I turned to Mason. “We tried that, remember? But at the time, we were only kids. We did all we could. I remember you searching shelters and streets.”
He nodded.
“When Mom finally came home, we told our story to the police.”
The tendons in Mason’s neck tightened.
“What do you mean when she finally came home?” Reid asked.
“Oh,” I said as casually as possible, “Nancy Pierce was gone as much as she was present, or more.” Pity showed from his dark eyes. “Stop. We were fine. We were in an apartment with locks on the door. That was all we needed from her. It wasn’t like she read us bedtime stories or came home with bags of groceries.”
Mason’s tone lowered. “Lorna, stop. This is why you didn’t need to know about her. None of us need a stroll down memory lane.”
“We aren’t kids anymore, Mace. What if what I thought was a dream was reality? What if Missy is out there?” I turned to Reid. “You’ve told me that you can do anything behind a computer.”
He shrugged.
“This isn’t the time to be modest,” I chastised. “Even Sparrow sings your praises, and in my experience, he isn’t one who gives compliments that aren’t deserved.” No one responded. “I know you want a head on a platter for this...” I waved at my face and body. “I’m healing.” I was. My bruises were lightening. Walking no longer hurt. Learning that I hadn’t been raped renewed an inner strength I hadn’t realized had become depleted. “I want you to find out who did this horrible thing so our lives can go back to normal. But, Reid, I also want to find out if she’s alive.” Tears prickled the backs of my eyes. “She’s my sister.”
“Use me,” Laurel said.
“What?” Reid and I asked simultaneously.
“I told you no,” Mason responded.
“I’m not asking you,” she said as her neck straightened. “I’m offering. It’s been nearly two weeks. I know I’m not supposed to, but I’ve heard a few things being discussed on 2.”
Mason and Reid stood tall.
“I know,” Laurel said. “I’m not trying to eavesdrop. And it hasn’t been a lot.” Before either man could interrupt, she went on, “I know about the” —she paused— “where you were, Mason. And I knew when Araneae offered me space for my lab that they wouldn’t be happy. It now seems, if they aren’t the ones who are after me, then they should be after whoever took Araneae and Lorna.”
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t want to say more than I have, but in a nutshell, the organization for which Mason worked has a similar compound to the one I had created and am trying to recreate. Whoever took you has a superior, or at least, more refined pharmaceutical.” She turned to Mason. “If they didn’t want me to work on it, they won’t want this other one.”
“She’s right,” Reid said.
“So if there are three players in this game, and I’m one of them, use me to lure out the unknown. They’re not going to find me locked away in a glass tower with impenetrable shields.” It was a joke between all of us women. It started when Araneae arrived. She talked about a force field. “If I am out and about, going to the institute, working with women and children as well as my team of researchers, I will be a target.”
“No,” Mason repeated.
Laurel looked at me and then Reid.
“Look at what happened to me,” I said.
She stepped forward and reached for my hand. “I’m sorry. It was supposed to be me that was taken. I’m also sorry I haven’t said that before now. I should have. I guess, I’m trying to help you because you’re my sister-in-law and one of my closest friends, and I love and care about you. I think it’s also because I can’t help but feel incredibly guilty that it was you and not me.”
Releasing her hand, I pulled her into an embrace. “Please don’t do anything to put yourself in danger. I don’t want to be the one home with another one of us gone.”
Laurel smiled and looked at the men. “I won’t be. This time it will be planned, and I have the best team in the world behind me.”
Mason ran his hand over his long hair. His boots clipped the tile floor beyond the area rug. “No. I won’t allow it.”
My sister-in-law looked my way with a wink. “I think tomorrow I’ll be headed to the institute. I can call for a ride. If it doesn’t work, I know someone upstairs who will help me.”
“Sparrow won’t allow her to get involved in this,” Mason said.
Laurel looked my direction. In her blue eyes, I saw her unspoken response. Sparrow may be the king, but Araneae was the queen, and as in the game of chess, the queen was capable of more moves. Our money would always be on her.
“Not tomorrow,” Mason said with an inflection of resignation. “Fuck, if you’re determined to go through with this, we need time to plan. I will fucking have a hundred Sparrows around you.”
“That won’t be obvious.”
He shook his head. “And I need to talk to...the organization. We need all players on deck. I’m not taking chances.”
Laurel walked across the room and laid her hand on Mason’s chest. “I’ll feel safer knowing you’re watching over me.”
“Fuck, okay. Just give us some time.”
Personally, I didn’t want Laurel to risk what had happened to Araneae and to me. But that didn’t dim my admiration for her desire to help or her ability to manipulate my brother. And maybe if they identified the kidnappers, we would then be able to concentrate on Missy.
My gaze went around the room. “So what’s happening with our mother? Please don’t tell me that you’re going to keep her on 1 indefinitely.”
“Not indefinitely,” Reid said. “We’ve run tests on trace evidence to help us find out who took you. There are just so many variables. Basically, we haven’t learned more than we did from the forensic search of the bunker where you were kept. It makes sense that everything that would identify the kidnappers was in the other bunker.”
“That’s why they had the explosives on that one,” Mason said.
Reid again reached for my hand. “Do you want to see her?”
Did I?
If I did, I would know if the image in my mind of the thin old woman with faded red hair was the same as reality. Taking a deep breath, I nodded. “I do.”
Reid
“Do you want to go see her now?” I asked.
I tried to assess what my wife was thinking behind her green-eyed stare as she looked up at me. If there had ever been a question regarding Lorna’s strength, it had been put to rest in these recent trials. Truly with her recurring willingness to meet each hurdle, she’d shattered any illusion that she was the weaker sex. While she had ups and downs since it all ensued, I found myself in awe at her fortitude.
“You know what they say, why put off until tomorrow...?” She looked around the room at all of us. “I assume you’ve all seen her.”
Laurel nodded.
“She was with you when the capos found you,” Mason said. “Seeing her was unavoidable.” He forced a grin. “Of course, you could avoid it.”