Page 76 of Shattered Dreams

“Jealous of what?” She rests her thigh against the table and crosses her arms over her chest.

I can’t picture her being jealous of anyone. She’s beautiful, and she has plenty of her own money.

“I’m not sure. Is your broken engagement still hurting you? I know Stephen’s cheating was hard on you, but I thought, well,it was quite egotistical of me to think that I eased some of your pain.”

This isn’t about me anymore, and I lean back in my chair. Jerricka and Dr. Pederson are lovers, but I don’t know who Dr. Pederson is referring to. Jerricka’s ex-fiancé, but she never spoke to me about her personal life.

She sits in his lap, and he wraps his arms around her. Gently, he smooths some of her hair away from her face. By the look I’m reading in his eyes, he really does love her.

“Stephen’s getting what he deserves. The police haven’t found his watch yet, but they will. When they do, he’ll be charged for Ingrid Flannigan’s murder. He’ll have plenty of time in a prison cell to think about what he did to me.”

Surprised, I straighten. “Wait. You know what happened to Ingrid? You know who killed her? The police aren’t going to find that watch. Gage and his dad did. They looked around the warehouse where she was killed.”

Dr. Pederson closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Fuck. Another mess we’ll have to clean up.”

With a horrible feeling of dread settling deep in my stomach, I realize what I just said. I gave up Gage and Linc. Jerricka and Dr. Pederson know they’re getting closer to finding out the truth. Oh, God.

“Miss Flannigan was another sacrifice to the cause, I’m sorry to say,” Dr. Pederson explains. “She was very angry you let her go, and she was more than willing to divulge all the information she said she had about you. It wasn’t as much as she claimed, and it gave him a good excuse to kill her and frame Stephen Mallory in exchange for sleeping with his wife.”

“Him?” I ask, my mind scrambling. If I can find out the details, if my brain would work and I can piece anything together, maybe I can get a message to Gage that I made amistake. If Jerricka and Dr. Pederson hurt Gage and Linc, it will be all my fault.

“That’s not something I care to discuss. Now, Miss Maddox, if you’re finished eating breakfast, I suggest you go up to your room and rest. Because of the extra dosages Jerricka is giving you, the medication will start working soon, very soon, and it’s best you’re somewhere you can’t hurt yourself.”

“What is it going to do to me?” For the first time since Jerricka brought me here, I’m scared. I need to get out of here. Even if it means sneaking out and hitchhiking.

“This medication mimics dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and appears to accelerate the time in which your brain atrophies. It seems to injure and kill the neurons and cells, fooling even the leading specialists in the field. Up until now, researchers have only been interested in slowing it down or trying to stop it altogether, but we want to expedite it, exploit it. We want to incapacitate anyone who’s exposed to this drug. These tests were supposed to be finished months ago, but, as they say, better late than never. A drug like this will always be in demand.”

“Why? Why would you want someone to forget everything they’ve ever known?”

“Think about it, Miss Maddox. A ruler of a great country, the United States, perhaps, is affected by the drug we created. Declaring the president of the United States unfit to keep his position...that would be worth a lot of money to someone who has visions of a different path for our country. That’s just an example, of course.”

“You were giving this to me at Quiet Meadows? That’s what you were testing in the basement?”

His eyes widen. “You remember that much? Interesting. But to answer your question, yes. To you and others. Your brother shut down the facility and halted our testing. We’re just getting it back up and running. Itdidgive us an opportunity to researchhow long the drug is effective when a subject is not exposed regularly, and the results were quite pleasing. Many of your memories are still hazy, very important memories, and that’s good news.”

“No, the drugs Ash made me take did that to me.”

“The drugs Ashton Black bribed that asinine doctor to prescribe to you while you were a resident at Quiet Meadows is baby aspirin compared to morphine. In fact, Jerricka won’t have you continue. She found the bottles in your bags and threw them in the trash. You’ll take what we give you, nothing more, nothing less.”

“I won’t go through withdrawal?”

“You may feel some physical discomfort, headaches perhaps, hot flashes or cold sweats, but our medication will confuse you and your mind won’t understand why. Your doctor has been rather aggressive weaning you off them, and your dosages now aren’t very high. Nonetheless, it’s another area of testing and research we’re looking forward to. Now please, if your curiosity has been satisfied, go upstairs and rest. Jerricka and I have a few things we need to discuss, and I’d rather not have an audience. Treat us with respect, Miss Maddox, and we will do so in kind.”

Jerricka diverts his attention away from me, and he pushes his hand up her sweater, cupping her breast.

I run out of the kitchen and up the stairs. I should leave, now, while my brain is still functioning. Keeping my jeans on, I put a sweater on over my blouse. There’s nothing warmer I can change into. I didn’t pack for a Minnesota winter, rather the mild temperatures of California.

Jerricka’s giggling and moaning when I tiptoe down the stairs, and I pray I’m quiet enough they can’t hear me. I wiggle boots onto my feet and slip my jacket on. I don’t waste the precious seconds to button it up and I’m missing my gloves andhat. I must have forgotten them on the plane when I left with Jerricka yesterday. Crap.

I try to remember if we passed any cars on the way to her lake house, but I was too despondent to care where we were going.

Slowly, slowly, I push the door open, and as gently as I can, close it again.

The second I’m off the porch, I start to run.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Gage

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