Chapter 117 - 119
My eyes fly to him and his hand flashes up in the air to swat the sordid suggestion. "No, that’s not at all what I meant. I mean it physically. What happens if he stashed something in you? It would be bizarre, but also... ingenious."
My eyes drop to scan myself dramatically. "I think I would remember if he cut me open and—"
The epiphany strikes so hard it knocks my world off axis. "No..."
"Avara?" he urges.
I lift my hand to inspect the old scar meandering around the groove of my palm. It seems all roads lead back to that day... Botan, my mother, and now my father.
"The accident... but he couldn’t have. He would never—"
"There’s only one way to figure it out," he interjects insistently. "There’s an old war buddy of mine, a medic that was assigned to my unit. He can privately examine you and possibly extract whatever he needs to. Lucky for us, he lives near the city. So why don’t you go home and get some rest. I’ll call him in the morning and I’ll reach out. But..."
The pause he leaves suspended in the air as he disappears into the other room. When he returns, the moment resumes as he tosses something at me and I only manage to catch it when it’s at my chest.
"Switch out a new burner phone. Number is programmed in it."
After what Akio told me before he left, I understand his precaution about untraceable communication.
***
My father and brother are at the breakfast table, dishing themselves a serving of eggs and steak strips. I say nothing as I deposit the side plate of sliced avocado. Avoiding eye contact with everyone, I aim for the archway until I’m stopped cold.