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"We're not going."
"Don't start this again."
He pushed himself out of bed, snarling a yawn. "It's not me. Jeremy's orders. It's a daytime meeting in a public place, so he's taking Antonio and Nick. We're supposed to stay here and rest up for tonight."
"What's tonight?"
He shrugged. "No idea, but I'm sure Jeremy will think of something."
When Jeremy got back, he checked me over and declared I needed more rest. Clay's arm was the bigger concern. It was showing signs of infection, despite Jeremy's thorough cleaning the day before. Being scratched by a rotting corpse isn't exactly sanitary.
Once he cleaned the wound, dosed Clay with antibiotics and rebandaged him, Jeremy had to leave for his meeting with Hull.
"Is there anything we can do here?" I asked as he put away his medical supplies. "Phone calls to make? New questions to research?"
"I believe we've exhausted all those avenues. Just take it easy and rest for tonight."
"What's tonight?"
I could tell by Jeremy's expression that he didn't know.
"Well," he said finally. "Jaime did suggest a seance--"
"Great. With whom?"
"She wants to attempt to contact the people from Cabbagetown who went through that portal, to make sure they're still there and are all right."
"Oh. I guess that would be something..."
"Yeah," Clay said, pitching our muffin wr
appers into the trash across the room. "A waste of time."
"I think her real goal is to see whether there's anyone else in there," Jeremy said.
"Now that's a good idea."
Jeremy looked at me. "Asking Jaime to conduct a difficult seance so she can make the acquaintance of a notorious serial killer?"
I crossed the room and grabbed my half-finished orange juice from Clay before he dumped it. "But it would tell us how true Matthew Hull's story is."
"Perhaps, but I'm hoping to get a better sense of that this afternoon."
For lunch, we met up with Jaime and walked over to the mall. Just through the doors was a newsstand. The headline on one paper caught my eye: KILLER CHOLERA? RAM-PAGING RATS?
"Killer?" I said, veering toward the papers. "Has it killed--?"
"No," Clay said, snagging my arm. "Someone in a nursing home died yesterday, but the other papers say it wasn't related."
"What about the rampaging rats? Have they--?"
"Attacked someone and torn them to shreds?" Clay gave me a look. "I told you we watch too many horror movies. But if you want to go home..."
"No. Jeremy's right. Avoid tap water and rats. I can handle that."
We headed down to the food court. The mall was so quiet you could hear Jaime's heels clicking as we walked down the corridor.
We bought lunch at the little market where Jeremy had bought my breakfast earlier. I suggested we take it outside to Trinity Square, but Clay headed for a forlorn patch of empty tables. I shook my head to Jaime, and followed.
