Chapter 8 - the woman with red hair)
Evan wanted answers immediately.
Naomi wanted them alive.
Those priorities were not compatible.
"We need Eleanor," Evan said.
Naomi shook her head.
"We need distance."
"She saved me."
"She also signed the Lantern papers."
"Maybe she had a reason."
"Maybe Richard has her."
"Then we find out."
Naomi turned to Mrs. Dawson.
"How long before Richard traces the van?"
"Probably already has."
Naomi closed the laptop.
"Then we move."
Nia stood beside Evan.
"Where?"
Naomi looked at the brass key.
"Claire rented a deposit box under a false name."
"At a bank?"
"No."
Naomi gave a humorless smile.
"Your mother stopped trusting banks."
The key belonged to a train station locker at Grand Central Terminal.
They reached Manhattan shortly before midnight using Naomi's old car.
New York looked impossibly alive after the silent Whitmore estate.
Taxis.
Neon signs.
People laughing.
People arguing.
People moving wherever they wanted.
Evan watched them through the window.
He felt jealous of strangers.
Grand Central was crowded despite the hour.
Naomi kept her hood raised.
Mrs. Dawson stayed with the car.
Nia pushed Evan toward the lower level lockers.
They found number 317.
The brass key turned.
Inside was a brown envelope and an old phone.
Evan opened the envelope.
A photograph.
Eleanor Vale stood beside Claire.
Older than Evan remembered.
Red hair cut short.
On the back was an address in Queens.
There was also a newspaper clipping.
RESEARCHER ELEANOR VALE DIES IN APARTMENT FIRE.
Date.
Two years ago.
Evan stared.
"She's dead."
Naomi took the clipping.
"Maybe."
"You think my father faked another death?"
"I think your family has enough fake funerals for me to stop trusting newspapers."
Nia picked up the old phone.
The battery was dead.
They found a charging outlet near the waiting area.
After ten minutes the screen turned on.
One saved video.
Claire appeared.
Evan's heart broke all over again.
She looked tired.
Thin.
A scar ran from her temple to her jaw.
But she was alive when the video was recorded.
"If you're watching this, Naomi found the locker."
Claire looked directly into the camera.
"Eleanor is not who Richard thinks she is."
Evan leaned closer.
"She joined Lantern because I asked her to."
Naomi whispered, "What?"
"Project Lantern began as a legitimate neurological rehabilitation program. Richard changed it."
Claire took a breath.
"He realized certain compounds could temporarily create symptoms similar to degenerative nerve disorders."
Evan looked at his legs.
"Eleanor discovered the manipulation. She stayed inside the program to collect evidence."
Claire's eyes filled with fear.
"She rescued Evan during the crash because she was following us. Richard's men found her before she could take him to the police."
Evan remembered the red hair.
The voice telling him not to sleep.
Claire continued.
"Eleanor knows where Lantern's original research is stored. More importantly, she knows why Richard needed children who appeared disabled."
The video glitched.
Then Claire said something strange.
"The wheelchairs were never just wheelchairs."
Evan and Nia looked down at his chair.
"They were data collection platforms. Location, blood pressure, muscle response, medication compliance, audio, sometimes video."
Evan felt violated.
His chair had been watching him.
Claire continued.
"Richard monitors every Lantern chair remotely."
Naomi's face changed.
"Turn it off."
Evan reached for the power switch.
Too late.
The phone suddenly rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
Nia whispered, "Don't answer."
Evan answered.
Richard's voice filled the speaker.
"Hello, son."
Evan's blood turned cold.
Richard sounded calm.
That was worse than anger.
"You've had an exciting evening."
Evan looked around the station.
"Where are you?"
"Closer than you think."
Naomi pulled the phone away.
Richard continued.
"I know Naomi is with you. I know the girl is with you."
Evan looked at Nia.
Richard's voice softened.
"Come home, Evan."
"No."
"You're frightened."
"Of you."
A pause.
Then Richard said, "Your mother used to speak to me that way."
Evan gripped the phone.
"She's alive."
Silence.
For the first time, Richard lost rhythm.
Only for a second.
But Evan heard it.
Richard replied, "Your mother is dead."
"You don't sound sure."
Then Richard laughed quietly.
"Ask Naomi what happened in Boston."
Naomi went pale.
Evan looked at her.
"What happened in Boston?"
Richard hung up.
Evan turned toward Naomi.
She would not meet his eyes.
"What happened?"
Naomi whispered, "Claire called me from Boston six months after the crash."
"You told me."
"I didn't tell you what happened after."
Nia looked at her grandmother.
Naomi's hands shook.
"The call ended because someone entered her room."
"Who?"
"I heard Claire say one name."
Evan waited.
May you like
Naomi looked at him.
"Marcus."
