“I’ve changed my mind,” she said. “Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if your mother thought we liked each other. It’s ridiculous, but what harm could it do? She just wants something to be excited about.”
“But I don’t want you to feel used,” said Josh.
“Don’t worry,” said Lisa. “It’s fine. If you were trying to use me, you wouldn’t have told me the truth.”
She expected him to argue, but he didn’t.
“Okay,” he said. “Should we plan something for tomorrow? It’s a school night, but if we don’t stay out too late, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“I think that would be good,” said Lisa. “There’s a park down by the river. We could go there. It’s a nice place, and no one would notice us.”
“Perfect,” said Josh. “Let’s do it.”
They went into the house. Lisa felt confused. It didn’t matter that they were only going out to escape from their families because they both knew information that could jeopardize their lives. The prospect of getting to know Josh better delighted her.
Chapter 13
Lisa and Josh arrived at the park the next day after school. There was a concert at the pavilion, so they walked in the opposite direction until the music faded to an almost imperceptible noise. They had talked about unimportant things during their brief drive from Lisa’s house to the park, but now that they had arrived at their destination, neither of them broke the silence. Lisa walked over to the concrete barrier that separated the grass from the river and gazed across the rippling water at the far shore.
“It’s nice to get out of the house,” said Josh. “Back home, my mom would never let us sit around. We were always busy with school or work or sports. It’s baseball season now. My school was supposed to win the state championship this year. It’s funny—there was a time when that really mattered to me, but now I don’t even care.”
“You have other things on your mind,” said Lisa.
“You can say that again,” he said. “So much has happened over the past few months that I don’t even know what to think anymore. The worst thing is not knowing who to trust. Your parents might not be getting along at the moment, but at least they’re not involved in a horrible web of conspiracy like my grandfather.”
Lisa didn’t know what to say.
“Do you mind if we keep walking?” she said.
“No,” said Josh. “It’s probably a good idea, considering everything.”
This remark didn’t comfort Lisa. She felt discouraged. There were so many things she couldn’t tell him. She had somehow managed to ignore the fact that her father was guilty of murder, but she knew the truth would eventually come out if they told the police about Graham. She couldn’t look at Josh. Bowing her head, she trudged along without watching where she was going until Josh stopped her.
“Isn’t that your dad?” he said in a barely audible voice.
Lisa looked up. Sure enough, her father was standing there with his back toward them. Instinctively, she grabbed Josh’s arm and dragged him behind the nearest tree, a gnarled oak with Spanish moss hanging off its branches. Although they were concealed, Lisa still felt exposed.
“Lisa, what’s wrong?” said Josh.
“I haven’t talked to him since the wedding,” she said.
“Well, maybe this is a good opportunity for you to tell him how you feel,” said Josh.
“You don’t understand,” said Lisa. “We shouldn’t have come here. I can’t breathe.”
She felt like she was suffocating. Her vision grew hazy and her face went numb. She decided she was dying and closed her eyes. Josh put his arm around her shoulders, and she clung to him in desperation.
After several minutes, she realized she was still alive. She felt her face turning red. Josh probably thought she was the most pathetic girl he had ever met. She tried to pull herself together. Through the moss, she saw something she couldn’t believe was real. She blinked, but it didn’t go away. She reluctantly admitted the truth: her father wasn’t alone, and his companion was Graham. Lisa had never seen Graham in such a sorry state before: his eyes were red, and his face was swollen.
“Hello, Andrew,” he said. “I apologize for being late.”
“If this isn’t a good time, I’d be glad to leave,” said Lisa’s father.
“No, the boss wants an update,” said Graham. He staggered to the nearest bench and sat down with a groan. “Don’t pay any attention to me. How’s our patient?”
“Not good,” said Andrew. “Here are her most recent test results.”
Lisa decided she was having a nightmare. Nothing about the situation felt real. She tried to wake up, but nothing changed. Her father gave Graham an envelope. Graham ripped it open with feverish excitement and extracted a report.
“It must be difficult to get this information every day, considering the deplorable state of your laboratory,” he said, flipping through the pages. “I assume you’ve been outsourcing everything. It’s probably getting prohibitively expensive.”
“No kidding,” said Lisa’s father.
“To be honest, I actually regret the part I played in that whole fiasco, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” said Graham. “At least nobody got hurt. It could have been much worse.” He finished reading the report. “Sabrina’s really going down the drain, isn’t she? What’s the timeline on the treatment schedule?”
“She’s supposed to get the third dose tomorrow, but I’m not sure if she can tolerate it,” said Lisa’s father. “She’s very fragile. I don’t know how much longer she’s going to last. If you’ve got any suggestions, I’d be grateful.”
“Unfortunately, we’ve hit a snag in our research,” said Graham. “You can only
