Maybe, said a small voice in her head, maybe keeping her ignorant had been a prudent decision after all. She thought about the night she took him to the lab. She had put herself in a dangerous position, while showing him the extent of her trust. The truth would have shattered everything between them at that point. Her vulnerability would have been too fresh, his betrayal too cruel. Megan was right. Maintaining a façade was the only way he could have protected her from Dopp, and from herself.
Whether she could ever love him again was another story. How could she regain trust in him after all that had happened? But that was the least of her worries. What mattered now was his access to the other side. In merely two and a half days, they needed a plan. How she wished they could speak face-to-face. But she was cornered, here at the clinic with the inspector and anywhere else with Dopp, who would certainly notice if Trent entered her building.
Tonight, she remembered, was Wednesday, the night of her weekly piano lesson at Trent’s apartment. Although it was nearly impossible for her to play anymore, she had insisted on keeping up the lessons. The teacher had been gamely cooperating, although they all knew it was becoming futile. Arianna looked down at her fingers and wiggled them; they moved slowly, as if in a vat of viscous fluid. There was hardly any point in going tonight, unless just to hear the teacher play. And then she gave a little gasp.
“What happened?” the inspector asked.
She coughed. “I just got a sharp pain.”
“Oh.”
“It’s okay, it went away.”
The inspector’s eyes glazed over.
She took her cell phone out of her purse and, without hesitation, called Trent.
“Hello?” he answered after only one ring.
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Hey! How are you feeling?”
“Eh. Tired. I’m calling about my lesson tonight.”
“Oh yeah?” His voice let on disappointment. “Should I cancel it?”
“Actually, no. I thought you might, but I still want to try,” she said carefully. “So I’ll be there around six thirty.”
A moment went by as he processed surprise. “Great!” he said.
“See you then.”
She closed her phone with amusement, thinking how baffled he must be. But tonight was the only opportunity, in spite of Dopp’s phantom ear, that they could talk in person without worrying about being overheard.
* * *
When Sam arrived at Arianna’s apartment later that night, duffel bag in tow, he knew better than to ring the bell. Instead he twisted the doorknob, and as he expected, the door opened. Anticipation gripped him as he walked into the foyer. He looked left, to the kitchen and right, to the living room, but she was nowhere to be seen. A loud laugh track sounded down the hallway from the television in her bedroom. He set down his bag on the wood floor, wondering if he ought to turn around and leave, rather than risk bothering her, but his desire to see her was too strong. Now that she was no longer sucked in by that traitor—that greatest of blessings in disguise—Sam was allowing himself to dream again. As fraught with danger as the future was, there lurked romantic undertones that thrilled him. With the cells growing to plan, Arianna would soon receive the transfer, and then they would escape and live together, in perhaps the most unexpectedly desirable outcome possible: He was going to spend every day with her, watching her health improve, and rejoicing from both his brilliant success and her constant company.
Of course, Sam knew there was still a considerable hurdle they needed to overcome, namely how to evade that bastard outside. But it was outrageous to think that a nosy bureaucrat might prevent her from receiving the transfer that ought to save her life, the transfer that would be the culmination of months of dogged work and risky maneuvering. No, that possibility was incomprehensible. If Sam could make a major scientific breakthrough, then the rest of the group ought to be able to handle some tactical planning.
“Sam,” came a whisper. He looked up. Arianna was wheeling down the hallway with a tired smile, her bedroom door closed behind her. He broke into a grin.
“Hi,” he whispered back as she stopped in front of him. He motioned to his bag on the floor. “It’s all ready to go.”
“Good, I was just packing, too. How long have you been here? I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Well, that was the idea. Not long, maybe a couple minutes.”
“So how are you?” she asked. Sam smiled—that was one of the things he loved about her. What was a common throwaway remark, she meant as a sincere inquiry.
“I’m pretty excited,” he said. Up close, her skin looked as thin as cheesecloth over her bones, and it made him want to shudder. The transfer would not be coming a day too soon. “How about you?”
“All I can think of is two more days.”
“Same here.”
“How are the cells?” she asked.
“Four perfect embryos so far. I’m just about ready to extract the stem cells and then inject the growth factors.”
“Tonight?”
“As soon as I get back.”
She beamed. “So you think this is really going to work?”
“I have every reason to think so.”
“It’s just so incredible.” Then her face darkened. “All we need is a way to throw off Dopp.”
Sam’s pulse quickened in defiance. “I could kill that asshole.”
“Luckily, I don’t think you’ll have to. I’m going to talk to Trent about it tonight and see how he can help us.”
“You’re going to give that liar the time of day!”
“We can’t afford to cut him off, Sam. Plus, it does seem like he only meant the best for
