Made for Love by Alissa Nutting

Author:Alissa Nutting
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

11

THE NEXT MORNING HAZEL WOKE WITH AN IDEA. SHE HAD NO CLUE what time it was and neither did Liver—hopefully it wasn’t too late. She needed to get home before the next download at noon.

“Would you be able to come to my house and lift something?”

“Is it a body?” Liver asked. He was eyeing a shovel in the shed’s corner and clearly wanted to bring the right tools for the job.

Hazel realized that Byron’s intervention meant she’d always have to care, at least once a day, about a schedule. Did she have hours until she’d have to withstand the download seizure, or only minutes or even seconds? “If I start shaking and then puke or pass out or both, just wait it out,” she told Liver.

“Well yeah,” he said.

There wasn’t a functioning clock in his pickup, but they passed a pharmacy marquee that advertised both the 11:32 AM time as well as a low-price special on some cannibalistic-sounding vitamins called HAIR, SKIN & NAILS GUMMIES. With luck they’d make it back to her father’s house just in time.

“It’s complicated,” Hazel explained as they pulled into the driveway, “but something’s about to happen to my body that I’m going to try to prevent. I need to grab a device from the backyard. You may or may not see my father on a scooter, with or without something that looks like a female mannequin. Pay him no mind. What I need you to do is get the huge wooden box in the living room that’s shaped like a coffin and carry it back to the porch.”

He lifted a flask from between the truck’s seat cushions and shook it to make sure it was full. “Okay,” he said. “I’ve got all the necessary equipment.”

In the house, Dad and Diane were playing a card game in the kitchen’s breakfast nook. “Hi, Dad; I’ll be busy for the next few minutes,” she yelled to him. “A friend is coming in to bring Diane’s box out to the porch. Don’t judge him based on appearance. He poses no danger.”

She then ran outside and grabbed the Sleep Helmet Byron had included in the safe. She doubted he’d have included it if wearing it during the downloads could prevent them, but it was worth a shot. After all, why twelve noon instead of twelve midnight? Maybe sleep wasn’t as conducive to ripping out her memories. She wanted to attempt every roadblock she could muster.

“Rummy,” Hazel heard her father saying to Diane. “You win again!”

She didn’t want to be alone when the download came, but she also didn’t want Liver to see it. When he brought the box out, she said, “I need to put on this helmet and climb into the box for a few minutes. I’m not sure exactly what’s going to happen. You might want to wait in another room.”

Liver took a long drag from his cigarette. “You’re gonna shut the lid?” She was clearly not the first woman he’d assisted into a wooden box.

“Yes. Could you give me a hand with that?”

Hazel put on the helmet, climbed inside, and lay back.

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