Page 26 of Lovely Darkness

“Following people.”

I think I catch a little huff of a laugh from Merc. But he pulls it together. “So what is the plan?”

“Which specific plan are you referring to?”

“Is there more than one?”

Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Always, Merc. Always.”

“Well, I can’t say I’m thrilled to hear it, but whatever. We’re gonna do this Donovan thing or what? And can I count on you? Because if you’re here for some other reason—”

I cut him off. “I didn’t lie. You know why I’m here.”

“Wendy.” Merc is a smart guy. Not like Adam is a smart guy, either. Not even like I’m a smart guy. Merc is a special kind of gifted genius. And that’s not all. He’s not just a theoretical guy, like a brainy physicist. He’s tactical too. I respect Merc for that. I’d always want him on my side, if one were choosing sides. So I’m not surprised that he’s figured this part out.

So I say, “Yeah. Wendy.”

“She’s his too? Carter’s, I mean?”

“I don’t think so.” And this is the truth. “But one cannot be too sure.” Suddenly, I want to tell him everything. I want to tell him about how much I love her. And how sick she really is. And how scared I am. I want to tell him all these things because I know he’s feeling the same way. Probably not as acutely as I am, because he still believes his girls and my girl, they are not the same. But he would understand my fear.

He would be on my side.

“Sasha was telling me—”

Shit. I’d kinda forgotten about Sasha.

“—that she thinks the little girl might be useful.”

“How so?”

“Kids see things, right? And I know Adam, and McKay, and Donovan are all pretty good at what they do, but she’s second-generation.”

I get what he means. He means they were very careful with Indie because she was the first. And by careful, I mean suspicious.

But Maggie is all sorts of different in their eyes. She wasn’t born into things the way Indie was. She was never in the hunt. She was never messed with. And you can tell people that these girls are genetically different all you want, they never believe it. They see a baby and think, Surely, nurture wins over nature.

Trust me on this, it doesn’t. The Company has been breeding humans for a thousand years at least. They understand which traits are nature and which traits are nurture.

And by nurture, I mean torture.

They know exactly which ones gets passed down. And little Maggie here is the product of all the breeding, whether she was intentional or not.

“Hello?”

“I’m still here,” I say.

“So what do you think?”

“About what?”

“The little girl. Sasha thinks she should make friends with her so we can get the picture from another perspective.”

“Yeah. Fine with me. Just tell her to be careful. Indie is about as unpredictable as they come.”

“Got it. When you get back from the woods, come find me. I’ll be talking to Doc on the other side of the house.”

He ends the call. I’m just coming out of the woods and I can see Merc pocket his phone through the windows as he walks along the back breezeway towards the waiting doctor. But I go around the other side. I’m not ready to think about Donovan yet. And no one is going to start any kind of procedure on that man until Adam gives them permission. And he’s asleep, so I put that stiff aside for now.