Page 66 of Lion's Share
“You and Mr. Sanders, if he insists on being involved.” Agent Morse looked at Ben with something that might have been respect. “I understand you have a background in folklore and cryptozoology. Dr. Rosenthal would find your perspective interesting.”
His jaw set, and I could tell he wasn’t going to let me face this alone, no matter how dangerous the situation might be.
“Where would this confrontation take place?” I asked.
Agent Morse switched to a different view on her tablet, this one showing the area around Silver Hollow. “Somewhere public enough that Dr. Rosenthal can’t just make you disappear, but isolated enough that civilian casualties aren’t a concern.” She pointed to a location just outside town. “What about the old mill site? It’s on public land, there’s good access for vehicles, and it’s far enough from residential areas that we wouldn’t have to worry about bystanders.”
The mill was a local landmark — the ruins of a nineteenth-century lumber mill that had been preserved as a historical site. While people sometimes went out there to take selfies, it wasn’t nearly as popular a destination as the various paths that wandered through the forest.
“When?” Ben asked.
“Tomorrow morning, just after dawn,” Agent Morse replied. “Dr. Rosenthal will have spent all night searching for you. I’m hoping that she’ll be tired and frustrated…and eager to end this quickly.”
He seemed skeptical, if the one lifted eyebrow was any indication. “And you think she’ll come alone?”
Agent Morse shook her head. “She’ll bring backup. But if I can convince her that you’re ready to surrender voluntarily, she might be willing to keep the team small to avoid attracting attention.”
“There’s something else,” I said slowly, figuring I might as well lay it all out there. “Something I haven’t told you about my abilities.”
Agent Morse looked at me expectantly, her face ghostly pale in the tablet’s blue glow.
“The electromagnetic fields aren’t the only thing I can do,” I told her. “I’m also telepathic. Not reliably, and not very strongly yet, but enough to know when someone is lying to me.” I met her gaze directly. “That’s how I knew you were telling the truth about wanting to help us.”
Her head tilted slightly. “So, you can read minds?”
“Sometimes,” I said, remembering how her thoughts had crowded into my brain that one time she visited the shop. “Other times, it’s more like sensing emotions and intentions. Either way, it’s not something I can control consistently.”
Agent Morse didn’t appear too put off by that comment. “And Dr. Rosenthal doesn’t know about the telepathy?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “Her surveillance equipment would only pick up the electromagnetic effects, right?”
A small smile tugged at Rebecca Morse’s somewhat thin lips. “Then we have a significant advantage she doesn’t know about.”
Over the next hour, huddled in the back of the federal SUV with maps and surveillance data spread between us, we worked out a plan that was complex, risky, and depended on about a dozen things going exactly right. But it was also our best chance of stopping Dr. Rosenthal and protecting Silver Hollow’s secrets.
I would contact Dr. Rosenthal directly, claiming that I was ready to turn myself in voluntarily in exchange for guarantees about Ben’s safety. The meeting would take place at the mill site, a location isolated enough that she knew I wouldn’t be able to call for help…not that any of my friends in Silver Hollow could have offered much assistance during this kind of situation.
“I’ll need to access Rosenthal’s communication frequencies to set up the meeting,” Agent Morse said as she pulled up another screen on her tablet. “Once I establish contact, I’ll present it as intelligence I’ve gathered — that you’re ready to surrender but want to do it on your own terms.”
“What about the surveillance data?” Ben asked.
Agent Morse’s fingers moved over the tablet screen, bringing up what looked like a complicated file directory. “While Dr. Rosenthal is focused on you at the mill site, I’ll access the mobile command unit and ensure that all the surveillance data gets corrupted. I’ll also plant false information suggesting that the electromagnetic anomalies are caused by natural geological formations rather than human abilities.”
The screen showed dozens of files, many labeled with my name and timestamps going back several days. Seeing the extent of DAPI’s surveillance made me feel sick…but also angry in a way that made the tablet screen flicker slightly.
“Careful,” Agent Morse said as she steadied the device. “Dr. Rosenthal would definitely notice if her equipment started malfunctioning while we’re planning to betray her.”
“Sorry.” I pulled in a deep breath, trying to center myself, to remember that my rage could be a real, physical thing. “It’s just…seeing how much they’ve been watching me….”
“I know.” Agent Morse’s tone was gentler now. “And that’s part of why I’m doing this. No one should be hunted like that.”
Ben leaned forward, hazel eyes intent on the files on the screen. “What happens if Rosenthal doesn’t believe the surrender is genuine? What if she suspects a trap?”
“Then we improvise,” Agent Morse said without missing a beat. “But I think she’ll want to believe it. Dr. Rosenthal sees Sidney as the key to everything — both the electromagnetic phenomena and the unidentified creatures we’ve detected. She’ll want to capture her intact, with all her abilities functional.”
“Because she wants to weaponize them,” I said. The anger wanted to rise again, but I tamped it down as best I could.
“Because she wants to replicate them,” Agent Morse corrected me, but she still sounded oddly gentle. “Which is worse. One person with unusual abilities is containable. An army of people with those same abilities is a game-changer.”
