Page 73 of Gorgeous Misery

“Nick.” Merc’s voice is tense. He might even be a little scared. He should be scared. He thinks he got out. But it’s really hard to get out. And if you’ve got skills the way he has skills, you’re never really out, are you? And don’t even get me started about those girls.

Merc is just about to walk over and grab me by the throat when I finally answer him. “Have you ever heard of something called the cure? And when I say ‘cure,’ imagine quotes around that word.”

“Cure for what?” Harrison asks.

I need to be careful here. I don’t want to say too much, but I can’t afford to say too little, either.

Merc is clearly running out of patience because his next words are forced out through clenched teeth. “You heard him. Cure for what?”

“Have you heard of it?” I ask.

“Maybe.”

“OK. I’m gonna take that as a yes. Did you drag it out of Wendy? Or did it pop up before you took her?”

“It came from her.”

I nod. “All right. What did she say?”

“Never mind what she said. What do you have to say about it?”

“Ya know, I’m not gonna take it personal that you’re getting all edgy with me, because I get it. When you hear the word ‘cure’ you think ‘disease’ and then ‘death,’ right? So I get it. I’d feel the same way if someone were talking about my daughter in conjunction with that word too.”

“Nick. I swear to fucking God, I am not playing games here. Tell me what the fucking cure is.”

“What it is? Well, that’s a hard one. Let’s start with the disease. Because we’re all familiar with the disease. It’s called the Zero Program, right? Babies are born, they grow into kids, and these kids turn into little killers. Now, do you remember, way back in the day when we were planning Santa Barbara, there was a discussion or two about Sasha and triggers?”

I think Merc actually forgot about this, because it takes him a couple moments. And then it’s not even him who speaks. It’s Harrison.

“Yeah,” Harrison says. “I do remember that. But it was bullshit. Sasha never had a trigger.”

“Nope. She never did. I’m like ninety-nine point nine-nine percent sure no one ever really fucked with Sasha’s mind the way they might’ve—and I’m just using this as a ‘for instance’—Angelica.”

Merc lets out a breath. “Does James know about this?”

“Yeah. He does. He was part of some dark shit—as we are all aware—in his formative years. So even though I’ve never had any conversations with James about a trigger for Angelica, I’m sure he’s kept it in mind.”

“He never said anything to me. And maybe I don’t see him regularly, but we’ve met up at least a dozen times over the years.”

“I’m sure Angelica is fine,” I say. And I mean this. “She’s what, eighteen now? I hear she’s got plans for college this fall. I think if it were a problem, it would’ve shown up by now.”

“Wait,” Harrison says. “This trigger. It’s like… innate? Something genetic? Or it’s outside stimulus?”

“No one knows, Harrison. Let’s forget about Angelica and your girls for a moment. Let’s talk about Indie Anna Accorsi.”

Merc squints. “This is Adam’s girl?”

“Correct. She was triggered.”

“What?” That comes from Merc. Harrison actually gasps.

“One hundred percent. She’s gone off script so many times, it’s kind of a miracle she’s still alive. She tried to kill Adam when she was sixteen. That same day everything was going down in Kansas he was talking to my brother Santos. And Santos warned him to get rid of her. Same day, Merc. He goes home, catches her with a boy, was gonna kick the boy’s ass—as is his right—and she lost her mind for about two minutes. She fucked him up. I’m talking Adam was in the hospital for three months. Brain surgery and everything. He could barely walk when he woke up. Almost an entire year of PT to get back up to speed.”

“What the fuck?” That’s Harrison. Merc is silent.

“Then,” I continue, “she tried to kill them all a few years later. Even McKay. And I get that you don’t know her, but Adam didn’t raise her alone. He brought her up as responsibly as he could. Better than you did your girls, that’s for sure. And I’m not being disparaging here, Merc, because Adam did a helluva lot better than James too. He has a guy called McKay. A bonafide Company Zero trainer. He did all Indie’s care and feeding through the years. And Adam had Donovan too. AKA Carter. Which, OK, fine. It was probably Donovan-slash-Carter who triggered Indie in the first place. But there’s no way to know that for sure unless—”

“Unless I go in and pick apart his mind.”