Parallel Lies. Kate Donovan
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“I don’t know.”
“You trust Uncle Theo, don’t you?”
“Sometimes.”
“Okay, Sabrina.” Zack’s voice was steady and inspiring. “You did great. I’m going to wake you up now. Okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll count to five, and when you hear me say ‘five,’ you’ll wake up. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“When you wake up, you’ll remember everything we’ve said. But it won’t upset you. You’ll feel refreshed. Rested. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m going to count now. On five, you’ll wake up. One, two, three, four, five.”
Sabrina stirred and opened her eyes, then smiled sheepishly. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Zack’s green eyes were twinkling. “You did great.”
“I didn’t remember anything Johnny said.”
“He made you forget the session. But it seems like that’s all he managed to accomplish. Your subconscious must have really resisted him.”
Sabrina sighed. “You were right about Dad. He really did hypnotize me when I was a kid. I don’t know why that bothers me, but it does.”
“Seems pretty harmless. He just wanted you to look out for your baby sister.” Zack’s smile widened. “You must’ve been a cute kid. Calling it your mission.”
“That’s how it was with Dad. He made everything so much fun and dramatic. Life and death. But still just a game. I loved it. Then everything changed.”
“When Adonis killed him.”
She nodded. “And now Shelby’s in danger because of her connection to Dad’s past. It’s so creepy to think of Johnny alone with her, hypnotizing her at will. Making her do things. Reveal things. Forget things.” She cocked her head to the side. “If you could use DT3 on me, could you make me remember what Johnny was searching for in my head?”
“Theoretically,” Zack admitted. “He gave you a post-trance suggestion to forget the whole session. With DT3, I could counteract that, unless he password-protected it. Then it would take more time and some serious hacking.”
Sabrina winced at the harsh term, even though she realized he only meant it in the computer sense. “So if Dad did that—hid information in our heads and protected it with a password—Johnny could be trying to hack into that? That would explain why it’s taking him so long, right?”
“It’s a possibility,” Zack confirmed. “But it doesn’t seem like Sully did anything like that to you. And since you’re the oldest, it’s logical he would have hidden it in your head, not Shelby’s.”
“That makes sense.”
Zack nodded. “My guess is, John’s after a simple memory. But it’s taking time—not because it’s password-protected, but because he’s fishing for it. Maybe he doesn’t know exactly when the event happened, for example. So he’s regressing her, probing, that sort of thing. Zeroing in on it, but it’s taking some time.”
“I like that better than the hacking scenario,” Sabrina admitted. “Do you think he’ll let her go once he gets what he wants?”
Zack hesitated. “I guess that depends on his ultimate agenda. And what shape she’s in by then, mentally and otherwise. I just hope she still believes it’s a romantic getaway. If she figures out what’s going on, or if he stops pretending to care about her, she’ll be scared.”
“If she figures out what’s going on, she’ll try to escape,” Sabrina countered. When Zack gave a skeptical shrug, she smiled. “I hope Derringer underestimates her the same way you do. That gives her a strategic advantage.”
“The only strategic advantage we have is time. He doesn’t know about the second message she left you, so he thinks he has three more days before you get suspicious. We need to use every minute, so I’m outta here.” He handed Sabrina the stack of reports from Connor. “Find me the picture that looks the most like Shelby. I want to circulate it to my crew.”
“I brought a great photo of her with me, just in case. It’s in the trunk of my car.”
“Good. You two girls change hair color so often, it’s tough to keep track.”
She bristled at the implied criticism. “We went brunette at RAP’s suggestion. But over the years, we gradually phased back to blond.” Fingering a lock of her own hair, she explained, “This is our natural color. Shelby’s is the same, only longer, and with some added highlights, so it’s a little blonder.”
He pulled out a notebook and pen. “Height? Weight? You’re taller, right?”
“Yes. She’s five-five. Probably one hundred twenty pounds. She packed for a tropical island, which means lots of pink sundresses and strappy sandals. If any witnesses saw her, they’ll remember her.” She swallowed a lump of affection and concern. “I’ll get that photo. Wait here.”
She was glad for an excuse to head outside for a gulp of fresh air. All this talk about Shelby was getting to her. Too much talk, not enough action. And all the while, Johnny was invading Shelby’s mind. Endangering her sanity. All for some nefarious, unfathomable purpose.
If only you hadn’t been allergic, she accused herself as she fumbled for her car keys. He would have taken you, and Shell would be safe.
Popping the trunk of her convertible, she quickly located the glossy photograph of her sister, and as she looked at it, the tightness returned to her throat. Shelby was so innocent. So trusting. But if she figured out what was going on—well, she was a Sullivan. Trained from the cradle to protect herself.
Could Shelby really escape from a seasoned criminal like Derringer? Sabrina wondered. Neither of them had ever really been put to the test. But she had to believe their father’s hard work hadn’t been in vain.
If only Dad were here. He’d know what to do, she told herself. As competent as Zack was beginning to seem, Sabrina still had no illusions about him. He was too young. Too temperamental. Too driven by passion. He’d do his best because of his devotion to Sully Sullivan and his hatred for Derringer. He might even be able to find Shelby in time. But would he be able to outwit Derringer once he got there?
No. That’s where Sabrina would be invaluable. She had her father’s instincts. His cool head. She had to be there when Zack made his move against Derringer. But she knew he’d try to exclude her, either to protect her or because he thought she’d get in the way.
“Which is where this little baby comes in handy,” she said out loud, pulling a black-leather shaving kit from her suitcase. Inside the kit—affectionately known as Sully Sullivan’s “bag of tricks”—was the collection of gadgets she had smuggled into RAP via Zorro’s cat carrier.
Locating a handheld computer, she dislodged the backing and retrieved a sheet of minuscule sensors. With one of these, she could easily track Zack’s movements, using the computer’s gridded screen and global positioning capabilities.
One of the tiny sensors was already missing from the sheet, having been affixed by Sabrina to the inside hood of Shelby’s car the day it was purchased. If only Johnny had used that vehicle to kidnap her sister, they could have found her in an instant.
Now she was tempted to do the same with Zack’s shiny black convertible, but if he switched to air travel, she’d lose him. She needed to attach it to something he’d carry with him at all times.
On impulse, she unhooked the gold chain she wore around her neck, then popped open the attached locket to reveal tiny photos of her mother and father. Pulling up the edge of Sully Sullivan’s smiling face, she slipped a sensor underneath, then