“I’m sorry.” And I am, especially now, looking into his eyes. I wonder if he’s even slept. “But like I said before—”
“I know. And I’m not trying to give you grief about it.” He pulls my hand forward to press a kiss against my knuckles. “That’s not the point I was trying make. I kind of got sidetracked because I’m really, really glad to have you back safe. What I was going to say is that every time I talked to Sam the past few days, he started going off about how hard Mom and Daniel have worked to keep me and Taylor safe all these years, and how he hopes you didn’t spill about our abilities. Like that’s the most important consideration right now. I was this close to punching him. Taylor was even getting annoyed, and she’s crazy about the old goat.”
“You’re his grandkids, Aaron. Family first. I understand that. And I don’t think Dacia got anything from me about the two of you. I just can’t guarantee that the others didn’t.”
“Others?”
“Yeah. That place—I didn’t go into detail when we were in the Jeep, but being in that place was . . . weird. Jaden talked about this group he called The Peepers. I’m pretty sure Dacia has to touch you to get information, or at least to get much information. But there are kids in The Warren who make her skills look like a parlor trick.”
I tell him about the message on the mirror and the kid in Room 81.
“I tried to keep my walls up as much as I could, but . . . assuming that they actually managed to evacuate the place, there could be half a dozen psychic kids who know everything I’ve ever said, done, or thought. And that might include information about you and Taylor.”
Aaron’s phone starts to buzz as I’m talking.
“Yeah, Sam. We’re on our way.”
I grab the bag of food. “Is it news about Daniel?”
“Yes, he’s out of surgery. I don’t think he’s out of the woods yet, but Sam says they’ve upgraded his condition to serious.”
“That’s an upgrade?”
“Apparently. But the main reason he called is that the police are here, and as we expected, they’ve got questions.”
“Great.” I wad up the wrapper from my mostly eaten Danish. “My head hurts and I’m exhausted. All I want is to curl up somewhere and sleep. I’d even risk the Molly dreams at this point.”
He tips my chin up so that our eyes meet. “You’ll be fine. Just . . .” His serious expression morphs into a smile. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have the most amazing eyes?”
I blush and look away.
“No fair! I say you have gorgeous eyes and you take them away from me.”
“You’re trying to distract me,” I say. But I look back up.
“Yes, I am. Doesn’t mean it’s not true.” He traces the edge of my lip with his thumb. “And you started it. What I was saying before you distracted me is that you’ll be fine. Just stick to the plan. We’ll get through this.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
For the next half hour, I sit in the far corner of the waiting room and answer questions from a Maryland State Police officer. I give her our prearranged nuggets of truth. I try not to elaborate or throw in any extra details that might trip me up or contradict the story that Deo is telling a second officer on the other side of the waiting area.
But I’m really tired. So tired that I almost wish it was Dacia sitting here and I could just stick out my arm and say go ahead. Grab it. Find the answers your own damn self.
I suspect the officer can tell I’m not being entirely honest, but we go through several grueling repetitions of the same basic drill. She has a lot of questions about other people at the facility, which she keeps referring to as a cell. I think at first that she means a single room, like a jail cell, but then it becomes clear that she means it in the other sense—like a terrorist cell. What languages did I hear? Did I see any of their faces? Could I identify any of them?
Somewhere in the middle of the second iteration a small blonde woman rushes in. All of the Quinns get up to greet her. Must be Aaron’s mom. Porter follows behind her, his arm in a sling. He looks around the room and gives me a worried smile.
“. . . head? Anna?” The officer snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Are you still with me?”
“Oh, sorry. I think I need more coffee. Could you repeat the question?”
Finally, the officer hands me her card, saying I should call her if anything else comes to mind. And then she adds that someone from Bartholomew House will retrieve me and Deo within the next few hours.