Page 86 of Swerve
She raises her head to stare at herself in the mirror again, recognizing herself as the caged animal she is. There will be no good end to this. How can there be? They will use her until she is either used up or no longer suitable for their needs. There is only one choice, really. Wait for them to end it. Or end it herself. As soon as she can find a way.
Knox
“The scientific method actually correctly uses the most direct evidence as the most reliable,
because that’s the way you are least likely to get led astray into dead ends and to misunderstand your data.”
—Aubrey de Grey
EMORY HAS GONE to the restroom, and Knox is checking his phone for messages when he glances back at Hagan’s table. So he hadn’t imagined it.
The guy with Hagan is starting to look stoned. He’s staring down at his plate as if he’s never seen food. He reaches for a piece of bread from the basket at the center of the table, picks it up and twirls it around, aims for his mouth and misses.
Knox watches as Hagan leans over and says something to him. The guy’s lips work in an odd, puppet-like way. The two of them sit for another minute or two, Hagan glancing at his watch and then speaking to the man again.
He slides his chair back and stands, then walks over to the other man’s chair, takes his arm and helps him up. The guy wobbles a bit. The waitress walks over and looks concerned. Knox hears her ask if there’s anything she can do to help.
“Slight overindulgence in that wonderful wine,” Hagan says, his voice carrying. “Better get him home. My driver will be outside.”
“Certainly, Senator Hagan,” she says, backing away and giving them room to maneuver through the dining room.
Some of the other guests have started to stare. Hagan shoulders the guy out of the room, disappearing through the doorway Knox had used earlier to check out the hotel.
He slides back his chair and gets up as casually as possible, following the two men. He spots Hagan ahead in the corridor, steps into a recessed doorway, and grabs a glance around the corner. Hagan is all but carrying the guy now, gone any pretense of two drunk buddies having a good time. He hears someone coming and ducks back into the doorway. The voices are low and urgent, but he recognizes the new one. It’s the woman he met in the hallway earlier.
He leans over far enough to verify that he’s right. Their backs are to him, but there’s no mistaking the tall, imposing owner of the hotel. She’s now helping Hagan with the man, pressing what looks like a remote in her right hand. To Knox’s surprise, what had appeared to be part of the hallway wall slides open. He hears the sound of elevator doors opening. And then Hagan and the woman drag the other man inside. And the wall closes behind them.
~
HE WAITS WHERE he is for a minute or two in case they come back out. When there’s no further sound coming from the end of the hall, he steps out and walks quickly back to the restaurant.
Emory is sitting at the table now, looking up at him with a curious expression. “I thought you left without me.”
“We need to go,” he says quickly, pulling his wallet from his jacket.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, her voice low and alarmed.
“I’ll tell you when we get outside. Let’s just pay and go.”
He waves for the waitress, and it seems as if it takes forever for her to run his credit card and bring back the receipt for him to sign. But once they’re outside and headed for the Jeep, Knox takes Emory’s arm and leans in, as if they’re an ordinary couple at the end of an ordinary date.
“Something’s going on here,” he says close to her ear. “We might be being watched. I just saw Senator Hagan drug his dinner date and basically carry him out of the restaurant. And then the owner of the place helped him get the guy into an elevator hidden behind a wall.”
He feels Emory stiffen but she says nothing until he opens her door and waits for her to get in the Jeep, before going around and sliding in the driver’s side.
“What?!” she says, her voice rising.
“I know. It sounds crazy, but something’s going on here.”
“But what could that possibly have to do with Mia?”
“Probably nothing. I don’t know.”
She leans back in her seat, releases a long sigh. “We don’t have time to waste figuring out why the disgruntled husband of your lover is taking advantage of his dinner companion.”
“Ouch,” Knox says, noting the edge to her voice.
“This was just a dead end, wasn’t it?”
