he said. “Please don’t make me go back there.”
As she listened to Randy’s words, Lucy felt a chill. So that was why Jim had not shared in her happiness. All along, while he was pretending to help her, pretending to be worried about Randy, it had been a lie. All along, he had been the one. She’d been right. Right from the start, she’d been correct to suspect him. Fury rose in her, and she stood up to face Jim Corliss, but before she could speak, he came over and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Don’t say it,” he begged. “I know what you’re going to say, and I know you’ll regret it later. It’s not over, Lucy. I don’t know any more about it than you, but I know it’s not over. That’s what Bronski told me in the kitchen. He said we don’t know where Randy ran away from.”
“Randy said he ran away from home because he was afraid he was going to die.”
“No, I didn’t, Mom,” Randy said His parents looked down at him. “I ran away from the Academy. The one Daddy sent me to.”
Jim looked steadily into Lucy’s eyes. “I swear I don’t know what he’s talking about, Lucy.”
As they drove home Lucy wondered whether to believe him or not. She wanted to. God, how she wanted to. But could she?
The printer was spewing out the last of the computations Sally had ordered when the knock came at the door opening into the corridor. Mark Malone glanced at Sally, whose eyes filled with sudden fear.
“Who is it?” he called.
“Dr. Malone, is that you?” a woman’s uncertain voice answered.
Malone moved toward the door and opened it “If’s me.”
The nurse smiled in relief. “Thank God. I saw the light under your door and was afraid someone might have broken in.” She glanced into the office, recognizing Sally. “Why, hello, Mrs. Montgomery. Are you looking for Jason?”
“Jason?” Sally asked in surprise.
If the nurse noticed Sally’s blankness, she gave no sign. “He’s in Dr. Wiseman’s office with your husband.”
“I—what—?”
But before she could say anything else, Mark Malone held up a warning hand. “Thank you,” he said to the nurse. “Mrs. Montgomery and I were just discussing the problem.” Then, without waiting for the nurse to reply, he closed the door. He turned to Sally, whose expression of surprise had turned to one of worry.
“Jason and Steve are here? But why?”
“I don’t know,” Malone said. “But I don’t think we’d better wait around to find out. Someone’s sure to tell Wiseman you’re here.” He began stuffing his briefcase with the printouts. “Shut that thing off, and let’s get out of here.”
Sally switched the terminal off, stood up, and began gathering her things together. Malone had already opened the door to the parking lot, waiting for her. And then, as she started across the room, Sally stopped. “I can’t go.”
Malone stared at her. “Sally, we’ve got to”
But Sally was shaking her head. “I can’t go. Jason’s here, and I have to find out why,”
“Sally—”
“Mark, you have all the data. Take it and go.” She looked up at him imploringly. “Mark, he’s my son. If something’s wrong, I’ve got to be with him. Don’t you see?”
Malone’s mind raced, and he came to a quick decision. “I’ll go with you,” he said. He closed the outside door and moved toward Sally, who took a step back.
“No. Take those printouts and go back to Lucy’s. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
“If Wiseman gets his hands on you, you might not get back at all,” Malone said, his voice tight. He patted the briefcase. “And right now we need you to lead us through all this. Come on.”
Taking her by the arm, he led her out of his office and through the corridors to Arthur Wiseman’s waiting room. There, sitting on a chair leafing through a magazine, was Jason. He looked up and grinned.
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dr. Malone.”
Sally dropped to her knees and hugged the boy. “Honey, what are you doing here? Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” Jason said, wriggling free of the embrace.
“Then what are you doing here?”
Jason did his best to explain what had happened. “So Dr. Wiseman told Dad to bring me down, and he took some of my blood, and I think he wants me to go somewhere else.”
“Somewhere else?” Sally breathed.
Jason looked guilty. “I put my ear against the door and listened,” he admitted. “He wants me to go somewhere for ob—” He frowned, then remembered the word.