Page 97 of Unwanted

There was a pad of paper on the edge of the counter, and she stepped over to it, intending on leaving a note about the food. But there was already a typed note sitting on top. She read the first line, her concern growing as she picked it up, reading quickly.

She folded the note slowly, putting it in her pocket before rushing out of Harper’s apartment.

Forty-five minutes later, she was pulling into her own driveway, and twenty seconds after that, she was rushing into the house. “Mark?” she called, tossing her purse and keys on the console table in the foyer.

“Mark?”

“Hey,” he said, appearing from the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been calling you,” she said, as he met her in the foyer.

“Sorry. I came from the hospital. Halston Fairbanks had a heart attack. Damn, I must not have turned my phone back on.”

Laurie stopped, her eyes widening. “Halston Fairbanks had a heart attack? Oh my God.” She shook her head in disbelief. That could wait for a minute. She brought the note from her pocket and thrust it out to Mark. “This was in Harper’s apartment. She left it for Jak. It…doesn’t make sense, does it?”

Mark read it quickly. “Killed Driscoll? Amity Falls? They’re…running away together?”

“You talked to Jak earlier at length. Does it make any sense?” Her heart beat quickly. Was it only that she didn’t want it to make sense? Was it only her own delicate emotions that were trying to insist two people who had suddenly attached themselves to her heart wouldn’t possibly just pick up and leave?

Mark shook his head. “No. I took his full statement about Driscoll’s death earlier.” His brow wrinkled as though he was considering whether Jak had lied in some way. It smoothed out. “No. But Harper’s not answering her phone, so I haven’t been able to get hold of him. He could feel…I don’t know, responsible somehow for his grandfather’s heart attack? Apparently he found him and alerted the family. But this?” He held up the note. “No. And, what? Did he flag down a ride to the falls?” He looked to the side, pressing his lips together. “Hell, that man could have run there if he was inclined to do it.”

Laurie stared at him for a moment. “I have a bad feeling, Mark.”

They both stood there for a moment, so many things flowing between them. The memory of the moment Laurie had mentioned her concern over the bruises Abbi kept getting—bruises that were explainable by the sports she was involved in but that her motherly instincts told her were worth a doctor’s appointment. The diagnosis. The fight. The ultimate loss. The unthinkable grief. Their drifting apart…

He’d always listened to her intuition though. He’d never made her feel silly or irrational. “You need to go there. To the falls. They need you,” she said.

He looked at her closely for another moment, nodding. “I’ll get my coat.”

She grabbed his keys for him as he put on his coat and boots. “They’re fighters,” she said, more to soothe herself, to convince herself they were okay.

Mark opened the door, pausing. He turned back, taking the few steps to her, his hands wrapping around her upper arms, holding on. “Our girl was a fighter, just like you, Laurie. She fought until the very end. She’d want us to fight too. We’ve stopped fighting. For us. We need to start again. I will not lose you.” His voice was full of so much emotion, a lump filled Laurie’s chest, so full she couldn’t breathe. Joy sparked within her. A rekindling of their life.

Laurie nodded her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Come back to me,” she choked. “And bring those kids with you.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Society will benefit. The children will benefit. Eventually the world will benefit.

My God. He’s a psychopath. Did he really think anyone in their right mind would accept this? And yet a cold spear of dread moved through Harper, the knowledge that already, others had subscribed to this madness. Not only subscribed to but put into practice. Who else out there was suffering? Trying to survive any number of unknown terrors and hardships right that very moment? She shuddered.

“You really think people are going to accept this?” she asked, not so much for the answer but to keep him talking, to come up with a plan. Something. No matter how small.

“You’re right. I see the way you two are looking at me,” Dr. Swift said, barely penetrating the careening thoughts in her mind. “It may be…unpalatable to some. They won’t understand the scope, the benefits.” He rocked on his heels. “But there are plenty who do, and they’re the ones who matter. They know big change requires bold action. They understand it’s the results that matter. And the results speak for themselves. Isn’t that right, Daire?”

For the first time, the man named Daire spoke. “Yes, sir,” he said, giving Dr. Swift a small bow of his head. Oh God. They had convinced at least some of the survivors that this was okay. The sickness was unthinkable.

The man had convinced himself he was improving society, and yet he was profiting off people’s misery.

Next to her, Jak’s mind was definitely whirling. She glanced at him and saw it, and even through her fear, her heart calmed. She’d trusted him fifteen years ago, and she trusted him now. Not to survive this, she realized. But to fight, to try. To go down swinging. She’d seen it in his nature, even then, she realized suddenly. He’d curled his fists. It came to her in a flash, the rush of the water filling her head, her mind’s eye conjuring that dreamlike moment. He’d curled his fists. He’d trembled like the rest of them, but he’d curled his fists…and she had known.

She met his gaze, and time stilled. Deep intensity filled his expression before he glanced backward quickly and then away.

Backward. The falls.

It’s our only way out.

Her stomach dropped. Fear spiked. The water roared, the man in front of them still talking, pacing, evil spilling from his lips. She couldn’t hear him anymore, not over the rush of the falls, the buzzing in her head. Jak took a step closer, two. Harper met his eyes, and a strange calm descended.

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