Elliott pointed to Hiro, but the scientist shook his head. “They’re speaking Korean, not Japanese.”
He waited, listening, then drew out his phone.
“What?” Elliott said, moving to the chair to stare over his shoulder.
“They’ve mentioned a non-Korean word a few times. Syntran. It’s a Korean company.”
“It’s one of Dani’s investments,” Elliott said. “One San Andreas funded. What do they do?”
“Synthetic organs. They grow them for transplant.”
Elliott exhaled. “It’s just some update from a portfolio company.”
*
That afternoon, Adeline sat in a seminar entitled “Entanglement: The Quantum Tie that Binds.”
Halfway through the lecture, the lights dimmed. The presenter smiled. “Don’t be alarmed. That’s just the machine transmitting. There are typically a few departures each week. That power fluctuation is the sign of a very bad person leaving this Earth.”
Not always, Adeline thought.
*
When she got home, Adeline found Daniele sitting on the back patio, an empty wine glass on the table, staring at the sun hovering over the mountains beyond the sea of glass.
“Tough day?” Adeline asked, motioning to the wine glass.
“No. I’m celebrating.”
“Celebrating what?”
“A discovery. One that could change everything. A very unexpected discovery.”
“In the desert?”
“No. I knew what we would find in the desert. This… this I didn’t see coming.”
Adeline asked a few probing questions, but it was clear Daniele was keeping whatever this discovery was to herself.
That night, Adeline texted Elliott.
Daniele was celebrating some discovery tonight.
What?
Don’t know.
Interesting.
What was said in her second meeting—with the Korean speaker?
Unknown. We need a translator. Don’t want to ask anyone around here. Hiro thinks he can find a dealer in Vegas who speaks Korean. Someone who can keep quiet. Should have it translated in a few days.
What about A-2?
Adeline wasn’t sure if Elliott would catch on to her shorthand for Absolom Two, but he seemed to understand.
Almost done. Maybe days away. The tuning bars are pretty close to the predicted time and location now. Hiro and I are hiding some of the progress from Dani. Changing the data we show her.
Good.
*
For the next few days, Adeline’s life settled into a pattern. She went to work at Absolom Sciences, learned what she could, and waited for Elliott to text. But he didn’t. He and Hiro and Daniele spent nearly all their time in the lab or in the desert.
Finally, before bed one night, she sat at her desk and sent Elliott a text.
What’s happening? Did you find a translator?
Yes.
And?
The visitor was the CEO of Syntran. She was just giving a business update and talking about some new product offering. But something else happened. Are you alone?
Yes.
Put your headphones on.
She pushed her earbuds in and typed a reply.
Ready.
Elliott’s next message was a link to a video taken on a phone. It was shaky, as if the phone was in someone’s shirt pocket and the person was walking around. They were in some kind of medical lab.
No. It was a morgue. Through a wide window, Adeline saw three metal tables. One had a dead body on it. And Daniele was standing over it.
The person walked to the window, giving the camera a better look at the body. It was Nora.
The video stopped, and Adeline stared at it for a long time. Then she typed the three-letter response running through her mind.
WTF?
Dani ordered Nora’s body exhumed.
Why?
Isn’t it obvious? So she could study how she died. To get the wounds in the right place when she uses Absolom Two to kill her.
*
The next morning, Adeline could barely look Daniele in the eye.
“Everything all right?” she asked, setting her coffee mug on the counter.
Adeline shrugged. “That’s a bit like asking me how the weather is during a hurricane. My mom is dead. My dad is in the Triassic. It’s not going great, Daniele.”
“It will get better.”
“How? When? What’s your plan?”
“I told you before. I’m going to get your dad back.”
“How?”
“As soon as Absolom Two is finished—when it’s accurate enough—I’ll use it. Before Elliott. That’s important. The past can’t be changed, Adeline. And he can’t be reasoned with. Do you understand?”
Adeline swallowed and nodded.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?”
“No.”
*
When Adeline got home, a delivery company was unloading a massive box into Daniele’s garage.
“What’s that?” Adeline asked.
“It’s for a trip I’ll be taking.”
“Trip where?”
“It’s none of your concern.”
Adeline glanced away, to the street, where two black SUVs were parked. They were unmarked, with dark tinted windows.
Daniele spoke before Adeline could ask about them. “I’ve hired some additional security. For the house. And the office.”
“Private security.”
“Yes. I needed people who only answer to me.”
*
Ryan was at a friend’s house, and Adeline was sitting at the outdoor dining table with Daniele when she felt the burner phone buzz with a text message.
Before she could check it, Daniele reached into her purse, drew out a small box, and pushed it across the table. “I got you a small gift.”
Adeline didn’t want a small gift. She wanted to get up and leave and go check the text message.
Instead, she smiled and took the box and quickly began removing the wrapper.
“What’s the occasion?”
Daniele smiled. “New beginnings. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot.”
Adeline opened the box. It was a pair of diamond stud earrings. The stones were massive.
“They’re beautiful,” she said, wincing when she heard how hasty she sounded.
“Someone very special gave them to me. Someone who’s no longer in my life.”
She set the box down beside her plate. “Sorry, I need to—”
Daniele rose. “Please try them on.”
Hastily, Adeline attached them to her ears and forced a smile.
Daniele leaned forward, fingers interlocked. “They’re perfect.”
Adeline didn’t reply. She rose, marched directly to the hall bathroom, and took out her phone. The text message from Elliott read:
Are you with Daniele?
Yes.
Where?
Home.
Keep her there.
Why?
A-2 is almost done. We’re going to use it. The power might fluctuate. She’ll know it’s us because there’s no departure scheduled.
How do I keep her here?
Figure it out. Just do it.
Adeline waited, but no other messages appeared. The thought of physically restraining Daniele made her nervous. She could already feel her palms beginning to sweat.
She deleted the text message chain and tried to form a plan. The basement was the key. If she could get Daniele down there, without her phone, and lock her in a room, it wouldn’t matter if she screamed.
But how?
She would have to lure her down there. She would tell her she had something she wanted to talk about—and was worried someone was listening. Then she would run out of the room and jam the door somehow—or tie it closed. That part of the plan needed work.
She would have to go to the garage and see what was there to work with.
Then she’d have to get past the security team outside. Maybe they wouldn’t even stop her.
Adeline opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hall. She barely saw the figure to her right before the person lunged and pressed a cold device to her neck. There was a pop and a pinch against her skin, as if a rubber band had been snapped.
Adeline whirled around, ready to fight, holding her fists out. But they felt heavy, as though she was holding weights that were growing larger by the second.