The Epidemic by Suzanne Young

Author:Suzanne Young
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2016-04-18T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

DEACON AND I WALK DOWN the block, doing what we can to be completely unnoticeable, to dissolve into the background. There isn’t anyone outside that we notice, but we don’t want to turn and check more thoroughly because that would draw suspicion.

We slip around the side of the house and find that the garage door is indeed unlocked. So far so good. With one last cautious look toward the driveway, Deacon and I enter the garage and find our way inside the house.

Although I have lived with a doctor most of my life, our home was mostly normal-looking. But this house . . . it’s like being in a doctor’s office. And I’m not the least bit surprised.

We enter through the kitchen. It looks recently remodeled, with white marble counters, whitewashed cabinets, and white tiled floors. I’m struck immediately by the smell of cleaning products; the place is immaculate. I lean over the sink in hopes of finding a dirty dish to prove he’s human. Nothing. It’s creepy.

“Holy shit,” Deacon says, looking around. “Do you think they have a house cleaner, or is Pritchard an uptight prick?”

“Not sure,” I say. “But if he’s this meticulous, I bet he keeps great files.”

“And possibly a body wrapped in plastic in the basement,” Deacon replies with a pointed look. I laugh and head toward another part of the house.

Virginia didn’t mention where the home office was, so we start opening and closing doors, discovering a bathroom and two bedrooms before finding the door that leads into a modest-size study with a massive wood-carved desk near the window.

This room isn’t white. It’s rich and full of books, even a bit crowded. Interesting that his own personal space is so rich, while the world he has his daughter live in is completely sanitized.

I quickly check the desk drawers while Deacon checks the file cabinets. Neither of us finds anything out of the ordinary. I sit in the wheeled desk chair, and Deacon grabs a second chair from the corner of the room, and we both sit at the computer.

“Here we go,” Deacon mumbles.

I shake the mouse to bring the monitor to life, and the screen bathes both of us in blue light. Deacon sets a timer on his phone, counting down an hour, an agreed-upon deadline. I take out my phone, and while holding it in one hand, I type in the password Virginia sent.

GINNY1205

The screen unlocks, and both Deacon and I breathe out a relieved sound. I imagine that the password is a combination of a nickname and a birthday, and I wonder how Virginia feels being the key to the memories her father locked away.

I look sideways at Deacon and he flashes me an I can’t believe it fucking worked smile. I turn back to the computer and begin to scan through Arthur’s folders, trying to find one that might be related to us.

“What about that one?” Deacon says, pointing to a folder icon labeled SC STUDIES.

I double-click it, and at first the documents are hard to read, some of the words redacted.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.