Page 37 of Resurrect Me

“And I miss yours,” he says as he adjusts the mask at the back.

I can’t even see his hair with this thing over it. My frown turns to a scowl. I know he notices, but he ignores my mood.

“Any problems with the cops? You haven’t heard anything more about Starkey, have you?”

I shake my head. “No, not a peep.”

“That’s good. If you do, let’s lawyer up,” he says and sighs. “And I know just the guy.”

“Hopefully you’ve confirmed this attorney is not part of The Org or has zero relation to Declan.”

“None. He’s one of us. One of The Rebellis.”

I nod and shiver when another icy draft hits me.

“I lost two more patients,” I say.

I can’t see his facial expressions, but I can tell his jaw is flexing as the mask jiggles slightly.

“They were both on Duselizab, right?”

“Yes,” I reply. “I reported both cases. My manager and supervisor continue to sweep it under the rug. And the hospital administrators ignore me.”

“Yeah, that’s because they all work for The Org.”

“I doubt my supervisor is in on it, though. She’s a good woman. She wouldn’t knowingly feed these young people a medication that could kill them. At least…I don’t think she would.”

“Didn’t we used to think Declan was a good man? Didn’t we let him into our house…around our children? Didn’t he sit at our Christmas dinner table five years in a row? Good people can be turned. All it takes is a little extra money. Power. Sometimes a threat or two. Or maybe they were never truly good people to begin with. Maybe for some people, the goodness is all a façade.”

“I’m tired of this,” I say. “I want things to go back to normal. How they used to be. You, me, Cammy and Ben. Just a normal family with a white picket fence. You know?”

He nods but is distracted when his phone beeps. He quickly slides it from his back pocket to check the notification. Then he grunts and shoves it back in his pocket.

“We were never normal, Tacy. You know that. I have a monster in me that kept itself buried for decades. Now that it’s been released, it won’t ever go away. It’s ready to devour evil. It feeds on it. My mission in this life is simple: defend the innocent. And to do that, I must corral the corrupt. Dismantle The Org. I can’t ever go back. Not until they are no more.”

“I’m not normal either, Sol. I mean, Aris,” I blush after I say the wrong name. “I have a past. A dark past.”

“Tacy, whatever you did while you were in Washington was because you were in survival mode. People do whatever it takes to keep themselves going. You had no father, and your mother was never around. They abandoned you. And when that coven, or cult, accepted you with open arms, you felt loved. Seen. And they took advantage of that. You were vulnerable. You aren’t to blame. Starkey and his crew are to blame.”

“And we killed him.”

“The mother fucker deserved more than a quick death. He deserved to be hung up from the rafters, his guts ripped out of his navel and forced to eat his own excrement.”

“Brutal,” I say and chuckle. Nurses have a dark sense of humor. As do escaped cult members. And…stalkers.

“It’s true. Not just for working for The Org but for abducting you. And all the times he manipulated you and used you, when you needed a friend.”

Another ding escapes Aris’s jean pocket, and I withdraw from his embrace. I glance at my watch. Ten AM.

“I hate to do this, Tace, but I’ve got to go,” he says as he replies to a text message.

“Okay…but I really can’t be part of fight club?” I ask teasingly.

He snorts and caresses my face. “You know that’s a bad idea, Babydoll. You’re already too deep into this with the questions you’re asking about Duselizab. And if your abduction is any indication, we know you’re already on The Org’s list. And stay away from Declan.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from him in days. I think the last time I told him to fuck off was enough for him to steer clear. At least for a little while.”

“We still don’t know if he was involved in your abduction. But I suspect he has something to do with it, since you mentioned asking him about the medication beforehand. If you see or hear from him, let me know immediately. Call me on this number.”

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