Read Online Impostor by Susanne Winnacker - Free Book Online Page B

Madison’s boyfriend, Tessa. He might be the only one who knew what was really going on in the last few months of her life.”
    “A boyfriend?” Alec asked, incredulous. “You can’t expect Tessa to continue someone else’s romantic relationship.”
    I glanced at him. Was he jealous?
    “She won’t have to. As it turns out, Madison broke up with him a few weeks before the attack. That puts him very high on our list of suspects.”
    “But what motive might he have for the other murders?”
    “We’re not sure about that. But maybe he killed them without reason, and when Madison broke up with him he chose her as his next victim.”
    “But why the
A
?” I asked.
    “That’s for you to find out. The mission starts in two hours. Prepare yourself.”
    My eyes snapped up to Major’s. “So soon?”
    “Madison died half an hour ago. The doctors and the machines will keep the Chamberses believing that she’s alive. But we only have so much time until the first signs of death begin to show.”
    I gave a numb nod. Why hadn’t I felt anything? Shouldn’t I have known when she died? After all, her DNA was part of me now. It was all that was left of her.
    “Read the papers and be ready in an hour, Tessa,” Major said before he zeroed in on Alec. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
    What did they want to discuss without me?
    My feet carried me out of the room but my body felt like it was encased in a bubble. I barely heard the outside chatter, the laughter from the common room, and the music blaring from somewhere down the hall.
    Holly froze when I came into our room.
    “I have to go,” I managed. My legs, my entire body were numb. Since hearing the news of Madison’s death, it felt like the life had slid out of me too.
    “How long will you be gone?”
    “I don’t know. However long it takes.”
    Holly just hugged me, for once not saying a word.
    • • •
    I pressed my face against the window of the car, remembering the evening more than two years ago when I’d sat in the same spot on my way to headquarters for the very first time. So much had changed since then.
    My skin prickled and I sensed that Major was watching me.
    The car glided to a stop. I reached for the door but Major’s words stopped me. “I know something is going on between you and Alec. I already spoke with him about it. Don’t let it endanger the mission.”
    “There’s nothing . . .” I stopped myself. It would have been a lie and some people said Major could smell lies. It was just one of the ridiculous tales people spun about Major because they didn’t really know what he was capable of.
    We stepped out of the car. My legs felt like jelly as I trudged into the hospital. The tightness in my chest grew with every step I took closer to Madison’s room. Voices echoed from the end of the corridor and my muscles began quivering.
    I stumbled and Major grasped my arm. “Act natural,” he said under his breath. “They should have been gone by now.”
    We walked through the corridor, closer to Madison’s parents, acting as if we had some good reason to be here apart from covering up the death of their daughter.
    I busied myself with gazing at the checkered pattern on the linoleum floor, but as we passed Madison’s room, my eyes found them: Ronald and Linda Chambers. Linda looked older than in the photos I’d seen—wearier, paler, her blond hair gathered in a messy ponytail. Ronald looked thinner and the gray streaks in the hair at his temples had spread. They clung to each other as they listened to the doctors spewing lies. I couldn’t hear the doctors’ words but I knew that whatever they were telling them was far from the truth.
    The worst thing was the way their faces lit up with hope as the doctors spoke to them. They thought their daughter would recover, that they’d get her back; they didn’t know that only a few hours ago they’d lost her forever.
    Suddenly, a sense of determination filled me. I’d find the monster