“Between dimensions?”
“I know. It’s a lot to digest,” he said.
“So you’re telling me my parents believed in the Meechum Radiants?”
“Oh, definitely. That’s one of the reasons they moved up here to Washington State.”
“What does Washington have to do with it?”
“Washington State is home to one of Meechum’s most powerful Radiants: Radiant twenty-three. Meechum often referred to it as the Terminal Line.”
“That’s why you call this place The Terminal?”
“Yes.”
My parents told me they’d moved to Olympia because my mother got a new job. What if this guy was telling the truth? It sounded impossible. My mother worked for a bank.
“I really enjoyed working with your parents, K. I only wish it had been under better circumstances.”
“What does that mean?”
“There were certain restrictions we had to deal with back then—restrictions I’ve since managed to clear up. Now we have the freedom and technology to do so much of what we’d planned back then. I only wish your parents were here now to share this experience.”
“That’s what you were working on with my parents? The Meechum Radiants?”
“That was a big part of it, yes.” He motioned around the room. “I’d like to think we’re honoring their tragic deaths in some small way by continuing to do this work.”
He looked pensive for a moment. “Had I known you were here,” he continued, “I would have made certain we’d met much sooner.”
A slow darkness crept across the room like someone was dimming the lights.
“What does that mean? Had you known I was here?”
“Well, that’s a long story, and I’m afraid I don’t have time to get into it at the moment.” He pulled out his phone and hit a few buttons. “I’ll bet you’re wondering why there’s nobody else working with me here, in such a large space.”
“It does feel a bit…excessive for one person,” I said. “Although there were a lot of people on that giant screen.”
“The number of remote operatives we have working for us is significant, but there are also people working directly with me here in the building.”
I heard the sound of the elevator doors opening from somewhere nearby.
“Including somebody I believe you know,” he said.
I turned at the sound of footsteps.
A woman in her late thirties or early forties walked toward us from the double doors that led back to the elevators. She was about five foot seven with thick, shiny auburn hair. She wore a brown pencil skirt, a cream-colored top, and tortoiseshell Ray-Ban glasses.
Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open when she saw me. For a brief moment, it looked like she was going to pass out.
“K?” she said, then turned to Crow. “What the fuck is going on?”
It was Emily Connors.
* * *
—
The man called Crow took Emily aside, and the two of them spoke in hushed tones for about a minute. Then, after a sharp glance in my direction, Emily turned around and stalked back out the way she’d come in.
“What’s wrong?” I asked Crow.
I hadn’t seen Emily Connors for years, so why had she gotten so upset? Did seeing my face again remind her of that night in the truck with Annie?
“She’s just a bit annoyed with me, I’m afraid,” Crow said. “She’ll be fine.”
“Can I talk to her?” I asked.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea just now, but we’ll see what we can do.” There was something almost threatening in his tone as he spoke.
“Sure,” I said, but I was still thinking about Emily. What the hell was she doing here? What was going on?
Crow started walking me back to the double doors that led to the elevator.
It was clear our conversation was over.
I had no idea what had happened to Sidney and Chloe after the elevator had taken me upstairs. Maybe they were still down in the lobby waiting for security clearance.
“I’ll be in touch,” Crow said as he pressed the call button for the elevator.
* * *
—
I took the elevator back down, feeling stunned. Crow? Emily Connors? What the hell had just happened?
The doors opened and Chloe yanked me out and into the foyer. “What the fuck are you doing? We’re getting security passes.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Sidney shushed me with her hand. “I’ve been able to get us access to the upper floors of the building,” she said.