Devil's Cure by Kenneth Oppel

Author:Kenneth Oppel [Oppel, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443411257
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2000-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

SHE WAS PACKING WHEN THE PHONE RANG, AND SHE PICKED IT UP ONLY because she was expecting a call back from the travel agent, confirming her evening flight to San Diego. After Adrian had left, she’d decided to get out of town and go see Sandra—something she should have done days ago. There was nothing to keep her up here right now—not Adrian, not her lab—and she didn’t know how much longer she could bear the daily heartbreaking litany of phone calls on her answering machine.

“Dr. Donaldson?”

It was not the travel agent; this voice was altogether younger, with more than a hint of uncertainty in it. Laura picked up the remote and turned down CNN.

“Who’s calling please?”

“Is this Dr. Donaldson? Because there’s something I need to ask her. It’s about David Haines. If he had children—”

“Who is this?”

The voice continued doggedly. “If he had children, would they have the same kind of blood?”

Her very first impulse was to hang up, but a raw urgency in the woman’s voice made her hesitate.

“Who is this?” she demanded.

“Because I’ve got his son.”

Laura slammed down the phone, furious, fist still clenching the receiver. Goddamn crank call, and her eyes were actually wet with tears. What kind of sick person would do something like this, call her up and goad her, after what happened to Rick Haines? Probably some rotten teenagers had her on speakerphone and were having a good laugh in a basement rec room somewhere.

But seconds later, when the phone rang again, she snatched it up, actually hoping it was the woman, wanting to vent her rage.

“Hello?”

“Okay, I know you don’t believe me,” the woman said hurriedly, “but would you just listen to me, please?”

Laura’s voice quavered with anger. “You’re saying you had a child with David Haines?”

“And I want to know if he could have the same kind of blood.”

Laura turned her face away from the mouthpiece for a second, trying to calm her breathing. Why was she doing this to herself, even listening to this? For a second time she almost hung up, but instead, she pulled the notepad closer and grabbed a pen.

“Prove it,” she said.

“I was in the cult with him, the New Apostles. I was the one who recruited him.”

Laura knew she didn’t have much hope of catching her out. She knew little about Haines’s personal history, but she was aware that countless articles and numerous biographies had been written about him. This woman could have done her research and prepared this whole story ahead of time, had notes spread out around her, for all Laura knew. But why would someone do this? Were people so bored or so demented they would indulge in this elaborate ruse just to titillate themselves?

“But you’re not in the cult anymore?” No one still inside would even call it a cult, would they?

“I left when I got pregnant.”

“When was that?” Laura asked. Maybe if she asked for enough dates the woman would eventually contradict herself. And she could always check in a book afterwards to make sure they jibed.

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