“Liar,” I say, shaking my head.
“Am I? But he’s already a criminal, isn’t he? A criminal and a liar. What else is he hiding? Who’s to say he wouldn’t confess to unthinkable crimes?”
The smile he gives me is the purest form of evil I’ve ever seen.
“Were you there with Dr. Kirkpatrick’s body?” Daniel asks Adam.
“Yes.”
“You saw her on that desk, didn’t you? All that blood, Adam,” Daniel says, shaking his head. “How could you?”
“Did I hurt her?” he asks, his brow furrowing confusion. “I don’t—”
“You didn’t hurt anyone, Adam,” I say. And then I turn to Daniel with a scowl. “You’re a twisted bastard.”
“And you’re stalling.” Daniel’s face contorts, and he rears back, backhanding Maggie in the mouth.
I’m not sure whose cry is louder, hers or mine.
Adam struggles weakly to get up, and Daniel pushes him back. “You aren’t going anywhere. You’re going to sit right there and think of all the ways you’re not good enough.”
Adam shrinks back from his words, and I try to lunge, hearing the syringes rattle in my pocket. Daniel has Maggie’s arm in his hand and the needle at her flesh before I can take a step.
“Think very carefully about how you want this to go,” Daniel says. Then he presses the needle in, just a little. Maggie whimpers softly, and my stomach curdles like day-old milk. “You show me what I want or we’ll see just how much of this I’ll need to knock her out for a month.”
Adrenaline surges through me, hot and hungry. My whole world is reduced to the sight of that needle at Maggie’s arm.
“The drugs, Ms. Spinnaker!”
“Okay, I’ll show you,” I say, shoving my hands into my pocket. I feel the cap on one of the syringes and think of the life Dr. Kirkpatrick doesn’t get to have. The life Julien doesn’t get to have either.
“You have it with you?” he asks, looking skeptical.
I do.
I do, but I cannot let this happen. I will not let him win.
I try to form the words with my lips, but Maggie’s eyes are pleading with me. Not for herself. She’s begging me for courage. For the strength to do the right thing.
“Show me what you have!” he shouts, jabbing the needle in farther.
I hold up one hand. “It’s a map, okay? I’m getting it out.”
But I’m not getting it. I’m getting a syringe. And I don’t know how I’ll do this because he’s staring right at me, but I can’t not try. I have to try.
While I wrestle to find some way, some sliver of a window of possibility, Maggie suddenly moves. She lurches wildly , leaning away from him until her chair topples over onto its side.
“You conniving little bitch!” he says, leaning to grab her.
This is it.
My one chance.
I pull the cap off and lunge. I stab the closest thing I can find and push the plunger hard and fast.
For Dr. Kirkpatrick. For Julien. For all of us.
He roars and slams his hand against my arm, batting me away. The needle still dangles from his neck when he punches at me again. This time I’m faster. I dodge left.
Daniel pulls the syringe from his skin, reading the label with obvious horror. I grab the nearest heavy thing I can find—a vase from the coffee table.
I wield it like a bat, ready to strike. But I won’t need to hit him. He reaches for me and stumbles, one knee hitting the ground in front of the couch. He’s panting and pale.
“You have no idea what you’re dealing with,” he says, slurring his words. “Those needles are concentrated…” He trails off, swaying on his feet. “It hasn’t been tested like that.”
I force air into my lungs and courage into my voice. “Well, then consider this my experiment. That’s what we were to you, right? Experiments?”
He stares at me then at his feet. He shakes his head and looks around. I think of a deer in headlights. And I decide to use his own bag of tricks against him.
“You look so tired, Mr. Tanner,” I say, tilting my head in mock concern. “I heard you say you want to sit down.”
“I didn’t say—” He cuts himself off, looking at Adam on the couch and Maggie beside him. He tries to take a step, but his knees buckle. I watch him land on the couch gracelessly, his long legs bent at awkward angles.
“You want to rest,” I say. “You’re so tired. So weak. You want to sleep.”
His eyes are glazed, pupils too wide. I see him shake himself, trying to clear his head. “I don’t…I’m tired.”
“You are tired,” I say, feeling a cold rush of power. “And now you’re going to close your eyes until I tell you to open them again.”
Maggie wriggles out of the rope around her legs after I free her hands. She sets to work tying Daniel up while I call the police.
When it’s done, I go to Adam.
I approach him on soft feet, and he watches me through half-mast eyes. He looks like he’s in agony. It makes my chest ache, seeing him broken like this.
“The police are coming,” I say.
“The police," he repeats. And then he stiffens, looking alarmed. “You’ve got to get out of here. You didn’t have anything to do with this, Chloe.”
I try to touch his arm, to be soothing. “Adam—”
“Go, Chloe! You are too good to get mixed up in this. This is my fault. I’m the problem. Please. Just go.” He’s pushing at my hands, and he’s so strong, even like this. It’s all I can do to keep myself close to him.
I look to where Daniel is passed out on the other end of the couch. The feeling that goes through me is too hot, too red to just be anger. I remind myself that the police will come, that this man will leave here in handcuffs and he will go to jail.
It isn’t enough for me.
I could hurt him the way he hurt us. With whatever creepy drug that is running through his veins, I could wake him up and say things that would torture him for the rest of his life. I could feel the weight of his justice in my hands.
“You are too good for me,” Adam says, breaking my focus.
I’m not too good for him. But I am too good to turn into Daniel Tanner.
I slide into the space between Adam and the couch arm. I touch his face and he frowns, still looking groggy and confused.
“You deserve better, Chloe. I keep trying to tell you.”
“Then it’s a good thing I never listen.”
When he tries to pull free, I kiss him. He makes a halfhearted effort to stop me, but I fight harder. When we separate, I can see his eyes are clearer. His touch brought my memories back. Maybe mine is doing the same to him. It’s a crazy idea, but it still makes me smile.
“You know, I remember everything now,” I say. “All my missing time came back.”
I see the worry in his face before he manages to hide it. “Yeah? Any big surprises?”
“Nothing worth mentioning. I mean, I already knew I love you.”
He’s halfway through a nod when it catches up with him. I see the way he hesitates, feel the way the intensity in his eyes changes, his whole face going soft. “Chloe, you can’t—”
“Yeah, well, I do. And I’m way stubborn, so you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
I see the barest hint of a grin before he pulls me in. His kiss is sweet and lingering, his hands trailing up my back and into my hair. It pushes out all of the cold and the fear of this night, leaving me warm and strong.
When we break apart, Adam smiles with his eyes closed. “Stubborn works for me.”
I laugh for the first time in forever. And that feels even better than the kiss.
Chapter Thirty-three
The reporter’s face on the screen is full of concern. “How do you feel about the school board’s voluntary retesting invitation?”
I bite my lip. I wish I hadn’t. It’s not pretty in person, but with my head filling up the entire television screen—remind me to thank the cameraman for that one—I look like a nervous wreck. But, then again, I was a nervous wreck.
“I haven’t thought much about it.”
“So you haven’t made a decision on how you’ll proceed?”