Thin Air Page 0,64

I wouldn't get the answers here. Not out of Eamon, anyway.

"Not that I'm unsympathetic to your current stroll down Memory Lane, love, but there's a deal on the table," Eamon said. "And you know how much I like to close deals."

Some dark, velvet tone of amusement in that made me put the picture down and turn to look at him. I hadn't, right? Oh, tell me I hadn't slept with my sister's skanky, possibly homicidal boyfriend.

Man, I was changing my ways if that was the case. Possibly joining a nunnery.

"You show me where you want the weather changed," I said, "and I'll make it happen."

He smiled slowly. "I know you will. Because you're not stupid enough to double-cross me twice."

I wasn't too surprised to find that while Eamon and I had been trading threats and barely concealed attacks, Sarah had taken the opportunity of self-medicating herself into oblivion. Not surprised, but sad. I found out what her poison of choice was, because it was in plain sight on the nightstand...an orange-brown prescription bottle of OxyContin. At least, I thought, it wasn't meth. But Sarah would have found meth too low class, no doubt. To me, high was high; it didn't really matter whether you blissed out from prescription drugs or something a toothless wonder cooked up in a pot on his stove. The problem was the same.

I got her out of bed. She opened her eyes, and the pupils were hugely dilated. She yawned as I tossed clothes at her. There were bruises on her arms and legs, and I felt a newly sick sensation bubbling deep in my stomach. Those were not exactly the signs of a loving relationship, but then, what had I really expected? Consideration? Dependent personality, he said, and although I hated him for it, Eamon was right. Sarah had hooked up with a guy who'd treat her like crap, because deep down that was what she expected to get. And maybe he was what she needed to continue eroding her own nonexistent self-worth.

How could two sisters be so damn different?

"Where are we going?" she mumbled. I helped her put on a floral shirt with ruffles down the front; it would have looked like crap on me, but on her it looked fresh and pretty. It offset the haggard lines in her face, anyway. She needed sleep, and not the kind induced by chemicals. And an environment where she could find out just how powerful she could be, if given the chance.

"We're going on a little trip," I said. "Sarah, look at me. Look at me. You recognize me, right?"

Her wandering eyes focused on me. I was eerily reminded of Cherise's time-delayed attention, but this was different; Sarah had at least chosen this. "Of course I know who you are," Sarah said, and put a hand to my cheek. Her skin felt cool and clammy. "You're my sister. You're all I've got. Sometimes I hate you, though. But mostly I love you."

I felt that artlessly cruel statement lodge between my ribs, sharp and cold, and felt tears sting my eyes. I loved her. I had no reason to, but I loved her anyway.

And now I'd made myself responsible for her, and right now I wasn't sure that was such a great idea... I hardly could take care of myself. But I couldn't exactly leave her with Eamon.

"That's right," I said, and managed a smile. I put my hand over hers, holding it to my cheek. "I love you, too. You and me against the world, Sarah. But I'm going to need your help now." I reached for the prescription bottle and checked the label. Unless her name was Mabel Thornton, they weren't her pills. I rattled them in front of her until she focused on them. "You're going to have to stop taking these."

She blinked, and then she grabbed for them. I easily pulled them out of reach. "Those are mine!" she said, and set that sharp chin of hers in a hard, stubborn line. "Jo, give them back! I only take them when I need them! I take them for pain!"

Her life was full of that right now, starting with being in a relationship with the asshole in the other room, and ending with the fact she was living in a trailer in Ares, Nevada, with nothing to look forward to but more abuse. But it could all be fixed. It would all be fixed.

"I'll hang onto them for you," I said, and slipped them