Part 39 (1/2)
”What do you mean, he turned into a lizard?” He caught Ping's eyes in the rearview mirror.
”Just what I said. All his hair and skin fell off. He turned into this slimy gray-green scaly thing spewing fire like something out of a nightmare,” she said, turning to the back of the car. ”What are you so freaked out about?”
”I told you. My mother and the basilisks, they wors.h.i.+p lizards and reptiles. This can't be a coincidence.” Sam's face reddened; he was shaking.
”You didn't wig out when the sand turned into a snake at the warehouse. Snakes are reptiles.”
”That wasn't real. That was just some sand that looked like a snake. If the pretender is a lizard, Diana's got to be involved.”
”Slow down, Sam. Let's not jump to conclusions,” Ping said. ”There are many possibilities. Not every reptile in the universe is part of your mother's cult. Let's hear the rest of what happened before we panic.” He nodded to Mara. ”Go on.”
”Well, the longer the questioning went on, the angrier Suter got. The madder he got, the less control he had. He couldn't keep up the pretense, the disguise. That's when his hair and skin fell off,” Mara said. ”Then he attacked Bohannon, and things really got out of control. He even set Bohannon on fire.”
”And then what happened?” Ping asked.
”I think I set off the sprinklers, or juiced them up enough, to put out Bohannon and flood the conference room we were in. Suter grew these long fiery spikes out of his back and heated up the room, turning the water into steam. Then he tried to strangle me with the steam. I freaked out and blew up the room somehow. I think.”
”He used the steam to choke you?” Sam asked.
”Yes.”
”He's the pretender.”
”Ya think?”
”Did you ask him about the Chronicle?” Sam asked.
”We were too busy tearing the place apart,” she said. ”I did ask him what he wanted, once I realized he was the pretender. He said, 'we have what we want, all we need now is time.'”
”He said, 'we have what we want'?” Ping asked.
Mara nodded.
”That suggests he's working with other people.”
”We have to get the Chronicle back. I know he's working with my mom,” Sam said.
”How is that possible? She's in a completely different realm, and he is here,” Mara said.
”Maybe he crossed over from the same place I did,” Sam said. ”It wouldn't surprise me if my mother had someone watching Mara during the experiment on the airplane. If that person crossed over, he would still be committed to helping Diana.”
”Are there lizard people like this guy in your realm?”
”There could be. I told you. Mara brought all kinds of creatures and people into our realm. If she met a reptilian pretender, she absolutely would have brought him to my mother. The Basiliscans would have gone nuts for someone like that, and my mother would have trusted him.”
Mara's phone beeped. Detective Bohannon's name appeared on the screen. She picked up the line.
”How are you doing, Detective? Are you at the hospital?”
”Yeah, both legs in casts, a big dose of painkillers, but they are letting me out tomorrow. I thought I'd let you know, the Oregon City police found my car and towed it. It was in the driveway of an empty house near your house. They reported there was no sign of whoever took it.”
”I wonder what he's up to. He hasn't shown up at my mom's house.”
”The Oregon City P.D. said they would pa.s.s through the neighborhood a few times this evening in case someone shows up looking for the car. Maybe I could tell them to keep an eye on your mom's place.”
”I'm not sure there is much they could do if Suter shows up. I just talked to my mom, and she's fine for now. She promised to lock up and to keep her phone close. Hopefully traffic will clear up, and we'll be down there soon.”
”Call if there's something I can do to help.”
Mara hung up and turned to Ping. ”Tell me Suter is not after my mother. Please tell me.”
”We cannot panic. We obviously don't have all the facts. Let's get down there and see what the situation is. Like you said, your mother is okay,” Ping said.
”For now, but Suter didn't just happen to park down the street from my mom's house. What could he be up to? What do you think?” Mara looked at Sam.
He pushed back into his seat, grabbing his seat belt as if he expected a rough ride. Wide-eyed he glanced up at the rearview mirror. Ping nodded, encouraging him to talk.
”I-I'm not sure. I don't want to scare you,” he said.
”I'm already scared,” Mara said. ”Just tell me what you think. I'd rather know more than less right now.”
”If Suter's a lizard, then I think he's working with Diana, and if he's at your mother's house, he's there because Diana needs her for something.”
”What could she possibly want with my mother?”
”I don't know,” Sam said, looking down at his hands.
”Sam, let's try to walk through this for a minute, okay?” Ping asked looking at him in the rearview.
He looked up. ”Okay.”
”Why was your mother interested in the Chronicle in the past? What did she hope to gain from it?” Ping asked.
”I told you. She'd have Mara crossover and bring people with unique abilities to her. She'd then perform the extraction rite and take their abilities for herself using the two-headed serpent.”
”Okay, Mara,” Ping said, ”Does your mother have any abilities her counterpart would want? Is your mother a pretender?”
”I don't think so, but I didn't think I had any abilities until just a few weeks ago. I could be as clueless about her as I was about myself.”
”Your mother could be a pretender, and you would not know.”
”I suppose. If she is, I don't think she knows. My mom does not have a duplicitous bone in her body. She is a terrible liar. She would not be able to hide it, especially from me.”
”Unless you were unwilling to believe it.”
”Well, there is that.”