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Chapter 14

HANGING OUT WITH A HOT BRITISH singing sensation way past ht probably wasn’t the best way to prepare for finalsIn fact, it was prettyto perforood way to assure you were going to bo into your loft and then find your big brother waiting up for youExcept, of course, he’s not really your big brother“Where’s Lulu?” I asked Steven was sitting alone on one of the white couches, watching TV Alhts were out in the loft, and I nearly tripped over Cosabella as she darted over to greet me when I stepped off the elevator“She went to bed,” Steven said, switching off the sound of the shoatching I was almost not surprised to see what it was Shark Week Yeah Nothing surprised o, isn’t it? Don’t you have school in theto bed before hable I almost choked I knew she had only done it to impress Steven with how responsible she was As if“Uh, yeah,” I said I collapsed at one end of the couch on which he was sitting and began tugging at the high-heeled boots I earing They’d been killingthe brief interlude when I’d been wearing the Louboutins, when ed for the Stark brand is “I better head to bed Sorry I was out all day Rehearsal ran late Did you get dinner?”“Lulu took care of ot the entire tour of don Manhattan, including Chinatown, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty ”“Wow,” I said Cosabella hopped up onto the couch beside me, and now that my boots were off, I absently stroked her ears “That’s a lot No wonder she went to bed Aren’t you tired, too?”“I am,” Steven said “But I wanted to wait up for you We need to talk ”I was instantly seized with alar the hours since I’d last seen hiator In fact, I’d been doing very little in the way of looking for hisChristopher Mrs Howard’s Social Security nuins had toldyou wanted to share with a guy At least not at one in the“What?” Steven said, before I could say a word “What are you not tellinghow he knew“U—”How do you tell souess you just blurt it out Which I did Because I couldn’t exactly hide it, could I?“Do you think it’s possible maybe, ith you away, and her relationship with ht have just…snapped? I hear she wasn’t the in with,” I said, all in a rush “People at Stark say—”“People at Stark say?” Steven stared at me like I was the one with a screw loose Which couldn’t possibly be true, because I just had all ht “What do the people at Stark know? They’ve never evento feel worse than ever And I didn’t mean my sore feet “I’m really sorry But maybe, because you’re her son, you don’t want to see that—”“See what?” Steven demanded “That Moh school single-handedly because Dad ran out on us when I was seven and you were two? That none of us ever heard fro you ever wanted for Christh we could barely afford it? That when you wanted ballet lessons because your best friend had the even more hours, just so you could have those, too? And now you don’t want to bother looking for her because someone at Stark told you she was off her rocker?”Whoa I’d screwed up Big-tis, instead of Steven’s? Why had I fallen for the lies of a doctor orked for a corporation I knew to be evil?I knehy, actually Because it had been easier than doing the right thing—the responsible thing—which was actually helping Nikki’s brother Especially when I’d been so wrapped up in Christopher’s drama these past few days I couldn’t believe how stupid and selfish I’d been, worrying about nothing but me this whole time, when Nikki’s family had been in so much real trouble and pain What did I have to be concerned about, really? Whether or not Christopher liked me? Whether or not people saw —a woman who’d sacrificed soanything about it, reallyI bowed uilt on my face, and said to Cosabella, who’d crawled into my lap, “I’m sorry ”There were a couple seconds of unco, “Who are you?”I lifted my head and just stared at him“W-what?” I stammered“ISteven couldn’t seely blue eyes off htest idea who you are Because you’re not my sister You look like her And your voice sounds like hers But the words cos she’d say ”A sed to forh with the a,” Steven snapped “You aren’t Nikki She’d never apologize toYou have to be some kind of twin they found somewhere and put in her place for soood job, since you look exactly like her, even down to that—” He grabbed my hand and pointed to a tiny crescent moon-shaped scar Nikki had on the back of one hand, the hand I was resting on Cosabella’s furry head “What’d they do, carve you up to make you look identical? That ain “Hope you’re getting paid a lot ”I didn’t kno to handle this No one at Stark had prepared me for this, or toldto feel panicky What was I supposed to say? No one had ever not fallen for the amnesia line I’d talked to hundreds of Nikki’s friends and coworkers, and while they’d all agreed the “new” Nikki was a little strange, none of the Nikki at all…I just shook , “I don’t knohat you’re talking ab—”“You know exactly what I’ about,” Steven said “Just tell etting too full of herself or so? It wouldn’t be the first ti hand to push solanced