When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [97]
One of them caught my attention as I stood rooted to the ground. He was climbing out of a navy blue Land Rover. I noted a hospital sticker in the left corner of the windshield. David and I used to have stickers like that.
David had been one of Them, though, hadn’t he? David had beenahorrifying creep, too. Oh David, David, how could you?
“That’s Dr. John Brownhill.” I pointed him out to Kit. Brown-hill wouldn’t even look at me, wouldn’t look our way.
“We’ve met. What’s his specialty? Infanticide?” Kit asked.
“He’s the head of the in vitro fertilization clinic at Boulder,” I muttered to myself. The children had human mothers, I couldn’t help thinking again. Real birth mothers were involved, and that’s why Dr. Brownhill was here. It had to be the reason.
Then I saw Gillian Puris appear on her front porch. My friend. She looked so stern and unapproachable. I could have almost convinced myself that I didn’t know her. Standing next to Gillian was her little boy. Michael was waving from the porch, and I thought he was waving at me.
He wasn’t!
Chapter 104
IT’S ADAM! ADAM’S OKAY! There he is on the front porch. Adam’s alive!” Wendy and Peter crackled and shrieked in their high-pitched voices. They were incredibly animated and excited to see the boy—Gillian’s son.
They knew him, and I could guess from where—the School! Michael had been at the School, too. Michael was Adam, wasn’t he?
Suddenly, the little boy twisted back and forth and broke loose from Gillian. He was strong, too. He ran toward Peter and Wendy lickety-split. They continued to holler, “Adam! Adam! Here we are.”
Gillian looked alarmed at first, but then just angry, infuriated in fact. “Michael, stop!” she yelled, but the slim, blond boy continued to run like a streak toward his friends, his long lost compadres, his School pals.
Michael was laughing and grinning, and he looked so innocent and free. I’d never seen him act like just a little boy. Then he and Wendy and Peter began to hug and dance for joy in the driveway. They made nonverbal sounds that only they seemed to understand.
I looked away from them and back at Gillian. She was still watching the scene with such cold, unforgiving eyes. It was a look I’d never seen before, and I wasn’t prepared for it now. Who was this person I thought I’d known? My stomach was falling. She’d only pretended to be my friend, hadn’t she? She was watching me after David’s death.
“He’s Adam! He’s our friend!” Icarus shrieked in my ear. In his excitement, he flew a few feet off the ground. The amazing little boy hovered. “Adam’s alive! Isn’t it great? Isn’t it the best thing yet?”
Suddenly, Icarus was struck. One of the guards had punched him on the side of the head. Punched the little boy with a closed fist. Poor Ic fell to the ground and lay in a pathetic heap. He wasn’t moving.
The blow was more than Kit could stand. He swung out at the attacker, connected solidly with jawbone. Cursing, two other guards began to strike at Kit. Then they held him at gunpoint, but Kit wouldn’t calm down. He screamed at them. The kids were yelling too.
I was already down on my hands and knees, checking out poor Icarus. I worried about damage to his head, but his sightless eyes were open. He was shaking it off and seemed alert.
“Big bully,” he finally taunted the guard. Spit out his fury. Showed what a tough little trooper he was. “Not much of a punch, though.”
“Attaboy, Ic,” I told him. “But cool it a little.”
“Flying is forbidden!” the guard screamed at the children, but especially at Icarus. The man’s face was red, even the thick veins on his thick neck stuck out. “You know the rules. Flying is forbidden. You’ve been told a thousand times.”
Ic snarled at the menacing guard. “Not anymore. The rules have changed.”
I held Icarus close to me, trying to protect the boy from further harm. My maternal feelings were still coming on strong.
Gillian was in the driveway now.