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"That’s what I told Bill you’d say," he said, not at all regretful "Think about it, Peri If you run, every cop fro for you You’re not that good on your own The same patterns that keep you sane will be e’ll find you with It’s not your fault We made you that way Sooner or later, you’ll slip up and be brought down, tried, and put away as the corrupt Opti agent who killed her own anchor to hide her guilt"

"You can’t expose Opti," she said, and he laughed "The public would demand an end to all of us if they knee can do"

"Which is why your special abilities won’t be hinted at You are hereby a hoovern to a military project that has been alive since the forties, because we say so We’ve got the paperwork to prove it Ninety-five percent of it is true It’s not as if we haven’t had to start frooat Frustrated, she pulled her knitted cap off and tossed it aside

"Opti will survive, but one way you’ll be in jail for the rest of your life, and the other will have you withwhat you like to do What you’re good at"

"I need some time to decide"

"You don’t have any!" Allen shouted "I need an answer BeforeShe wasn’t going back to be a dog doing tricks for the? How many times?

Allen’s voice was satisfied as he said, "I’ll take that as a no See you soon, Peri"

The phone connection broke, and she turned it off The car was still sitting in theto the floor, she pushed through the mess until she found a pen and a yellow receipt from a tire place She jotted down Silas’s cell number, then shoved the yellow paper in her pocket She’d ditch the phone when she got on the expressway

I don’t reret, gri at the AM/FM radio and the filthy clutter strewn over the age-torn vinyl seats According to the literature, she could start her Mantis fro the fob or her phone It would cut out if anyone not registered sat in the driver’s seat It came with a lifetime SiriusXM radio subscription It could do zero to sixty in three point two seconds The warine went barruood--and she was driving this piece of crap?

Sighing, she put it into drive Okay, she had a car, but getting to Detroit and that button didn’t see, she headed for the exit A few ive her soin of security She couldn’t allow herself to believe Allen Her gut said that Silas was too s to slip up, huh?" Periit was better to be angry than afraid She wouldn’t get caught She was a professional, da, but she had skills

But her greatest asset was also her greatest liability, and she wouldn’t have an anchor to bring her memory back the next ti to stop and eat while she did her research "I need to find a vet who specializes in squirrels" Hands shaking, she hit the gas, wanting to see what the big, overindulgent, Aine could do

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

"A squirrel," Peri said, pitching her voice high and doing a good i panicked as she held the shoebox she’d found in a Dumpster and tilted it to make the rocks it held scrabble like claws "I accidentally hit her I couldn’t leave her there, and your ad says you handle exotic ani woman behind the counter dubiously eyed the box, then Peri’s worn but professional attire behind that nasty blue coat and ugly blue-and-white-striped hat "Yes, ma’am, but domestic animals, like lizards and birds We’ve never seen a squirrel"

Peri leaned on the counter, not really having to fake her distress "You have to helplooks broken Maybe she has babies! She let me pick her up okay She’s really tas barked, and she stifled a shiver Why don’t I like dogs?

The woman stood, uncertain "I’ll see if I can find hi, Peri retreated into the reception area, s the "bring your pet in for a visit" cards the printer was spewing out The diploma on the wall said Howard Lamms--which would be better than Squirrel, but not ht, her tension returning threefold

Earlier, she’d grabbed a quick and lonely meal at a sandwich shop, where she’d borrowed an actual phone book--she hadn’t seen one since she was a little girl--to scope out the vets in a fifteen-mile radius From there she’d prioritized them by how many doctors each had on staff under the assu meds, he wouldn’t want a partner around to have to explain things to

Peri was currently standing with her box of rocks in the third office she’d tried She didn’t have a lot of hope, but there were six more addresses on her list with multiple doctors if this last one didn’t pan out She felt naked for having wiped off the anti-facial-recognition sarnered otten dark, but what bothered herSilas with lies that were easier to believe than her truth