around the rooen lights Then I pressed a finger to aze, then looked back down at me as if I were insane A second later, I reached for the remote and hit the volume button The sounds of Shark Week filled the apartot up and walked over to the stereo cabinet and switched on the last disk that had been playing Lulu’s voice filled the loft, crooning that she was a cat, and how et scratchedThen I went to the loft’s floor-to-ceiling s and threw the in blasts of cold air and the sound of the traffic fro?” Steven deain, and looked urgently up into his face“I can’t tell you what happened to your sister,” I said, not raising my voice to be heard above the cacophony of the television, the stereo, and the traffic sounds “I’ll get in really big trouble if I tell you Well, I won’t, but aze sharpened“So you admit you’re not her ” His voice was hardI shook my head “I do,” I said “I mean, I am, partly…on the outside ”“What do you lared “Thatdown at Cosabella, who had gone completely limp across the couch between us, as if she were in a coma, she was so relaxed, in spite of all the noise God, I’d have given anything to have been a dog just then “I can’t explain it But you have to believe one ”“Gone?” Steven asked “What do you“Yes,” I said “She had an aneurys tienital brain defect—”“No, she didn’t,” Steven said Now he didn’t just look disbelieving He looked like he was going to burst out laughing “Who told you that? Did she tell you that?”“Uhter wasn’t the correct response when someone told you that your sister had died of an aneurysm in the brain “I neversoenetic brain defect?” Steven wanted to know “Nikki was healthy as a horse My whole faenetic defects, believeoff the back of the bleachers in school and they did a CAT scan and an MRI when she was in the ninth grade, and there was no sign whatsoever of any brain defect Who told you there was?”I sed Then I said softly, “Stark ”“Stark ” He stared at me “The same people who told you my ain “Um…yeah ”“And you believe theood reason to believe the to himI chewed my bottom lip before I replied “I have no reason not to,” I said finally It seemed like the ,” Steven said, leaning forward “When did all this happen? You stepping into Nikki’s shoes, so to speak, and her having this so-called aneurysm?”“It wasn’t so-called,” I protested “People were there They saw it It was during the grand opening of a Stark Megastore It was on CNN It really—”“Fine,” he said with an io,” I saidHe seemed to do some mental arithmetic “Around the same time,” he murmured“Around the same time as what?” Then it clicked “As when your mom disappeared?” I looked at his have to do with each other?”“I don’t know,” he said “But it’s a little bit more than a coincidence, don’t you think? And noith Stark feeding you this story aboutyou think Stark had soone dryWhy wouldn’t Stark have had soh? Stark spied onStark’s legacy is murder“Isn’t it obvious?” Steven asked “Look at you You’re so paranoid about Stark, you can’t even talk about it without turning on every piece of stereo equipged?”Instead of answering, I leaned over to reach fordetector and turned it on The audible alert clicked faster and faster the closer I waved the antennae toward the ceiling and the holes above our heads“And don’t say it’s a piece of junk,” I said, referring to the transmitter, “because I paid nearly five hundred dollars for it ”Steven blinked “Oh,” he said “It’s a piece of junk, all right ”“It isn’t,” I insisted “I know they’ve got so e say They knew you were here They know all sorts of things they couldn’t know otherwise ”“I’m a communications electronics technician,” Steven said patiently “With the United States Navy And I’ is a piece of junk…which isn’t to say it doesn’t work ”I felt a cold chill up my spine “Really?”“Really,” he said He took the detector fro hi have those been there?” he asked, nodding toward the holes“I don’t know,” I whispered “I just noticed theood,” he said He took the transmitter from me and switched it off, then threw it down onto the couch “What are we going to do about it?”“What do youto do about it?” I asked“To,” Steven said “And Stark obviously knohy ”“Only one woh ht, you said that Only she’s not, really, is she?” He looked down at ally, she’s alive Because legally, she’s me ”Steven stared down athard within my chest I had to tell him I had to tell him the truth He deserved to know It was his sister, after all I had to make him understand “This is your sister Nikki’s body But her brain is—”Before I kneas happening, he’d reached down and seizedCosabella, who yelped He didn’t see about?” he de me a shake “How can this behi out of my eyes“I can’t tell you,” I cried “They already may have et on their bad side? You don’t understand You don’t understand what they’re like, hoerful they are, how rip onhe could leave ood on the Stark Angel taping if they didn’t fade by New Year’s“This is crazy,” Steven said, giving me another little shake to e from the couch, let out a nervous bark “You’re crazy, do you hear me? Every word that comes out of your mouth is nuts ”“I’m not nuts,” I insisted “It’s called a brain transplant My brain, in your sister’s body—”That seeo “Stark? Stark did this? If Stark did all this—if they’re really doing this—then why doesn’t anyone know? Why haven’t you told anyone?”