Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,72

of the parking lot like the world was on fire and she was trying to outrun the blaze, then said a prayer for her safety, and another prayer for anyone who might get in her way.

* * *

For Wyrick, the drive home was a blur. When she got back to her apartment, she tore off her leather and put on jeans and a sweatshirt, then washed the mask of makeup from her face, scrubbing frantically to remove everything that wasn’t her.

She tore up the stairs with the water still drying on her skin, then emerged into the kitchen and ran.

Ora was at Merlin’s side when Wyrick appeared. She got up to give Wyrick her seat.

“He’s been holding on...waiting for you. I notified his doctor. He’s not in pain,” Ora said.

Wyrick pushed the chair aside and reached for Merlin’s hand. It was cold and nearly lifeless, only a slight twitch of his fingers as she held them.

“Merlin. I’m here.”

His eyelids fluttered and then opened enough to see her. His lips moved, but no sound came out. She thought he said Thank you, but she wasn’t sure.

“No, thank you, Merlin—for being my friend, for giving me a safe place to be, for having my back. You honored me in a way no one ever had before, you crazy man. You with your searchlights on the roof, and your wizard mind, and your hothouse tomatoes.” Her voice broke. “I love you, and I will treasure what you have given me for the rest of my life.”

He squeezed her fingers as he took a deep breath, gathering everything within him to utter his last earthly words.

“Give ’em hell, Jade. Make me proud.”

“I will,” she promised, and then stood witness as life left him in one last exhalation.

Ora stepped up beside Wyrick and reached for his wrist, holding it, feeling for a pulse.

Wyrick was motionless...waiting. A minute passed, but he never took another breath.

Ora checked for a heartbeat with her stethoscope, then looked up at the clock.

“Time of death, 3:18 p.m.”

Arthur Merlin was gone.

“What do I do?” Wyrick asked.

“The immediate things are my responsibility,” Ora said. “I’ll call his doctor, and I will notify the funeral home. Once his body leaves the premises, my business here is done. You might want to notify his lawyer.”

“Yes, I’ll call Rodney,” she said, but when Ora turned away to make the calls, Wyrick smoothed the wisps of what was left of his hair away from his face. “Go do you, magic man. I’ve got this.”

She went back to the living room, then stood in the doorway looking at all of the old elegance, remembering the first time they’d met.

That one online notice of a group meeting on a Mensa site right after she first moved to Dallas. Cyrus Parks had taken pride in the fact that she’d had a perfect score in every IQ test she’d ever been given, including the tests to belong to Mensa. Before, it had never mattered to her like it had to him. It was just who she was. But back then, after UT, she was looking for a connection to something...or someone...to fill the void of what had happened to her, and she thought maybe being around people like her would be the answer.

She arrived at the meeting, thin and bald, with a scarf tied around her head, and a tall, thin man with long white hair and a long white beard welcomed her into the grand mansion with a smile and a cup of tea.

It was winter then, and she sat in the big overstuffed chair beside the fireplace, drinking her tea and listening, and knew within minutes that while they were nice enough and accepted her, they weren’t like her. She was still the exception. She was always going to be the odd one out.

But back then she didn’t care. She just wanted human companionship and was just getting settled into the routine when Cyrus Parks found her again. After that, she separated herself from the group. She didn’t want Parks to know her routine, and she didn’t want to think about any of them becoming caught up in his web.

Then she found Charlie Dodge and the work that came with him, and a year passed, and then another, and Parks was always on her tail, and she was always moving from one address to another.

When Parks began pushing her boundaries even more, she remembered Merlin, and the basement apartment, and once again, his place became her refuge—the one place