“Possibly,” Prairie said quietly. “Anyone who would pay.”
“But I still don’t understand why he needs me if he already discovered how to do it using all your research.”
“It’s not quite that simple. You can’t really decode the DNA without a population, which means more than one person, and Bryce was desperate to find another subject. So he investigated me, and he found out things that even I didn’t know.” She gave me a small, sad smile. “Like, for instance, that I have a niece, someone who could be predicted to share the gift.”
“So he had those guys spying on me, those men that were at Gram’s,” I said. “It had to be. They were following me around. I saw them outside the house one morning, and in town talking to people.”
“Yes, I think that’s what happened. Bryce must have hired someone in Chicago to find out everything they could about my background. Once they figured out I was using a fake identity, they tracked down who I used to be. Who I really am. And once they got to Gypsum, it was just a matter of talking to the right people. You know how it is in a small town, everyone knows everything about everyone else. And if they offered money…”
“Everyone’s broke,” I finished the thought. People in Gypsum tended to mistrust outsiders, but if money was involved, it probably wouldn’t take a whole lot of convincing before they started telling everything they knew. “But nobody knew about the healing. I mean, I never did it before-I didn’t even know about it myself.”
“I’m afraid Bryce knew that it was hereditary because I told him,” Prairie said, her voice heavy with regret. “I just never imagined that there was anyone left. I mean, besides Alice, and she can’t heal.”
“So if your boss knew that Gram was weak, that she didn’t have the gift…”
“That’s why his men didn’t think twice about shooting her. She was useless to them. All they wanted was you.”
“So they came here and… someone in Gypsum led them to us for a few bucks.” I felt the bitterness build inside me, hot and sharp.
“I doubt anyone had any idea what it would lead to. These were professionals, Hailey. They would have had some story, some compelling lie that would make people trust them. And besides, the money Bryce would have offered-it would have been hard for anyone to resist.”
“Your boss has that much money?”
“He has more than you can imagine, Hailey,” Prairie said flatly.
“So if he’s so rich and powerful and all, how did you get away from him? I mean, how did you get here without him stopping you?”
Prairie glanced at me, her expression troubled. Even in the glow of the dashboard, I could see the worry lines etched between her eyes. “A man can be… a genius in some ways, and completely dense in others. Bryce was my lover, Hailey. And even though he managed to keep me fooled for a very long time about who he really was, I guess there were ways that he didn’t really understand me either.”
“You were in love with him?” I demanded.
“I thought I was. But when I realized what he intended to do, well, let’s just say I came to my senses fast. So fast that I was able to come up with a plan that would let me get to you first. I convinced him that I thought it was a great idea to find you, to involve you in our work. I pretended I didn’t know about the worst of his plans. I told him I needed a day to buy a few things for you, for your… room… the room he had already prepared for you at the lab. And instead, this morning I drove like hell to get to Alice’s, praying the whole way I would get there before he gave the order to pick you up.”
“But I first saw those men three days ago. Why did they wait until tonight to try to take me?”
“My guess is they weren’t allowed to do anything without the go-ahead from Bryce. And that they were trying to find a way to take you without drawing too much attention, ideally without getting the law involved. Bryce wouldn’t have wanted that kind of trouble.”
“So… how did he figure out you ran away?”
Prairie sighed, a long, sad breath that seemed to weaken her. “I don’t think he did. Bryce is so… confident, I don’t think it would have ever occurred to him that I’d go against his wishes. But his men must have recognized my car and tracked me to the house. I was sloppy; I didn’t stop to think that Bryce would have given them details like that. And I bet as soon as they reported in, he gave them the go-ahead to come and get us.”
“Oh.” I thought about the two men breaking into our house. About the way a gun looked when it was pointed at you. About the way bodies looked when they were dead.
And I couldn’t believe we’d escaped. That we had been attacked and gotten away.
Gram hadn’t. Gram was dead. For all I knew, Dun was dead too. And the two attackers. I searched my mind to see if there was some delayed grief, if I was upset about Gram and it just hadn’t hit me yet.
But I came up empty. If I’d ever loved Gram, that love had died a long time ago. Now all I felt was relief. Relief, and horror at the blood that had flooded our kitchen floor, at the way her eyes stared out at nothing, at the knife sticking out of the blond man’s shoulder, his fingers struggling to close around the handle.
To keep from focusing on those images I checked on Chub. He was sleeping contentedly, and I stroked his soft hair, smoothing it over his warm forehead.
It was only because I was turned around that the sudden headlights behind us cut directly into my line of vision. They came out of nowhere-one minute it was all black behind the Volvo, the next minute twin beams lit up the road, the distance between us closing fast. The other car-big, sleek, black-had to have been trailing close behind, but I hadn’t noticed it, and I knew that Prairie hadn’t either.
“Hold on,” Prairie said. “Now.”
I did. I couldn’t see past the blinding light into the other car, but I grabbed the back of the front seat with my right hand, hard, to brace myself. Prairie jammed her foot down on the gas and we shot forward. I heard the whine of the Volvo’s engine straining under the pressure, but the lights of the other car got steadily brighter.
Prairie swung the wheel to the left, into the passing lane, and then she hit the brakes so hard the tires squealed and I could feel the rubber screeching across the pavement, trying to keep hold of the road. There was a terrible jolt as the car behind us hit our back fender.
I was thrown against the passenger seat and my forehead slammed into the headrest, connecting with the hard plastic. Then I was thrown a second time, into the door, and my seat belt pulled up hard across my collarbone as Prairie hit the gas again and steered into the spin, flooring it and coming out of the turn in the direction we had come from.
How? was going through my mind, and I even moved my lips to say it, but nothing came out. My face hurt and I could feel warm blood trickling out of my nose, and realized I had smacked it against the headrest, but I was too scared to care.
“Hang on again,” Prairie ordered, and I braced myself and checked on Chub. He was awake, and he looked surprised, his big eyes blinking slowly, one fist rubbing his mouth, but the seat belt held him in place, and he was unhurt. Behind us I could see more of the other car as it backed up into a turn, one wheel going off onto the shoulder. It lurched, then leapt forward and shot off the other side, onto the shoulder, before correcting and starting toward us.
My teeth clacked together hard as Prairie yanked the wheel again, and we headed off the road, into a field, the low-growing crop-alfalfa, maybe, or strawberries-thudding against the undercarriage. Prairie urged the car through the furrows, the wheels finding purchase between the planted rows and biting into the earth. The other car fought against the rows. I could tell the mistake they were making-trying to cut across at an angle, coming after us the shortest way. But the foliage was too tall and it smacked against the car as it was mowed under.