Part 15 (2/2)

And then I gasp. Loudly. I hope no one heard that. Because it's all adding up. XP really is Chi Rho. Chi Rho. Cairo. It has to be the same person. Does that mean Zeta knows-knew?-who XP is? Is that why he was taken-blacked out?

My hands are shaking.

I need to get back to the present. Now. I need to find Zeta, and I need to get some answers.

I read the memo two more times, then I repeat every word back in my head. I got it. I tuck it back in the drawer and slide it shut. There are voices in the hall.

”I don't care what you say, I'm not just leaving it!” Indigo shouts. The doork.n.o.b turns. I don't have time to hide. The door swings open. Indigo's head is turned toward Yellow, who's charging down the stairs in those big black boots of hers.

My necklace is still open. I slam my forefinger onto the top k.n.o.b that will take me to the present, and shut the lid. It clicks, and the last thing I see is Indigo's head turning toward the sound. I'm shot up, and my heart is beating so fast that I don't even feel the pain of projecting.

I land in the same spot I left, but the office door is shut and the house is quiet. I strain to hear a sound-any sound-but there's only silence. I remember to breathe, and the breath makes me dizzy. I take a step toward the door, then stop myself. What am I doing? This is the perfect chance to see if there are any clues about what happened to Zeta.

I backtrack to the file cabinet. It's locked, but I break it in a matter of seconds. The door slides open easily. It's empty. Not one folder, not one slip of paper. I open all the drawers on the desk. Same thing. No pens, no memo pads, no paper clips. Nothing. There is no trace of Zeta in this room at all. It's . . . eerie.

I slip out of the office into the hallway. I pause and listen. Nothing. So I slink over to the staircase, pause and listen again. Still nothing. I wish I had some sign of whether anyone else is home. Inez, she's the wild card.

I walk down the steps very gently, my gloved hand gripping the railing. I don't want to risk a creaky stair, even though I'd be shocked to find one in this house. Zeta strikes me as the kind of guy who'd rip out the entire staircase at the first tiny creak and replace it with some state-of-the-art design that never makes a sound.

The only sound I hear on the first floor is my own breathing. The front door is right there, and I wonder if I should slip out that way. It's been six years since I arrived. I a.s.sume someone noticed the spray-painted camera in the backyard at some point and replaced it.

But I still think the back door is my best bet. I already have that route mapped out.

I creep down the hall. I'm almost to the kitchen.

Then there's a click behind me that stops my heart. I slowly raise my hands over my head and turn.

Inez is about ten feet away. Her right hand trembles as she holds a .357 aimed at my head. It's a small gun, but it looks enormous in her hands. I need her to move closer if I have any chance of disarming her.

”Who are you?” she demands. She looks up at my hands-at my black gloves. The kind of gloves you only wear when you're doing something very, very bad.

”I work with Ze-Noah. And I'm a friend of . . . Elizabeth's. And Nick's.”

”I've never seen you before.” Her voice shakes. I'm not sure how much she knows about Zeta and what he really does for a living.

”I know.”

”Where is Mr. Masters?” Now she sounds almost pained, like a mother who's lost her child in a crowded shopping mall.

I shake my head. ”I don't know. I'm trying to find that out, I promise.” I take a step toward Inez, and she reaches up her other hand to cradle the gun.

”Don't move, or I will shoot you.” Her voice and body language are telling me it's a bluff, but still I stop.

”Listen, I swear I'm only trying to help. I'm sure I frightened you”-her face relaxes just a little-”and I'm sorry about that”-I keep one hand in the air and lower the other so it's reaching forward for the gun-”but right now I'd really like for you to drop that gun.” I take one step.

And then Inez pulls the trigger. A bullet flies over my head and into the wall. Inez rocks backward, thrown off balance by the shot.

”Holy s.h.i.+t!” I scream. I rush toward Inez, who's swaying on her feet. I instinctively slam my elbow into her chin, grab the gun, and twist it out of her hands. ”I'm sorry!” I yell as she moans in pain. I jump back, unload the bullets, and throw the gun behind me.

Then I turn to Inez. ”What was that?”

She's shaking. Convulsing, almost. She thrusts her hands in the air. ”Don't hurt me. I have children. Grandchildren.”

”I'm not going to hurt you! I told you that. I'm a friend. I know you've never met me before, but I'm a friend.”

It's like she doesn't even hear me. ”I don't know where Mr. Masters is. Please don't hurt me.”

”I-” There are a million things I'd like to ask her. When was the last time she saw Zeta. Whether there was anything unusual in his behavior in the weeks before he disappeared. But Inez is a basket case right now. She's on her knees, muttering in Spanish, praying to Dios. Tears stream down her face.

So I just turn and bolt out the back door. I keep my head ducked as I run past the camera, even though I don't think Inez is going to call the cops. She knows they can't help. And Yellow and Indigo can make sure this all goes away.

I toss the bullets and my gloves into a trash can next to the T stop, and only then does it hit me.

I just came within a foot of getting my face blown off. I suddenly don't know up from down. I sway, and a guy in a suit and tie shouts, ”Whoa!” as he hooks his arms around my waist to steady me.

”Easy there,” the man says. Then he chuckles as I hold out my arms to keep my balance. ”Rough day, eh? It's a bit early to be tossing back a drink, but I won't judge.”

What? What is he talking about?

”Shut up,” I mumble as a train rings a warning bell and pulls up to the aboveground stop. I push onto the train, plop onto a seat, and look down at my hands. They're still shaking.

CHAPTER 14.

”It's a good thing your maid is a lousy shot,” I hiss to Yellow as soon as I arrive back. She and Red are waiting for me. The Narc is nowhere to be seen, but still Yellow looks over her shoulder as I slip the Annum necklace over my head and hand it to Red.

”What are you talking about?” Yellow asks.

”She fired a gun at my head. At my head.”

Yellow's hand flies to her mouth. ”No.”

I nod.

”No freaking way. Inez has never touched a gun in her life. She wouldn't know what to do with one.”

”Well, thank G.o.d for that.” I sigh and put my hand on the wall to steady myself. I'm still shaky from my near-a.s.sa.s.sination, and it doesn't help that the projection turned my knees into blobs of gelatin. ”Is Indigo back yet?”

”No,” Red says in a hushed tone. ”He went back much farther than you did. He's not due back until tomorrow morning at the earliest.” Then he reaches out and touches my shoulder. ”Seriously, are you okay?”

Oh great, it's the concerned voice. No, thank you.

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