Red Queen (42 page)

“Kendor told me I had the same ability. Do you think you could help me activate it so at least a few people in witch world won't know who I am?”

“That's why I'm here. To help you get started. But first tell me who you want to hide from and why.”

“From the Lapras, of course.”

Alfred shook his head. “You've got to be more specific.”

“I want to go back to Henderson, to a spot Whip pointed out to us. I have a feeling the house where they're keeping Lara is close to where Huck is staying.”

“But there is no Huck in this world.”

“I know that.”

Alfred's face darkened. “Is there something else you want to tell me?”

I thought I'd better change the subject. “How many witch genes do you really have?” I asked.

My question amused him. “Let's get to know each other a little better before we share such personal information.” He stood. “So, are you ready for your first lesson?”

“Are we going somewhere?”

“All we need is a mirror. Like the one attached to your closet.”

“I did this before with Russell,” I said. “I went inside my reflection and saw through its eyes.”

“We're going to do the opposite today. You're going to stay on this side of the mirror, in witch world, but you're going to alter your reflection until you're convinced you look different. The key is to trust in the power of your imagination.”

Before we began, Alfred had me shower and get dressed. He even gave me time to eat a turkey sandwich that room service had brought. Then he turned all business. He made me stand and stare at the closet mirror as I slowly and methodically altered my face.

At first the exercise seemed like nothing more than fooling myself. For a few seconds, now and then, I imagined my lips larger and redder, but when I stopped telling myself how they had changed, they went back to the way they always were. What made the exercise even more frustrating was Alfred wouldn't let me sit down and rest. And he wouldn't let me close my eyes and wander off. I had to stay 100 percent focused on my face.

“Maybe I'm not ready for this power after all,” I said.

“You're more ready than you think. Kendor saw it in you and I do as well. Now, what kind of lips do you want to have?”

“Angelina Jolie lips. They're lush and seductive. They pout
all by themselves. They're the kind of lips any guy in the world would give his life to kiss.”

“What do you see in the mirror?” he asked, for what seemed the hundredth time.

“Nothing. I mean, just my face.”

“Tell me again what kind of lips you want to have.”

We went through the same song and dance again. And again. Then, just when I was definitely ready to quit, I suddenly blinked and my whole body trembled. For an instant, in the closet mirror, I imagined I could see through my face. And then . . .

“Wait a second!” I exclaimed. “This is incredible. My lips have actually changed! They're not reverting back to normal!”

“How about your nose? What kind of nose do you have?”

“A proud nose. Bold but not too big.”

“Your eyes. What color are your eyes?”

“Bright green. They dazzle. My hair is bright red. It looks like it's on fire.” I started laughing and couldn't stop. At the same time the feeling of heat grew inside my solar plexus. I was close to exploding and turned to Alfred. “How do I look to you?” I asked, excited.

“Like a brand-new person.”

“Seriously?”

“The mirror doesn't lie. Your power has emerged. A little more practice and James and Alexis could walk in here and talk to you for an hour and they wouldn't know who you were.”

“That reminds me. Do you know where James is staying these days?”

Alfred hesitated. “Yes.”

“How is he holding up?” I asked, wondering if they were in contact.

“What do you mean?”

“I haven't seen him since I got connected. I was told to avoid him. I was just wondering if he suspects what's going on.”

Alfred shook his head. “I don't know James very well.”

“Do you happen to know his phone number?”

“Your father never gave it to you?”

“Not in this world he didn't,” I said, my tone challenging. I knew he had it.

Alfred pulled out his cell and scrolled through his list of numbers. He found James's cell and gave it to me. I thanked him.

“No problem,” he replied before changing the subject. “So you want to go snooping around the desert outside Henderson? They have some spectacular homes on the edge of town. Just the sort of places the Lapras would invest in.”

“Do you think I can fool them with this new look?”

“It depends how experienced the particular Lapra is. If I were you, I'd bring backup. You never know who you might run into.”

“Why do I get the feeling you're about to offer yourself?”

“It's your choice, Jessica. But like Kendor, I bring a lot to the table.”

“So you have met him?” I asked.

“Long ago. I doubt he would remember me.”

I considered his request. “I'm grateful you took the time to help me develop this disguise. But I feel more comfortable going alone. There's a lot I have to think about.”

“And you just met me,” he said.

He was being tactful. He was saying that he understood why I didn't fully trust him. I played along. “You look so different. It has been like meeting someone new.”

Alfred surprised me by offering his hand. “Take care of yourself, Jessica. Remember who you are.”

Alfred left and I practiced some more on my own. Another hour of focused work and I felt comfortable in my new skin, which was another way of saying I could change my appearance at will.

I even began to get the hang of directing my disguise in a specific direction. The hotel maids appeared and I tried out my new abilities on them. I was able to duplicate the trick Al had used on Alex, Jimmy, and me. To one maid I appeared to be a short redhead, to the other a lanky blonde. More impressive, I didn't have to ask how they saw me. I just knew.

It was a question of belief versus conviction. Before I had my breakthrough with Alfred, I had been trying to convince myself I looked like someone else. Then, as the power inherent in my genes pushed to the surface, I accepted I was different
and those around me were forced to feel the same way. Deep inside I still knew it was all a lie, but on the surface of my mind I was sure I had changed.

I rented still another car, a Honda Accord, and left the city without a tail. Why should a Lapra tail me? I no longer looked like Jessica Ralle. Outside of town, I turned toward the hill that had attracted Whip's attention, the one with the rock crown. Yet I felt it was too early to try to locate Lara. There was an excellent chance Susan—Syn—would be with her, and if there was one Lapra who could penetrate my disguise, it would be her.

