Busted Flush Page 0,34

was unfamiliar.

I was thinking. Maybe your dad would like to come to California with us. Perhaps Christian would be more eager to spend time with her children - their children - if he had the chance to vacation away from BICC for a while.

Yeah! thought Yectli. Yves liked the idea, too. But Yvette thought, Don't trust him, Mom.

Why? He's your dad and he loves you.

But he's not - ouch.

Yvette, what's wrong, honey? Niobe knew the answer but she asked anyway, hoping to be wrong.

Owey! Momma, it hurts.

Niobe found herself silently pleading with the virus. No. No, no, no. Just a few more days. Please. I promised them Disneyland. All three.

The door opened. Justice exited Pendergast's office, pulling the new arrival - the boy - after him. The kid's head hung low, and his face was flushed. Niobe wanted to give him a wink and a smile as they passed, but Justice pulled the kid in the opposite direction when he saw Niobe. The kid didn't even look up.

She entered the office. Pendergast himself sat behind his desk, scribbling notes into a file.

The doctor looked up, saw her, and reared back in surprise. "Genetrix." He shut the file folder, with his pen still inside. "This is a surprise."

Niobe jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "New kid?"

"Hmmm? Oh. Yes."

"Looks pretty unhappy."

Pendergast fished his pen out of the file, saying distractedly, "He's still adjusting to his new environment." He looked pensive for a moment, then added nonchalantly, "Have your children said anything about him?"

Niobe had deflected several days of leading questions about Yvette. Clearly Pendergast suspected the girl was some kind of mentalist. But if her daughter wanted privacy, she'd have it. As much as could be had at BICC, anyway.

"No. Just wondering about him."

He recapped the pen and opened a filing cabinet. "I have another appointment. Do you need something?"

"Nope. Just letting you know I'll be on vacation for a few days." She grinned. "Taking the kids to Disneyland."

"Ah. I see," he said quietly. He slid the file into a drawer filled with many others. "You'll be leaving soon, I take it?" Niobe heard the cabinet lock click when he pushed the drawer shut.

"The sooner the better. Want to take them before . . ." She didn't want to say it aloud; bad enough they already knew she was thinking it.

"Of course." Pendergast nodded. He looked pensive again. "Tell you what. If you'll do something for me first, I'll personally see that your leave paperwork is expedited."

"Great. Name it."

"Drake. The new arrival. Introduce yourself; try to make him feel welcome. Let him know he has friends here."

"Sure. I can do that. Why is he here, anyway?"

"The important thing," said Pendergast, "is that he feels comfortable and relaxed."

Don't trust him, Yvette repeated.

The evasion wasn't lost on Niobe. But poor Drake did look like he needed a pal. And if cheering him up would get the kids to Disneyland that much sooner, that was win-win.

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Drake said, trying to get his brain working.

After being unbolted, the door opened a bit and a young woman poked her head in. "Can I come inside for a minute?" Something about her tone of voice was different than what he was used to around here. Then it clicked that she was being polite.

"Sure." Drake swung his legs over the bedside and onto the floor, then stood up.

"Hi, my name is Niobe."

"Holy crap." Drake couldn't keep himself from staring once all of her was inside. For the most part she was a normal woman, pretty young still, but there was something attached to her. It was like a big tube coming out from her lower back, almost like a third leg, but with no bones. Her clothes were the kind fat girls wore, all floppy and worn. "Sorry," he said. "I've never met anybody like you before."

"You mean a joker?" If she was bothered by her appendage or Drake's reaction to it, Niobe didn't let on. "It's okay. You must be pretty special yourself for them to ship you here."

"Not really, just another little fat boy from West Texas." Drake was suspicious, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "Well, maybe a little bit special. You want to sit down?"

The corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk, and the thing stuck to her back wiggled over her shoulder, like it was waving at him. "Easier for me to stand. Have they turned on your TV yet?"