“I’ll explain everything,” said the voice at the other end of the line. “Really.”

“What should I even call you?” she said angrily, her rage intensified even further by the extreme hurt she was feeling. She had been betrayed by someone she had come to think of as a friend and scientific colleague. A man for whom she had made a pact with the devil to assist.

“You could just stick with Raborn, if you want. After two years, using a different name for me might not be ideal.”

“Not ideal?” spat Erin. “Continuing to use the name of someone you’ve been impersonating, someone you’re not, isn’t exactly what I’d call ideal either. So what’s your name? Your real name this time.”

“Drake.”

“Is that a first or last name?” said Erin.

“Both,” he said, and then before they could discuss it further he added, “Look, Erin, I don’t blame you for being furious. But I know you’ll understand once I explain things. But before we go any further, tell me why you came to visit unannounced.”

“Are you suggesting this is my fault? Because I attempted a surprise? Look, I don’t have to explain my actions. You have to explain yours.”

“I’m not blaming you in any way,” he replied quickly. “This is entirely my fault. One hundred percent. I deceived you and I’ll explain why to your satisfaction. But before we go further, I’d like to know. A surprise visit to San Diego isn’t at all like you. So I have a guess as to what it might be.”

She considered her response for several seconds and then said, “Your guess is right. I found it. I found the combination that reverses psychopathy.”

“Outstanding!” he whispered exultingly. “Unbelievable! I thought it would take another year at least.”

“So did I,” she admitted. And then, as if testing it on for size added, “Drake.”

She had gotten lucky. She had won the lottery. There was no guarantee her efforts would ever succeed, since mice and men were not the same, after all. And even if a cure existed, it could easily have taken her years more to find. And there could have been more fatalities than just three, although given the suspicion that these were beginning to arouse, if one more fatality had occurred she would have had to pull up stakes immediately, with or without a cure.

“I found it about a month ago. I didn’t want to tell you until I’d confirmed it in a large number of inmates.”

“And it worked on all of them?” said Raborn/Drake excitedly. “Total reversal in each case?”

“Yes. Within a few days of administration. On over fifty subjects. Not just the physiology, but the brain patterns in response to emotionally charged words. Everything. We have the absolute cure for psychopathy.”

“Incredible.”

Erin nodded. In the grand scheme of things, this made the parting of the Red Sea seem like a cheap parlor trick.

“Congratulations, Erin. I know you took all the risk, and the heat. I’m forever in your debt.” He paused. “So what was the winning dose combination?”

“That’s one of the things I was coming here to tell you. But now I don’t know which end is up. I’d be an idiot to trust you with this after you’ve just admitted to a grand deception, starting the first second we ever spoke. I was prepared to tell Raborn. Not Drake,” she added pointedly.

“Whoever I am, I’m still the one who made this possible. This is the culmination of considerable time and financial resources on my part. You have to tell me. Right now.” There was suddenly a menacing edge to his voice.

“I don’t have to do anything. And I won’t. Not until I understand what’s going on here.”

A heavy sigh came over the phone. “You’re right,” he said. “Sorry. I’ve got some trust to earn back. Okay, keep the combination secret. That’s fine. But once I’ve explained why I’ve done what I’ve done, you’ll understand. Then you can give me the secret and we can cure this condition once and for all.”

“Are you even in San Diego … Drake?” she asked, purposely using this name more often than she normally would to begin to train her mind to a new reality.

There was a pause. “No. I live in Arizona, believe it or not. Near Yuma. Why don’t we plan to meet tomorrow afternoon at the University of Arizona Student Union. On your home turf. In front of the bookstore entrance. I’ll tell you everything. Say one thirty?”

Erin had the almost irresistible urge to agree, but as desperate as she was to get to the bottom of his deception, she couldn’t do that to Courtney. She wouldn’t do that to Courtney. Especially since her friend had called in favors to take the day off to be with her.

“I have business here in San Diego,” said Erin. “We’ll have to make it Wednesday at one thirty.”

“What business could possibly be more important…”

Drake stopped abruptly, and Erin could imagine him almost literally biting his tongue. He had spoken with a fanatic intensity she had never heard in his voice before.

“Okay,” croaked Drake, as though making a studied effort to speak calmly, but forgetting his teeth were clenched. “Wednesday at one thirty it is.”

“It occurs to me … Drake,” said Erin, “that I don’t even know what you look like.”

“I’ll send photos to your phone before our meeting,” he said. “I look forward to seeing you at the bookstore. Lunch is on me.”

“You’re damn right it is,” said Erin. “And this had better be good.”

“It will be,” he assured her. “Trust me.”

She ended the connection. Trust was the last thing she intended to give the man who had been impersonating Hugh Raborn. He had betrayed her for two years, and she had no idea what was really going on. She intended to take paranoia to ridiculous levels.

And he must have known she now had far less trust in him than she would have for a total stranger, which was why he knew to suggest a meeting place that was crowded and out in the open. Even so, even given her expertise at hand-to-hand combat, she intended to be prepared for this meeting, and take nothing for granted.

Something stunk so bad in Yuma that she could smell it in San Diego. She would go into this meeting with Raborn … with Drake … with her eyes open. And her concealed carry loaded.

11

THE MORE ERIN considered the situation with Drake, the more nervous she became. He seemed confident he could straighten it all out, but what if he was a psychopath himself? His actions seemed to fit the profile. Was he the one psychopath on earth who actually wanted to cure himself? Unlikely. There were doubtlessly many layers to this onion.

But if he was a psychopath caught in a lie, he would do just what he was doing. Roll with it. Come up with a web of even smoother lies to cover his tracks.

Whether he was a psychopath or not, she had to be prepared for him to tell her more lies, weaving a tapestry of deception that was utterly convincing somehow. So no matter what he told her when they met, she’d be a fool to trust him. It wasn’t enough to go to the meeting prepared for a physical trap—she needed to be prepared for a psychological one as well.

What she really needed was a way to check up on what he told her. She needed to stalk him after the meeting was over and they had parted ways. His words were sure to be convincing—but his actions? If he told her he lived in Yuma and she followed him and learned otherwise, then she would know for sure he was still lying to her. But if his actions matched his story, then she could start to believe. She needed to be paranoid, but she also didn’t want to be boxing at shadows if he did tell her the truth.

Courtney would be at work until dinner, so she had plenty of time on her hands. She Googled “GPS tracking devices” on her phone. Endless links appeared immediately. She scanned down the page. The Spy Gear Superstore caught her eye. Spying was exactly what she wanted to do after her meeting with Raborn—with Drake—was over in two days’ time. But was there really an entire store—no, an entire superstore—devoted to spying? Was there anything you couldn’t get through the Internet?