Besides, Susan had already set a meeting with me for tonight, and I wasn't ready to discard Cleo's plan by rejecting Susan's offer out of hand. Nevertheless, I was hoping to come up with a better plan, or praying that Kendor would. He knew Susan better than anyone and had kept stressing the need to attack.

It was partially Kendor's attitude that drove me now.

I wasn't looking for Lara's house but for Huck's.

It didn't matter that there was no Huck in this world.

There was a Kari. No, in witch world her name was Karla. It was odd how the name didn't come to me spontaneously. But then I realized it was because I didn't really know her in witch world. Kari was still Kari to me.

Kari's description of the views from Huck's house—in the real world—matched Susan's description of the place where
the Lapras planned to put Lara and me. Again, it made sense these places would be close to each other because it would allow the Lapras to focus their security. Also, Kari had given me another clue to Huck's whereabouts when she had spoken of the beautiful sound of the chimes that hung from his back porch.

Since becoming connected, all my senses had sharpened. I was confident if I could get near the house, I'd be able to hear the chimes.

The small town of Henderson in witch world looked little different from its counterpart. I quickly found the area Whip had pointed out to Jimmy and me, the bluffs overlooking the desert. But I ran into a problem. It didn't matter that each house on the edge of town had ten or more acres to itself, which meant the area was spread over a vast stretch of land. . . .

The community was gated.

As far as I could see—and I had binoculars with me—the place was roped in with a fence topped with barbed wire. To get inside, I'd have to get past a guardhouse and two guards.

Two facts inspired me to take a chance. First, the sound of chimes was definitely wafting from a house located at the end of the street where the guardhouse stood. Second, my power had improved even during the short hop from Las Vegas. Now the person who stared back at me from my rearview mirror changed at my command.

True, I didn't know many Lapras I could imitate, but who better to get past their security than Dr. Susan Wheeler herself? Even if the guards had seen their boss enter earlier, they weren't going to stop and argue with the woman. I got the impression that questioning the head of the Order was not a prescription for a long life.

I put on Susan's face and body and locked it in place.

It wasn't the sort of face I was likely to forget.

I drove up to the guard tower. The two men were dressed in brown uniforms and carried .45 revolvers. They recognized who I was because they suddenly stood up so straight I thought they'd pop a vertebra. I wouldn't have been surprised if they saluted.

The older guard bent near my rolled-down window.

“How are you today, ma'am?” he asked.

“Fine,” I said.

“We'd heard you were remaining in town today.”

“You heard wrong. Let me through.”

“Of course.” The guard jumped back and signaled to his buddy to raise the blocking bar. It was controlled from inside the shack. A moment later I was driving toward what I hoped was Kari's house. It occurred to me that if I had the wrong place, I could go back to the guards and ask for directions. They had seemed eager to please.

I parked in Kari's driveway and got out of the cool car into the scorching heat. Hard to believe but Henderson was worse
than Las Vegas and Apple Valley. Nevertheless, I let the sun beat down on my brow. Inside I could hear my heart pounding. My course of action was unclear. Or was I suffering from a lack of resolve? As the rays of the sun pierced my skin and sweat seeped through my pores, I allowed my face to return to that of Jessica Ralle.

I walked up to the door and rang the bell.

Kari answered. Dressed in shorts and a bikini top, she did not look happy to see me. “Jessica. This is a surprise,” she said.

“I thought I'd check out the neighborhood I'm being asked to join.”

Kari tried to look past me. “Did someone bring you here?”

“I didn't show up by magic. May I come in?”

Kari hesitated. “Sure.” She opened the door wider. “I wish you'd called ahead of time. The place is sort of a mess.”

Kari was a slob in both worlds. Clothes and plates littered the living-room floor and table.

“I apologize. I wasn't given much warning myself. Hey, do you have something to drink? A Coke?”

“I've got cola. That's what they drink here.”

“Great. As long as it's cold, I can drink it out of the bottle.”

Kari got us drinks and we sat in a small kitchen nook that overlooked a deliciously blue swimming pool. It was chilly inside with the air conditioner blasting away. I liked it. I gestured with my bottle.

“Nice place you've got here,” I said.

“Thanks.” Kari studied me, she was no fool. “What brought about the change of heart?” she asked.

“You mean, why am I considering the Lapras' offer?”

“Yeah. That didn't seem like a possibility the other day.”

I sipped my drink. “A lot can happen in a short time.”

“What happened to you?”

“Don't they keep you in the loop around here?”

“They tell me what I want to know,” she said.

“Really? I heard they tell you what they think you should know.”

Kari acted bored. “If you just came here to insult me . . .”

“I came here to kill you,” I interrupted.

Kari froze for an instant. Then she tried to act casual and set her bottle back on the table. But her hand was shaking so badly she missed and the bottle fell to the floor. The kitchen-nook tiles were made of stone. The bottle shattered and cola fizzled. Kari tried to act cool, but we both knew it was way too late for that. She snorted.

“You're so full of shit, Jessica,” she said.

“In a practical sense, you wouldn't be able to stop me. I can tell by the way you move and carry yourself that you didn't inherit the strength-and-speed gene. That means you can't defend yourself and I can get to you before you can dial nine-one-one on your cell. Or is it six-six-six here in witch world?” I paused. “I'm not full of shit, Kari.”