“I told you,” I said to hiritted teeth “We can’t tell anyone Anyone, do you hear me? Stark says they’ll put my parents in jail if I tell anyone! And they’ll do it, too Whatever ideas you et theht now It won’t work Stark owns the press I’ll help you find youronto do that? I couldn’t mention Christopher and his crazy scheme with Felix First of all, it was so nuts, there was no chance of it succeeding And secondly, I didn’t want Christopher more involved in this than he already was I loved Christopher, in spite of the fact that he didn’t love irl I used to be, not thehim into all this, not if what Steven suspected was true, and his mom had disappeared because of what had happened to erousAnd yet…And yet if Christopher and Felix really could do what Christopher said they could…“I know soMiraculously, Steven dropped his hands“Who?” he askedIt was at this point the door to my bedroooing on out here?” she wanted to know, blinking sleepily “What’s all this noise? Why are you yelling? Why’s Cosabella so upset?”Steven backed away fro for the remote He switched the TV off “Just a family squabble Go back to bed ”Lulu didn’t listen to hi rooee, she had on a pair of oversize pink flannel pajamas with enormous cherries on thes rolled up at the bottouys,” she said “What’s up? Hey, are you listening toup to push so’s okay, really Go back to bed ”“No ” Lulu tottered over and plopped down onto the couch next to Cosabella “It sounded like you guys were fighting I don’t want you guys to fight I mean, I never had a brother or sister, so I always kinda wished for one so I could have fights But still What was the fight about?”I looked over at Steven He was scowling at the white carpet Since it didn’t seeed, and just said, “He found out about the spirit transfer ”Lulu looked up at Steven, then reached for his hand, which looked huge in comparison to hers“Oh, poor baby!” She squeezed his hand “You miss the old Nikki, don’t you?”He looked down at her incredulously “The old Nikki? What are you…You know about it?”“Sure,” she said, tugging affectionately on his pinky for him to come sit next to her on the couch He resisted of course “We all do Well, me and Brandon We even went and kidnapped Nikki from the hospital after it first happened She didn’t like it But we thought she’d been a victiists Only it turned out it wasn’t either of theone And this new one was here to take her place We decided we like her better than the old one, though At least I did I don’t know about Brandon Why?” Lulu looked from one to the other of us “Is that a problem?”Steven just shook his head “I need an aspirin,” was all he saidBut he let Lulu pull him down onto the couch beside her, where he sat with his head sunk into his hands He looked like a man defeated I didn’t really bla hi over to rub his neck “I give totally good neck es They just about turn Nikki to Jell-O Our housekeeper, Katerina, taught me how And she was trained at so the tension out right here …”“I know a guy,” I whispered I was desperate to h I wasn’t sure how it could ever be right again His sister was dead, even though he didn’t seem to want to believe itAnd, of course, soh I kneasn’tSteven looked up“You what?” he asked“I know a guy,” I repeated softly Softly enough, I hoped, for none of the bugs in the loft to pick up “A guy who’s really good with computers He says he can find your uy was the fourteen-year-old cousin of sorade Steven looked suicidal enough He stared at e didn’t seees had on Nikki’s body“How?” Steven asked “How can he find her when the police couldn’t?”“I don’t know,” I whispered “He just says he can Look, I don’t see e have to lose ” Except everything, including uy” was an adolescent“When can we go?” Steven asked without further hesitationI felt ree so quickly What was I doing to Christopher? To Felix?On the other hand, if their plan worked, maybe there’d be no Stark to co to be the next president of the United States“Uuess,” I said“Great ” Steven nodded “Let’s do it ”Lulu looked pleased “Fantastic!” she said, applying her elbow to his trapeziusless tense to ave her a brief s toward her roo ”When he got to the door to Lulu’s room, he paused, however, and turned to look at me“What should I call you?” he askedMy voice sounded al match The traffic sounds froht We lived, after all, in the city that never slept On the stereo speakers, Lulu wasup of this conversation, it was bound to be confusing them“Nikki,” I said to Steven “It’s my name now ”He stared at un to read his expression if I’d triedThen he turned abruptly and disappeared through the door, closing it quietly behind hi smile on her freshly scrubbed face “I think that ell Don’t you?”I collapsed onto the couch beside her with a frustrated ht