Chapter 22
I realized I couldn’t risk calling Lucy because my sister might overhear, so I pulled out my phone, thinking I’d text her. There were quite a few missed texts on a three-way with Lucy and Emma, and I saw that Milo had called me, too. While I’d spoken to him a few days before, I was still in my crazy state of thinking that Drew’s death was no big deal when we talked, so I was eager to call him back to claim I’d been in shock or something.
Noises next door told me Cadence was in her room, but she wasn’t particularly loud, and I hoped she’d fall asleep for a little while. After that, I hoped I’d get a chance to talk to her. There was so much going on all of a sudden, and I felt pressed for time, even though I had no idea why.
I checked my texts first. The girls had discovered the car was a Lamborghini Aventador, which cost about $400,000. That number was from Emma, so I knew it wasn’t an exaggeration. I almost dropped my phone. Again.
Also, Emma explained that you have to have a license to practice medicine in Iowa to be admitted to a hospital as a physician, so Dr. Sanderson’s story didn’t make any sense. She said there was only one Dr. Elliott Sanderson in the entire database of doctors she had accessed, and he was licensed in Oklahoma as a psychiatrist.
There was a whole lotta shade being thrown at this person’s story.
I sent them several texts to let them know what I had overheard and went ahead and jotted it down in the notebook as well. I figured at this point, it was smart to have notes in various places. My family wasn’t typically nosy, so I wasn’t too worried someone might find them, and Lucy’s parents never messed with her stuff. There was a chance her maid might find it, but she only came to clean once a week and would probably think Lucy was just being weird. Emma’s parents knew she was weird so they wouldn’t think twice about seeing her write down something that sounded like a fantasy game.
“Sunday: Cadence returned. I saw her get out of the Lamborghini Aventador she had ridden away in the other night, and I think it was the same girl who was driving though I couldn’t really see her. Cadence got out of the car like a normal person but then moved so quickly to the house, all I could see was a streak. I am certain that this happened, even though it is unbelievable.
“I overheard my mother asking about Cadence’s transformation. My dad said that he thought my mom was envisioning a scene from a horror movie. My mom mentioned that she thought Aaron was just telling them what he wanted them to hear. My dad said they had been a bit scared and thought the whole situation was circumspect, which Emma told me means, ‘guarded’ or ‘wary,’ so I think that means he is suspicious of what is going on. I concur, though my parents clearly know a lot more than I do.”
Once I was satisfied that I’d written down everything I needed to, I gave Milo a call, hoping he didn’t think I was nuts like he did the other day when I’d talked to him.
“Hey, Cass. Is your sister home?”
Milo is often very direct, like Emma. “Yes, she’s here. Listen, Milo, I’m sorry I was acting so weird the other day when we were talking. I think I was still in shock about, you know, everything. I’m really upset about Drew, and I am just hoping my sister is okay.” I kept my voice down, hoping Cadence couldn’t hear me, but it didn’t really matter if she did. Milo and I weren’t going to discuss anything I wasn’t supposed to know.
“That’s fine,” Milo said, clearly accepting my crazy explanation. “I just wanted to tell you I saw you leaving Jack Cook’s house this morning.”
“Right,” I said. Milo lived down the street from the Cooks, and we’d driven by his house a couple of times. “I just went over to check on him.”
“Yeah, me, too.” Milo was silent for a really long time. “He seems… freaked out.”
Normally, Milo would use more scientific words than “freaked” but I had to agree with his word choice. “I know,” was all I could manage. I wasn’t ready to tell yet another one of my friends that I thought something bizarre was going on with my sister and her friends.
“You saw it, too?”
“Uh huh.”
“I mean… not only did he look awful, the whole time I was trying to talk to him, he kept looking out the window, and at one point he said, ‘I think I’m next.’ Then, his mom came in and calmed him down, saying something about some doctor. It was really weird, Cass.”
I took a deep breath, not knowing what to say. I knew that Milo had every right to be concerned, but I didn’t want to let him know what I knew. “That is bizarre,” I finally said. “He was a little antsy when I was there, but nothing like that.” I wondered if his mother had started using the Dr. Sanderson line with him because she saw what happened when I mentioned him or if she’d been doing it all along.
“Your sister’s not acting like that, is she?” he asked, and I could hear more than just curiosity in his voice. He really thought my sister might be losing it, too.
“No, she’s sad, I think, but not paranoid.” I did not mention that I thought, whatever was happening to Jack, my sister had already gone through it. It had to have something to do with this transformation procedure my parents kept talking about, but I had no idea what it meant. Jack must be in the early stages of transforming or something.
“Well, that’s good,” Milo said. His voice sounded a little calmer, but not completely back to normal. “Okay. I just wanted to check on her. And you.”
“Thanks, Milo,” I said, trying to smile so that he would think I was being nonchalant. I may have to enlist his help later, but not right now.
We hung up, and I saw that I’d missed a whole slew of speculative texts from my girls. I let them know what Milo had told me, and once again, added a notation in the notebook. At this rate, I was going to need a three-ring binder.
“Sunday: Milo called. Said he went to see Jack, who was acting weird. Jack said he ‘thinks he’s next.’ Not sure what this means but wondering if hast something to do with transforming. Are Aaron and Elliott stalking Jack? Will he be their next victim?”
