Page 82 of A Better World

“Why do you ask?”

He shrugged. Between the surgery for his fixed eyesight and the growth spurt—he was taller than her now—he’d changed a great deal. He’d been a boy in June. Now he looked like a man. “Cathy’s mom said she was worried.”

“Yeah?” Linda asked.

“She said you took that house fire really bad. She said it haunts you. You’re the kind of person who takes on a lot of responsibility for other people.”

“She told you this?”

He nodded, imagining himself the recipient of a grown-up confidence. “It’s true. Back home you worried about your patients a lot, too.Sometimes you worried about them more than you worried about us. But you can’t help everyone.”

“When did Daniella drop this little bomb on you?”

“A while ago. She said to be nice to you because you’re so sensitive.”

“How thoughtful of her, Hip,” she said, and if he caught her sarcasm, he didn’t let on.

“Can I be home late tonight? Cathy wants to work on our golden ticket petition. We’re at almost eighteen hundred.”

“Sure,” Linda said. “The people of PV really don’t have enough privilege. It’s super important we make sure they inherit it generationally.”

He got the sarcasm this time. “You talk like an outsider. I hope you keep that to yourself when you’re around ActHollow. So can I go?”

Friday clinic. PV Extension was quiet. The snowplow had cleared only the main road leading to the highway. On the radio, scientists were testing a nuclear remediation technique in Los Alamos, and New York’s governor had evaded a second assassination attempt. Locals had rioted in a Seattle company town that had bought up all the surrounding water and air rights. Riots and protests against company towns were pretty de rigueur. What was unusual—the company had asked for help from the National Guard, but the National Guard, pillaged by budget cuts, didn’t have the resources to prevent the entire town from being sacked.

She parked on the street, the driveway blocked by snow. Though she’d reported the damaged caladrius shelter outside the clinic, it still hadn’t been repaired and now there was something new: someone had spray-paintedkid killersin red across the face of the building.

She stood before the graffiti for a while, trying to imagine the person who’d done it. Then she removed her coat and sweater, so that she wore just a T-shirt, and stuck out her tongue until a flake landed and melted. She stayed there awhile, imagining what would happen if she peeled away everything else.

When she got inside, she found that her assistant, who introduced himself as Matt, had arrived early. “Did you see the graffiti?” she asked.

He nodded, smiling brightly despite the circumstances. “I called PV security. They said it’s not their purview. It’s not part of PV’s budget. They said we should call the local police.”

“Are there local police?”

“Maybe in Platte?”

She blew a raspberry. “That’s too far. I’ll ask around, see if we can get a camera installed.”

They made small talk, which she always felt obliged to do with new volunteers. She learned that he was a shelter engineer in training but liked the idea of doing volunteer work. His cousin was Colette Lust, and he was going on vacation to Sedona after the Winter Festival.

Then she headed into her office, where her papers were out of order. Her computer was on, the database with patients’ names and health information on-screen.

“Hey, Matt! Could you get in here?”

He arrived with that same pleasant smile. It made her second-guess herself. “This is patient data. Did you look at this stuff or was there a break-in?”

Not a chink in that grin. “That’s company data.”

“Who told you to do this?”

“ActHollow on behalf of Jack Lust,” he said. He lifted his hands in a show of innocence. “It’s my job. I had to!” Then he turned and was out.

Linda followed, furious enough to spit. “You can’t just steal—” she started, but then she noticed that Danny Morales had arrived early. He was holding a sleeping Carlos, wet boots dripping sleet to the short blue carpet.

“You’re back. I’m so glad!” she said, then indicated for him to follow her into the closest examining room while Matt scuttled off.

“How’s he doing? Did you get a second opinion?”

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