Chapters (54)
- Cover
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Epilogue
- A Note from the Author
- Discussion Questions
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Acclaim for David Rawlings
- Also by David Rawlings
Her spoon froze, and a look of terror flashed into her eyes. “Because when I took the photo of everyone else on the deck, it looked like you were holding hands with her.”
Twenty-Five
Kelly stood frozen to the spot outside the laundromat, the words from her phone ringing in her ears.
“Say that again?”
Dr. Scott’s voice hardened, and the gravity of his repeated point landed hard. “Two of my patients are in the hospital because of a reaction to Mendacium, and I need to know what’s going on.”
Kelly’s world whirled. Children were sick, and she was to blame. She could have warned Anthony, but she hadn’t for one simple reason: to save her own situation. She stared at the hand-painted cardboard sign in the window: “Coming clean! Laundromat now open!!!”
If only it were that easy.
“Anthony, I’ll call you back in a few minutes.” She needed to think.
A battle raged within her. On one side were sick children. On the other side lay honesty without a home in which to live. Between them the company line Rubicon Pharma expected her to toe. Either way, children would suffer—Dr. Scott’s patients or her own daughter. Simon was right about the tightrope. The sense of vertigo was paralyzing.
The little bell jingled as Kelly pushed on the door to Simon’s Film Lab.
Simon turned from straightening photo frames. “Wonderful to see you again, Kelly. How can I help you today?”
Kelly had been rehearsing her line since she dropped off Charlotte. “I know you told me you couldn’t give me a copy of Daniel’s photos, but he told me there were problems with them. I need to know what those problems are.”
Simon leaned back on the frames and frowned. “Is Daniel having problems with his photos?”
“He says that’s why he can’t show them to me.”
Simon dropped his head. “Well, if that’s what he says, then he’s having problems with his photos.” He moved past her to the counter.
Kelly’s words tumbled out, her well-crafted argument fracturing with Simon’s casual dismissal. “I was hoping you could give me a copy of his photos so I can find out what’s going on with him.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. We have a sacred contract, but I am pleased you’ve been honest with me.”
“Why can’t I get his photos? I’m his wife, and I need to know what’s going on.” She threw a frustrated look at the frames on the wall. One of them had changed. The balding man in the unbuttoned business shirt and the middle-aged woman in track pants and a San Francisco sweatshirt were no longer fighting. Now they were smiling, an arm around each other, the orange of the sweatshirt now a pale beige.
Simon studied her. “You look troubled.”