Nick smiled. “A black-hole flu shot. I like that.”
“Any idea how it worked?”
Nick shrugged. “Not sure. The remnants of the injectable were destroyed in the explosion, and Tony was the only one who knew the formula.”
Nick stood up and passed a hand through his wavy hair. “Everyone who’s missing had a hand in the experiment. Jackson’s dad worked on the chemical aspects of the injection. Madison’s dad constructed the X-FEL prototype. ZZ’s aunt and uncle synthesized some of the ingredients. Years of work went into it, all leading up to one day.”
“One clusterfuck of a day,” Madison said, rejoining the group. “Which was all your mom’s fault.”
Josie threw up her hands. “She’s not my mom!”
“Whatever.”
Josie tried to remain calm. Tony’s and Dr. Byrne’s experiment was somehow related to how Josie got there. Of that she was convinced. Maybe if she could help them figure out what happened in the lab, she’d also find a way to get home.
“Okay,” she said, examining the board again. “Someone either wants to re-create the injectable or wants to make sure no one else does. That’s the only way your relatives’ disappearances make any sense.”
The room fell silent. Josie looked from face to face as everyone avoided her eyes. She knew they were all reliving their own angst and anger over the loss of their loved ones. She felt the need to apologize, even though none of this had anything to do with her. Or did it?
Josie’s mouth was dry and parched. She swallowed and continued. “And it’s connected to how I got here.”
“Even if you’re telling the truth,” Madison said at last. “Even if your batshit tale is true, how does it affect us?”
Josie shrugged. “If we know how I got here, maybe we can figure out what went wrong that day in the lab. Re-create it. If your family members are being forced to try and replicate the experiment, and we beat them to it, you have a bargaining chip.”
“Exactly.” Nick nodded. “And I don’t know about you guys, but even if we can’t get our families back, I sure as hell want to finish what they started.”
Jackson kicked the sofa. “How? Seriously, we’ve been over every piece of their research, every note, every email, everything we could get our hands on. We can’t make heads or tails of it. We’d need a couple of science geniuses to figure this out.”
A slow smile spread across Josie’s face. “Science geniuses? I think I’ve got that covered.”
Madison snorted. “You? Oh, please.”
“You didn’t see her in physics today,” Zeke said.
“It was kind of epic,” Zeb added.
Nick grabbed Josie’s arm. She could feel his excitement. “Could you? I mean, do you think you could figure it out?”
“Don’t know.” Josie shrugged. “Maybe. But I’m going to need help.”
Nick tilted his head. “You got someone in mind?”
There was only one person who could handle it, and from what she’d seen, this Penelope was just as much of a science geek as her old friend back home. “Penelope Wang.”
“Shit,” Madison said with a roll of her eyes. “Why don’t we just put a welcome sign outside.”
Nick ignored her. “I don’t know.”
Josie’s smile deepened. “You said I needed to trust you. Now it’s time to return the favor.”
THIRTY
9:50 P.M.
“JOSEPHINE?” MR. BYRNE CALLED OUT FROM THE living room the second Josie closed the front door behind her, blocking out the floodlights from Nick’s car that had lit her path up to the house. “Is that you?”
Damn. She’d been hoping everyone would be in bed. She was completely exhausted, and her mind reeled with a million new bits of information she needed to digest and process. She wasn’t sure she had enough energy to masquerade as Jo for even a few minutes.
“Josephine?” Mr. Byrne repeated, this time more urgently.
“It’s me,” Josie said. “Daddy,” she quickly added, remembering the way Jo always mentioned her father. She meandered over to the archway that led into the living room and leaned wearily against the wall.
“Oh, thank God!” Mr. Byrne exclaimed. He placed his tablet down on the coffee table. “I was so worried. Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Josie flinched. Her phone. She’d turned it off at the warehouse and totally forgotten about it. “I’m sorry. The . . . the battery died.”
Mr. Byrne sighed and patted the cushion next to him on the sofa. Josie dutifully sat down, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down past her wrists so he wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her bandages, and tried to look suitably ashamed.
“I was worried,” Mr. Byrne repeated. “There have been elevated Nox sightings throughout the area. We got reports tonight of particularly large swarms between Baltimore and D.C., and there’s a rumor going around that someone was attacked in our neighborhood just recently. Have you heard anything about that at school?”
Josie folded her arms across her chest, hoping he hadn’t caught sight of her bandages. “No,” she lied. “Haven’t heard a thing.”
He patted her knee. “Hopefully it’s just a rumor, then. But please be careful. I can’t bear the thought of losing my little girl after . . .” His voice drifted off. Josie looked up and saw that Mr. Byrne was staring across the room at a photo on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. A photo of his wife.
A wave of guilt passed over her. Here she was, an impostor pretending to be the daughter of this man who had been through so much. His wife was still alive, but in what state? She had no idea who she was or where she was. Was that better or worse than having her die in the explosion?
Mr. Byrne smiled weakly as he gazed at his wife’s photo. For the first time, he reminded Josie of her own dad. “Maybe we should go see her,” he suggested. “Try again.”
Josie stiffened. Go see her fake mom in a mental hospital? That seemed like an incredibly bad idea. She’d been lucky with Mr. Byrne: he was distracted by work and grief over his wife, and hadn’t noticed the girl pretending to be his daughter was really nothing of the kind. But a mom? Moms had a way of
Still, the woman was suffering mental effects of a massive explosion. If she started ranting about how Josie wasn’t really her daughter, they might not actually take her seriously.
Josie looked up from making her mental pros and cons list, and noticed Mr. Byrne watching her intently. He raised his eyebrows as if to say,
“Whatever you’d like, Daddy,” she forced herself to say.
Mr. Byrne laughed drily. “Josephine, who do you think you’re kidding? You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I won’t force you to, okay? I know how hard it is to visit her when she doesn’t know who you are.”
For the first time in almost forty-eight hours, Josie felt sorry for Jo. No wonder she was so desperate to get through the mirror and find a mom who knew who she was. Josie could hardly blame her for not wanting to come back. Though maybe missing her dad would precipitate a return? He seemed like a great father and clearly cared for his daughter tremendously. Between him and Nick, maybe it would be enough to lure Jo home.
Josie smiled. “I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”
“Deal.” He picked up his tablet and rose from the sofa, planting a light kiss on the top of her head as he did so. “Now how about you get to bed, young lady? Busy day tomorrow.”
