“You never ask me about Cara.”
One of my more colorful curses slipped out, and he sighed.
“Relax. I’m not going to start hounding you again. I just need you to listen.” He must have taken my deep breath as an agreement, because he continued without a pause. “Those first few days were really confusing. Some of what I remember doesn’t really . . . fit . . . with other parts. But, by now, it seems like you should have asked me something about Cara leaving. Where she went, have I heard from her . . . something . . . and you haven’t—”
“But you said you didn’t know! Out on the porch that first . . . on the porch.” Damnation.
“That wasn’t the first day.” He crossed his arms. “That’s it, right there. Things just don’t add up. I didn’t really notice until I realized how many questions Phil and Maureen ask . . . but not you.” Since I couldn’t meet his eyes, I had an all too clear view of his lips tightening. “Don’t you think it’s odd that I have no idea where she’s gone? Ever wondered what I’m going to do with her clothes and things? Don’t you . . . ” his voice thickened, “ . . . don’t you think enough of me to ask if I’ve looked for her? Do you really think I’d let her just disappear and not try to find her?”
“Adam . . . ”
“No. Just listen. Please. You don’t need to say anything, just let me.”
What had I done? I’d ruined the whole role-playing make-believe thing because none of what he’d said had even crossed my mind. Eileen would’ve known—if she was older. A loving husband wouldn’t just let his pregnant wife walk out! Of course he’d been searching for her . . .
“Lila, see . . . that look you get. Right there. I’m not asking you to say anything, but I know that you know something, and you either can’t or won’t tell me.”
I opened my mouth again, but he saved me the trouble of lying.
“Don’t. It’s alright, I guess. It isn’t alright, but I trust you. When I went to the police, I was careful. I needed their help to look for her, but I didn’t want to risk any trouble for you or Eileen so I didn’t mention—”
“Police! When?” Oh, God. Did the aliens anticipate this?
“Three weeks ago? Lila, I had to!” He rushed on, unaware that my fear was for him. “Cara can’t do this on her own! At first I was . . . I don’t know . . . too hurt, I guess, to think straight. But then I realized she was the one not thinking straight. She needs help, and I can’t let her down.”
There it was again. The niggling hint that he’d married her because she needed him. Oh, my God, how horrid am I? I crossed my arms and dug my fingernails into my ribs, relishing the pain—deserving more—as I tried to smooth my expression.
“So, you just wanted to let me know that the police might need an interview or something?”
His shoulders slumped. “No, Lila. If that was what I wanted to tell you, I would’ve said something the day I went to them.”
I wrapped my arms more tightly. “So . . . you just wanted to let me know that you think I know something.”
“That’s already obvious, isn’t it? Considering that even now you’re not asking me if I’ve found any clues to where she might be?”
I lifted my shoulders. No comment. My misery was getting harder to hide and a hot sting on my right side told me I might’ve drawn blood through my blouse.
He hadn’t moved, but I wanted to back up. No, what I really wanted was to scream for Sal to get his alien ass back here and tell Adam what was going on! Tell us both so we could end this ridiculous charade, and Adam could demand that his wife be returned to him.
Alien versus Marine? Marine would win. Hands down, no contest. That was a fight I could picture.But these psychological games? Spying and mind wipes and vanishing people? That wasn’t fair. Not in love or war.
Is this a war?
“Lila, are you listening to me?”
“What? Yes!” Drat! What had he said? God, I missed my angels.
“That’s all? Just ‘yes?’”
“No?”
Lila, tell him you weren’t listening!
“Adam, I’m sorry. I kind of—”
A sudden yowl pierced the air.
Eileen! I sprinted, shoving the screen door open and nearly stumbling over my daughter’s feet. She was sitting on the porch, her body tucked awkwardly against the side of the house, squeezing her bare forearm with one hand. Her guilty look spoke for itself, so she just raised her arm and let her voice tremble.
“Pebbles scratched me.”
I sank to my knees. Pitiful. Whether I meant her for eavesdropping again, or me for being an easy sucker, I wasn’t sure.
“Let me see.”
She hesitated, but moved her hand when Adam bent to see. There were three white scratches on the tender skin near her wrist, but they weren’t bleeding.
“Pebbles was in my lap, but then a flock of birds started circling over the marsh and she freaked out.”
“She was hungry after all, huh?” Adam glanced at me, gauging whether I was mad or not, and I rolled my eyes. He chuckled and offered Eileen a hand, but she looked up at me with a hopeful expression.
Shaking my head, I stuck a hand out, too, and together Adam and I hauled her up.
✽✽✽
He heard her voice, exasperated and loving, as it filtered through the rustling, lapping blackness, and was grateful. The Diminishers were gnawing their way through his optic circuitry, burrowing into his cells and synapses to digest the vision he had come to rely on; but he had been allowed to keep his audial enhancers. If he could focus, if he could ignore the shooting, burning pains ripping through his tissues, then he could find his way to her.
The wet stick of heavily saturated sediment pulled at his body as he struggled to stand. The smells! They were so intense. Decay and brine. Spicy, spiny vegetation. Long
