hour.”
He thanks MK, and then we’re on our way. As soon as we get to William’s office, we’ll hook Olivia up to the scanner. The machine will read the images in her mind, and I’ll see her vision of the future. If my theory is correct, I’ll finally know why a future Callie decided to kill her sister.
If, if, if. Nothing’s definite, and yet, the muscles in my neck and shoulders turn to stone. This is the answer. I can feel it.
The halls are mostly empty. Olivia skips ahead of us, her braids unraveling a little more with each bounce. The few people we see give her indulgent smiles, letting us pass without question.
“No wonder the Chairwoman doesn’t have a child-minder,” I murmur to Logan. “She doesn’t want anyone to find out.”
Olivia starts racing down the hallway. “Hurry up!” she calls over her shoulder. “We’re almost there!”
“Olivia, be care—”
A uniformed employee comes around the corner, carrying a potted plant. Olivia slams into him, knocking him to the ground. The pot flies out of his hand, smashes into the wall, and breaks into a million pieces.
The ceramic remains scatter across the floor. A trail of soil leads like breadcrumbs to the broken plant stalk.
The cool wind of Fate blows against my spine. I’ve seen this image before.
Logan helps Olivia to her feet and apologizes to the man.
The man frowns, his mustache twitching. “I don’t have time to deal with this. I’m late for a meeting.”
“Don’t worry, sir,” Logan says. “We’re interns here. We’ll call a bot to clean it up.”
Grumbling about out-of-control kids and their irresponsible child-minders, the man strides down the hall. I wait until he’s out of earshot, and then I turn to Logan.
“That broken pot was in my memory,” I whisper. “It looked just like that. The trail of soil, the broad green leaves. My memory’s coming true.”
All of a sudden, I’m not sure I’ve made the right decision. Maybe I don’t need to know the future. Why am I tempting Fate? Maybe I should just grab Jessa and run.
Logan takes my hand and repeats my words back to me. “Knowing the future doesn’t take away your free will. Only you can decide what you will do.” He grips my hand. “We’ve come so far, Callie. Let’s finish this.”
I look at him, the person who’s been by my side almost this entire journey. “I’m scared.”
“Me, too,” he says.
43
It’s the same room. Same chair with cylindrical cushions, humming machines, tray of meditation aids. Same shiny black tiles, although the dust has been swept to the side and forgotten, like a pile of mouse droppings. Same glass walls, but the white sheets providing the illusion of privacy have been pulled down.
I focus on these minor differences, but it’s no use. I can’t catch my breath, and every fiber in my body screams run!
Instead, I grab the glass bottle from the tray and twist off the stopper. The spicy scent of peppermint clears my nose. I think of a morning, not too long ago. Sitting around the eating table with my family, drinking peppermint tea. Jessa warms her hands in the steam rising from her mug, while my mother closes her eyes, lost in dreams of the past.
The memory washes over me, and I inhale deeply. My heart slows to a steadier rate. Maybe these meditation aids work, after all.
William adjusts the metal headpiece on Olivia’s head. She’s sitting on the recliner, her ankles crossed as if she’s done this a hundred times. And maybe she has.
“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?” he says to me, leaning over and tightening Olivia’s chin strap.
I roll my eyes at his deliberate double meaning. “Ha ha.”
“My mommy always lights me a candle,” Olivia says. “I like to play with the flame.”
William raises his eyebrow, as if not sure he should be giving fire to a little girl. “If that’s what gets you into the proper state of mind, by all means…” Shrugging, he sets up a candle on a bedside table and wheels it over Olivia’s lap. “Open your mind and let the vision come to you. If you need anything, we’ll be right next door.”
He beckons to me, and I follow him to his office in the adjacent room, where Logan’s waiting. Since there’s no white sheet, we can see Olivia through the glass walls. I wave at her, but she’s busy trying to pinch the flame between her fingers.
William plugs wires into a desk screen. Instead of flat and horizontal, the screen is