“Get off,” I say.
“What? Why?” But he does as I say. Jasper stands, bewildered, as the elevator doors close without us on it. “What’s going on?”
But my head is racing as I do the math. I stab at the elevator’s down button, waiting impatiently for a new door to open and return us to the lobby. I want to take the stairs, but I don’t think Jasper can make it. When we finally get back on the elevator, he leans heavily against the rail. I need to help him, and the best way to do that is to solve the riddle of how we got stuck here and a piece—a really unnerving piece if I’m right—has finally clicked into place.
On every date, Jasper and I were supposed to meet at Wench at seven. He was a few minutes late. The second time I remember, I was so out of it after getting hit by the bus I basically fled the moment he arrived. We argued—because that’s what we do best, or is it second-best, now?—on the street for a bit. Then I drove home. It’s at least twenty minutes from downtown out to the house. So no later than seven thirty, I was at home and Ezekiel was leaving because he’d gotten a call about the data breach. He was on his way back to the lab, which is another fifteen minutes from the house if there’s no traffic, and you don’t catch every red light between there and here.
But today, we were here at the lab by seven fifteen, and his car was in the lot.
“Morgan.” Jasper follows as I shove through the back door, rushing toward my car. “What’s wrong?”
“I forgot my laptop,” I lie, getting into the car. My hands shake as I release the lock on the other side. This can’t be it. This can’t be the answer. “We don’t need to go to my office. We can check at home... at your home.”
“My house? It’s kinda far from here.” Jasper’s got a hand on his chest and he’s gone very pale. “Are you sure?—”
“My place, then.” Anywhere that Ezekiel is not, so I can think.
I put the car in reverse and wheel around toward the exit like I’m getting ready for the demolition derby.
The house is quiet when we pull into the driveway. In a fit of what I pray is needless paranoia, I don’t park in the garage, instead going around to park by what was originally servant’s quarters and is now a guesthouse—not that we have many guests.
Jasper is wheezing audibly behind me as I push open the guesthouse door. The space is significantly bigger than Jasper’s cozy apartment. The front room smells like dust. For a while after Mother died, I thought about moving over here, but Ezekiel convinced me to throw myself into work instead.
“Keep those off,” I hiss when Jasper flips a light on.
“Why?” But he shuts it off and doesn’t argue further when I glare at him. “Okay, okay. What’s with the spy act?”
“I need to see something.” I squint as my laptop turns on. Jasper slumps next to me, kicking up a cloud of dust and fluff from the disused sofa. His whole body strains with every inhale.
“I’ll try to be quick. I need to get into the lab security system.”
“Do you want me to—” He wiggles his fingers. I pretend I don’t notice the way they tremble. Jasper can barely hold his hands up.
“It’s fine,” I say, logging into Ziro Lab’s security system. “Being the boss’s stepson does have some perks. I have remote access. No hacking required.”
Fortunately, what I’m looking for is security camera footage from this evening, so it doesn’t take long to find.
Unfortunately, what I see is exactly what I was afraid of. Ezekiel’s car, parked in his spot. In fact, it doesn’t even leave. It’s been there since seven this morning, when we both arrived for the workday.
“Well, shit.” I slump back in my chair.
“What?” Jasper coughs into his sleeve, and the flannel comes away bloody.
“Ezekiel is outside the loop.”
“What?” This one is shouted, then punctuated by more coughing that doesn’t stop. His chest gurgles as he gasps.
I stare at the screen where the BMW sits unmoving in the parking lot. “Ezekiel should have gone home and come back like the first time. But instead, he spent all day at the office.”
“Maybe something changed.” Jasper’s sweating. “Like something happened that meant he had to stay at work?”
“No.” I stare at the black-and-white image of Ezekiel’s BMW on my screen. “If we’re the only ones who affect the loop, and he was at the house before, then he should be here, unless I do something to change it.”
His brow creases. “But when we went to see him, he said he didn’t know anything about the loop.”
And here is the part that makes my stomach turn. “He lied to us.”
“Maybe he—” Jasper groans and slumps over, spitting blood onto the dusty floor.
