wellington's...superbabies.”
”So you were infertile?” Slade asked, remembering what Lorraine had said about his mother.
”No.” She seemed to hesitate, looking at him as if trying to gauge how much he knew. ”I came close once, but the babies were stillborn.”
Babies? ”Twins?”
She must have realized her slip. While she must have known that it would have been common knowledge she had been pregnant, not everyone knew it had been twins.
He stared at her, hearing the echo of Lorraine's words about history repeating itself, hearing the chief say he was sterile, hearing his own heart banging against his rib cage. ”Do you have a photo of my mother when she was pregnant?”
Norma turned white, all the color bleaching from her face in an instant, and he knew. Should have always known. It had been right there in front of him the whole time.
”Who was the father of your babies?” he asked, his tone as cold and hard as the look he gave her. ”I know it wasn't L.T. because he told me he was sterile.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it. Tears filled her eyes. He watched her fight the inevitable. ”Your father.”
Slade squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to put his fist through the wall. ”And I was afraid my mother mother was having an affair,” he ground out. He opened his eyes, fighting hard not to lose his temper. Lose his sanity. He felt Holly behind him, felt her hand squeeze his shoulder as she moved to stand behind his chair. was having an affair,” he ground out. He opened his eyes, fighting hard not to lose his temper. Lose his sanity. He felt Holly behind him, felt her hand squeeze his shoulder as she moved to stand behind his chair.
”You don't understand,” Norma pleaded. ”I did it for your mother. It was her idea.”
”For you to have children by my father?” Slade glared at her. ”He was the man you were in love with, wasn't he? Did my mother know that? that?”
Norma said nothing, dropping her gaze in answer.
He shook his head, trying hard to make sense of all of it. So many lies. So many deceptions. But what did it have to do with his and Holly's baby? ”What do you know about Holly's and my baby?”
”Slade, I swear to you on your father's grave that I didn't even know the two of you had a child together,” Norma cried.
”Where were Sh.e.l.ley and I born?” he asked.
”In the hospital. The old underground part.”
He felt Holly's hand tense on his shoulder.
”Dr. Wellington and Lorraine delivered you,” Norma was saying. ”Your mother was there. She pretended to be pregnant during the nine months. It wasn't that unusual back then for a woman to fake a pregnancy. There was a stigma to adoption. And infertility.”
”That's why there weren't any photos of my mother pregnant, because everyone close to her knew it was a lie,” he said, more to himself than to her. Was that the secret his mother had begged Aunt Ethel not to tell? Not about an affair. Not about Evergreen. But about the biggest lie of all. Except Joe Rawlins was in on this, he realized. It had to be another lie, this one his mother's own.
He felt Holly's hand, warm and rea.s.suring. ”My father agreed to this?”
”Not at first. But yes. He would have given your mother anything.”
”Sh.e.l.ley doesn't know, does she?”
”No. How could she?”
”What about the chief?” Slade asked.
Norma seemed to hesitate again. ”He knew.”
”He was against it?” Slade guessed. ”But you did it anyway, and we both know why. Obviously, the chief did, too. How does my mother's murder fit into all this?”
”It doesn't,” she looked shocked.
He couldn't help thinking about what Lorraine had said about his mother being too smart for her own good.
”I loved your mother,” Norma said angrily. ”I would have done anything for her.”
”Even sleep with my father.” He got up. ”Why did you tell me my mother was having an affair?”
”I thought she was.” Norma's gaze dropped. ”Maybe I just wanted to believe it. It would have made things more...even.”
”L.T. keeps an extra service revolver in the house,” he said. ”I need it and a box of cartridges.”
Norma got to her feet, looking old and tired.
”We're going out to Evergreen,” he said when she handed him the weapon and cartridges. ”Carolyn Gray is still at large,” he said, loading the weapon, then dumping a handful of extra cartridges into his coat pocket before slipping the gun in the other pocket. Without looking at Norma, he turned, taking Holly's hand, and headed for the door. ”Give us twenty minutes to get out there, then call the chief. Tell him everything we've told you.”
”Slade?”
He kept his back to her but stopped, knowing she wasn't going to ask him not to go to Evergreen. She knew him better than that. After all, she'd been like a mother to him.
”I'm sorry. But if I hadn't done what I did, you wouldn't be here.”
”No,” he said. ”And, right now, that would be a blessing.”
Holly didn't say a word as they climbed into the pickup and started toward Evergreen. She laid her hand on his thigh and seemed to watch the road ahead.
”Thanks,” he said after a few miles, thankful that she hadn't asked a lot of questions or tried to offer him sympathy or even comfort right now.
”Rawlins, when this is all over I want us to take the baby to someplace warm,” she said. ”Have you ever been to Arizona?”
He glanced over at her, wondering if she felt as cold as he did inside. ”No, but I'd go there with you.”
She smiled. ”Good.” After a few minutes, she said, ”Did I tell you I remembered the first time I met Dr. Allan Wellington? It was at a party right before Thanksgiving. I hate parties, but I went because Dr. Wellington supposedly wanted to buy some of my art. I had a splitting headache. He offered me a little something for it.”
Slade glanced at her in the glow of the dash lights. She was staring out the window.