“They hated Sam, so he was out, and Cole’s brawn would be needed elsewhere, so he was out. It occurred to me, as I clicked down the hallway to Grace’s room, that we were counting on Cole’s solution not working. Because if it did, we were all going to be in big trouble.
I waited for a nurse to exit Grace’s room, and then I opened the door a crack. I was in luck; only her mom was sitting by her bed, looking out the window instead of at Grace. I tried not to look at Grace, who lay silent and white, her head turned limply to the side.
“Mrs. Brisbane?” I asked in my best schoolgirl voice.
She looked up, and I noted, with some satisfaction for Grace’s benefit, that her eyes were red. “Isabel?”
I said, “I came as soon as I heard. Could I — could I talk to you about something?”
She stared at me for a moment, and then she seemed to realize what I had asked. “Of course.”
I hesitated at the door. Sell it, Isabel. “Um. Not near Grace. You know, where she could …” I pointed to my ear.
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