LITMIR.BIZ

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doing it for years, and dug into the food. At least Auggie dug in, Liv forced herself to eat some of everything then sipped at her Diet Coke.

      She didn’t want to go see Hague. She wanted to stay right here. With Auggie. Forever. “What’s your last name?” she asked.

      He thought a moment, then said, “Rafferty.”

      “Auggie Rafferty.”

      “August Rafferty,” he corrected her. “I think . . . tomorrow we’re going to have to go to the police.”

      “No.”

      “Liv, if we don’t find out anything from your brother or—”

      “I need more time. Just a little more time. Please. August. . .”

      “Nobody calls me that but my family. Auggie’ll work just fine.” He sounded depressed.

      “I’m sorry. Let’s go see Hague. And tomorrow we can go to Halo Valley and see if we can find out more about Dr. Navarone. Then we can talk about the police. Not tonight, okay?” She felt desperate. Their time together was coming to an end and she didn’t want that.

      “Everything changes tomorrow,” he said, and he sounded so sober that her heart clutched.

      “Okay. I—I can . . . okay . . .” She swallowed hard.

      “Let’s go talk to Hague,” he said, getting up and tossing the crumpled bag into a trash can by the back door.

      She couldn’t decipher his mood as they headed across the river to Hague’s condo. Her anxiety ratcheted up as soon as they drew near; she would have to see Della, most likely, and Hague’s companion was unpredictable. She probably knew that the police were looking for Liv, and was just as likely to turn her in as help her.

      Pulling the baseball cap from her backpack, she smashed it on her head and down her forehead so she could scarcely see.

      “Put your hand through my arm,” Auggie said once they were parked and on the street. “Lean in. More people will remember you if you’re alone.”

      “You know a lot of tricks for a fisherman.”

      “Human nature,” he said, and then they were inside the building and pulling back the bar on the elevator. Auggie closed the door and they rattled their way to the third floor.

      “Della won’t like this,” Liv warned. “She might even turn me in as soon as we leave.”

      “We’re going to the police tomorrow anyway, right?”

      “That’s the plan,” Liv said, but the lack of conviction in her voice caused him to put his hands on her shoulders and turn her toward him.

      “I mean it, Liv. You’ve been playing a dangerous game with a killer. I’ve been playing it with you. But the best thing we could do is go to the police.”

      “After we go to Halo Valley.”

      “Just don’t tell me something different after we’ve been there.”

      Liv was no proof against those intense blue eyes staring down at her. She twisted away and knocked on the door. He made her heart race. From the fear of taking an irreversible step, like going to the authorities, but also at a more feminine level.

      Della answered after a few moments, her own icy blue eyes raking over Liv and landing on Auggie. Her blond hair was pulled back into its ubiquitous bun and her expression was hard to read.

      “Liv,” she said after a moment, her voice just short of a sneer. “Did you forget to tell me you were wanted by the police last time you were here?”

      “I’m still wanted by the police,” Liv snapped back, “so, go ahead and call them and let’s get it over with. I want to see my brother.”

      “Well.” She reared back at Liv’s tone.

      “I’m Auggie,” Auggie said, reaching out a hand.

      Della took it in hers and seemed to thaw a bit. “Where did she find you?” she said with a lilt.

      Oh, brother, Liv thought, seething. She realized maybe there was some fierceness there after all, which helped restore her humor a little. “Auggie’s a friend who’s been helping me on my quest to find out what happened to Mama.”

      “Really.” Della stepped back from the door, allowing them entry. The three of them walked to the back toward Hague’s room where he was sitting in his chair, glaring at some loose-leaf pages in his hands.

      “Who are you?” he demanded of Auggie.

      “Auggie Rafferty.” He started to put out a hand to him as well, but Hague didn’t set down the pages so he dropped his arm.

      Hague regarded Auggie suspiciously and rubbed his scruffy beard as if he were comparing himself to him. Auggie had shaved in the morning but was, like Liv, looking a little used up after their long day. Still, compared to Hague, he could have been heading for the board meeting of a major corporation.

      “Hague, I need to talk to you,” Liv said.

      “I don’t think I want to.” His eyes never left Auggie.

      “It’s about the doctor. The one with the rigor smile?”

      Hague’s gaze jumped to Liv. “The doctor doesn’t have a rigor smile.”

      “You said, ‘They keep their hands in their pockets and wear rigor smiles.’ That’s almost verbatim. And you said we both knew him from when we were kids. Did you mean Dr. Frank Navarone?”

      Hague’s eyes slid around in their sockets, as if he were trying to look around the room but couldn’t control the motion. “The zombie,” said Hague.

      “The zombie stalker is Dr. Navarone,” Liv said. “That’s right, isn’t it?”

      “I can’t talk with him here.” He slapped the papers onto a table by his chair and gestured in Auggie’s direction. Then, in an about-face, he turned to Auggie and said, “I saw you at the Cantina. I saw you.”

      “The Cantina?” Auggie repeated.

      “You were watching me. Listening. You were with the others. You want to hurt Livvie, don’t you?”

      “No,” Auggie said, surprised.

      “No, Hague. He’s with me. He wasn’t at the Cantina. Was Dr. Navarone at Grandview when you were there?”

      “Out of the sides of my eyes . . . he’s there . . . he’s watching me, but he wants you, Livvie. He wants you.”

      She blinked, feeling tense. “Dr. Navarone?”

      “He wasn’t my doctor. My doctor was Dr. Tambor. He was Jeff ’s doctor, though, and he was Wart’s, and some other guys. They were all zapped.” Hague gave a huffing laugh, then said in a lower, conspiratorial voice, “It’s the government, you know. He worked for the government. That’s what happens when you work for them. They put receivers inside the folds of your brain. In the creases, where they can’t be found. The mindbenders, they’re at the hospitals. That’s where they are. At Grandview and everywhere.”

      “But Dr. Navarone worked at Grandview when you were there,” Liv repeated, seeking to clarify and keep Hague on track.

      He suddenly sat up straight, slamming back the flipped-up leg rest and jumping to his feet in one motion.

      “Hague,” Della said uncertainly, shooting Liv a look.

      He grabbed Liv and dragged her to the other side of the room so fast, she stumbled and had to cling to him for support. “Sister,” he said on a breath near her ear. “RUN!!!!”

      His bellow reverberated throughout the rooms and Della’s head whipped back and forth between Hague and Liv, as if she couldn’t decide whom to handle first. She chose Hague, rushing to him and tugging on his

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