Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
“Yes. Nothing of her scent at the site except as a secondary thread in Janine’s. And Pasha found nothing suspicious in her history.” He squeezed the steering wheel. “Which leaves us with their mysterious guardian.”
But Theo shook her head. “If we accept that Cissi has the correct information and their guardian is out of the country, then I’d say no. It would require an immense amount of power for Janine to teleport that far to pick her up, drop her off, then return herself. She’s strong, but she’s not a cardinal.”
At 6.1, Janine fell into the relatively rare cadre of Tks who were teleport-capable at under 8 on the Gradient. Her range was limited, as was her endurance. Quite aside from Marshall Hyde’s power, that was likely why she’d ended up in private service rather than a soldier.
Thrusting a hand through his hair, Yakov frowned. “Which means either their guardian is nearby, or it’s another person.”
“Someone in the complex?”
“No hint of the killer’s scent around the building. Doesn’t make sense if they’re a resident—it’d be embedded by dint of simple repetition.”
Theo chewed on the inside of her lip, a dawning horror creeping across her vision. “What if someone else survived the Center?” she said slowly. “A person Janine trusts. Trusts enough not to tell Cissi or her guardian about them.”
“It might not be a patient.” Yakov passed a slower vehicle, his hands easy on the vehicle controls but his expression grim. “What if the survivor was a member of the staff? Easy enough to gain the trust of a patient like Janine if you have constant access to her—a little kindness and she could have come to see the staff member as a friend. A twisted individual playing the long game, keeping a teleporter in their back pocket.”
Theo’s rage burned in her skin, was a haze in her vision. “What do we do? How do we stop it from happening again?”
“I spoke to Cissi while you and the others were looking at the ducks in the river,” Yakov said. “I told Cissi that I picked up Janine’s scent at the location of a brutal crime. Made it clear I didn’t think she was the perpetrator, but that she was leaving the apartment without Cissi’s knowledge.
“Turns out Cissi has access to medication intended to calm Janine and put her to sleep in the aftermath of a severe panic attack. Cissi doesn’t like using it, but she also understands that it’s the only way to keep Janine safe.”
Theo could tell he didn’t like the only viable solution. Neither did she. But whether she knew or not, Janine was an accessory to murder. Leaving her free to teleport at will could lead to another bloody scene. “Will you inform Enforcement?”
Yakov pressed his lips together. “No. Cops will try to interrogate her, and she’s not capable. I also don’t think she’ll ever share her secret—not if she’s kept it from Cissi all this time. She’ll just break.”
“It’s a short-term solution.”
“Only tonight.” Yakov squeezed the steering wheel. “Tomorrow, Cissi said she’ll take them to a public place, where Janine can’t teleport away in secret. But she’s not willing to drug her again and I’m not about to ask her to—we’ll have to find another way to deal with it.”
“There’s really no way to keep a teleport-capable telekinetic locked up unless you cage their mind, and no one has the right to cage an innocent being’s mind.” Because Theo was certain that whatever it was Janine had done, she’d had no intent to participate in the brutalization and murder of others.
“We may be able to get away with intensive psychic surveillance,” Yakov said. “I’ll talk to Silver—she has connections upon connections. Including any number of deadly minds that’ll keep her secrets.”
Theo could feel control over the whole situation with the facility slipping out of her hands, panic a fluttering beast inside her. But there was no choice now. Others were involved. Others who’d been hurt far worse than her. She’d give them every advantage she could. “Maybe their guardian will get in touch with us tonight.”
“We can hope. If she doesn’t, I’ll talk to Silver about arranging psychic surveillance, and we can head out to the facility.”
“Yes, that sounds like a good plan,” Theo said, knowing she had to update Pax and soon. “Did you get a report back on those pages we found?”
“Yes, I forgot to tell you—I forwarded it to your account. Came in while we were with the others. It’s just a standard run sheet for the facility. Time of meds, time for outdoor exercise, that type of thing.”
Theo felt herself deflate. She’d known it was highly unlikely those pages had anything to do with her, but still she’d hoped. Because she needed to know. Couldn’t move forward with that hole in her memories and in her mind.