Gabi knew she should keep hounding Sam for answers. What about Marnie? Where was she and why had she been taken out of the test? Had Jordan passed? Was he going to the Northwest too? But all she could think about was Mathew, what she had put him through, and how he would be headed right into the heart of danger believing she had betrayed him.
“I know it’s a lot to take in, Gabriela,” Sam said, “but we have to talk about you now. Why on earth did you stop taking your medication, and what led you to believe that taking the Witness exam was a good idea? I am truly baffled by your behavior, not to mention the lengths you must have gone to in order to carry out this deception. Your actions are an insult to God, your family, and the fellowship.”
Sam’s words enraged her. “An insult to God, your family, and the fellowship” was exactly how she would describe his actions as a member of the Unitas council. It reminded her that failure was not an option.
“In my closet, under my laundry, is a suitcase,” Gabi said slowly. “Would you bring it to me, please?”
“Gabi, this is no time for games. I expect some answers from you, young lady.”
“That’s what I’m trying to give you,” she said, pressing up tall as ragged agony sliced up her arms. “I need to show you something.”
Sam hesitated, then rose and retrieved the suitcase. He laid the small piece of luggage across her lap, then brought her the hairpin she requested to jimmy the lock. When it clicked, Gabi opened the case just enough to withdraw a clear plastic bag heavy with pills and laid it on top of the lid. Sam gaped at its bulk.
“Gabi, are those what I think they are?”
“I stopped taking them awhile back. Gram suggested it before she died.”
“But why would she do that?” Sam asked, unable to take his eyes from the cascade of tablets.
“I was late taking them once, and I got a little better. She said I should just try skipping one at a time and see how I felt. I thought it was strange but then, on the day she got sick, I missed one so I could be with her at the Care Center. I started to feel better almost immediately. I could breathe easier and do things I’d never been able to do.” Sam’s eyes shuttered as he leaned back in his chair. Gabi continued in a breathless rush. “When I had my last spell and woke up at the Care Center hooked up to that IV, I was weak all over again, just like I’ve felt my whole life. The pills don’t help. They hurt. You have to believe me. The doctors made a mistake.”
Gabi paused to catch her breath and let the words sink in. She expected Sam to be shocked at her revelation, but his face was stoic. After a few long minutes, he glanced back at the pills and said, “No. There’s no mistake.” She recognized that tone. It was the same flat, disconnected one he’d used after Messenger Nystrom came to tell them Gram was dead.
“What do you mean ‘there’s no mistake’?”
Sam’s face hardened as he clenched his jaw. “The pills are necessary, Gabriela, and you will continue taking them.”
That was it, the proof she’d feared. The pills had nothing to do with her health and everything to do with control. But as much as she feared the consequences and the deathblow her actions might deal to her relationship with Sam, Gabi had to get that control back. When she raised the lid of the suitcase again, there was a tremor in her hand and a rush of soft clicks as the pills tumbled against each other. She reached in and extracted the envelope. Without opening it she extended it toward Sam.
“What is this?”
“I know,” Gabi said, matching the cold calm of his tone and hoping it was enough to conceal the lie. Did she imagine it or were Sam’s hands shaking too, as he pulled the letter from the envelope? When he was finished reading, Sam laid the letter on his lap and looked at Gabi.
“What do you know, exactly?” he asked.
She should be beyond disappointment by now, Gabi thought, but Sam continued to let her down at every turn. She’d given him so many chances to be better, to tell the truth, and he’d ignored them all. Her next words were a gamble, but if Sam refused to tell the truth, then Gabi had to. And pray there was solid ground beneath her when she did.
“I know that I’m Naomi.”
Sam held her gaze, but his body jerked in the chair so that the letter slid off his lap and sailed to the floor. So it’s true, she thought, looking at the man who’d always called himself her father.
“Who gave you this?” Sam whispered, looking at Gabi as though he feared her. “Gabriela, this isn’t a game. You have no idea what you’re doing.”
“It doesn’t matter who gave it to me,” Gabi answered, sliding the letter farther under her bed with her toe. Its power was evident in Sam’s reaction, and she might need that kind of leverage again soon. “What I want to know is, why didn’t you ever tell me? People adopt here all the time. It would make sense for a leader of the community to bring an orphaned child into his home.”
“Gabriela, you have to understand. Things were so much more complicated than you know.”
“So tell me,” Gabi insisted. “I think I deserve to know who my real parents are. You owe me that much.”
Sam’s eyes were pleading as he slumped back in his chair. “I am going to tell you because you do deserve to know, not because I regret anything. You would have died if we hadn’t taken you in. We did it to save your life.” Gabi gave him nothing, though a bitter wind had begun
