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Riley glared, but she didn’t ask again. Most likely, even she didn’t trust her people anymore, Bryn thought. Their circle of trust was about as big as this car, now.
They were still at least fifty miles out from the next landmark—Van Horn—when Bryn’s phone rang.
They all froze, staring at her as she pulled it from her pocket. The shrill ring filled the car’s interior, and Patrick said, “Wrong number?”
“Wishful thinking,” Bryn said. No choice, really. The caller ID was blank. She flipped it open and said, “Hello?”
There was a few second’s silence, and she had an intuition of the call being forwarded through a variety of cutout points, and then Manny’s voice said, “Bryn?”
“Affirmative. ”
He let out a slow breath. “We were pretty sure you were all—”
“We aren’t,” she said. “Jane is. ”
“You killed Jane. ”
“If Thorpe’s cure worked, then she’s beyond help. ”
“Oh, it works,” he said. “Better than any of us ever expected. The nanite shutdown takes about two minutes, five at the most. And they don’t come back. ”
“How do you know—”
“You’re coming up on an exit for Highway 285. Take it northwest toward New Mexico. You’ll be met. ”
“Manny, wait! Annie—”
Click, and he was gone. Dead air.
She felt short of breath. Two minutes. Five at most.
And they don’t come back.
He didn’t have any guinea pigs.
Except her sister. No, no. She doesn’t have the upgrade.
What was to stop him from giving it to her? He’d have samples, she knew that. Manny always had samples. He’d probably managed to take one from her, while she was close by.
That made her feel faint and sick, and she gripped the phone so tightly she felt the plastic crack in her hand. Don’t you fucking hurt her. Not anymore than she’s already been hurt.
“Bryn?” Patrick asked. He sounded worried.
She swallowed and said, “Take the exit to 285 toward New Mexico. ”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t trust Manny not to kill my sister. ”
Chapter 25
They never made it to anything like a destination along the narrow highway; the signs all advertised the faded glory of the Carlsbad Caverns and all its attractions, but just over the state line, Joe said, “Pat, we’ve got a bird coming in. Check that. Two birds, eight o’clock. ”
They were large helicopters, military style if not military-owned, painted in desert camouflage, and as Patrick pulled off the road, the two helicopters circled overhead in a tight spiral. One drifted down in a storm of blown dirt and tumbleweeds to settle about a hundred feet away, while the other watched from overhead.
Pansy bailed out of the helicopter’s bay and ran over to the Challenger. Bryn had the door open before she reached them, and Pansy must have expected a hug, because she smiled, but the smile didn’t last long as Bryn slammed her against the car. “What did that psycho do to my sister?” Bryn shouted at her over the idling roar of the bird. “What happened to Annie?”
“Bryn, let go—let go!” Pansy was no lightweight; she slipped out of Bryn’s hold and hit her with a solid two-handed shove that sent her stumbling back two long steps. Riley, Joe, and Patrick were all out of the vehicle now. None of them intervened until Bryn reached for the sidearm that went with her uniform, and then Riley restrained her.
