谎言书：17

“Until . . .”

“Until six months later, when Edward’s suspicious squad¹ leader opens

Edward’s locker² at work and finds the old Missing Child poster from when

Edward was young. But instead of the picture of him as a little boy, your man

Officer Edward had taken photos of his father and glued the head shots onto

the head of his own old childhood body. Now they revisit Dad’s so-called

accidental death. Anything seem a little fishy³ to you?”

“Who knew that collage⁴ skills could be used for evil?” Naomi asked as she

made another left and veered⁵ toward the entrance for the highway. No

question, traffic was murder, but with her blue lights, it wouldn’t slow her

down. “So they fired Ellis right there?” she asked, pulling around the pack and

riding along the shoulder of the road.

“Fired? Please. First they put him on leave, then they tried to prove he

committed the murder, and then they let him resign, pension and all. You

know the game: If they fire him, he’ll slap back with a lawsuit⁶, then all this

homemade Missing Child stuff hits the cable shows, and then the Michigan

cops will have one of those public headaches that even the public doesn’t

want. Better to just — poof — wave your wand and make it disappear.”

“But the way he’s calling himself Ellis again . . . going all Mr. Ripley with

himself . . .”

“No doubt. He clearly found something he loved in his old life,” Scotty said.

“Anyway, where’s Officer Nutbag now?”

As Naomi plowed⁷ along the shoulder of the road, she again eyed the crimson⁸

triangle on the digital screen. “Approaching the rental⁹ car center. I’m betting

he’s meeting Cal at the airport.”

“You think they’re in it together?”

But before Naomi could answer, her phone beeped and Seminole Police

appeared on caller ID. “Scotty, I gotta take this.”

With a click, she flipped¹⁰ to the other line. “Agent Molina,” she answered.

“Benny Ocala,” replied a man with a creaky low voice.

Benny Ocala, Naomi nodded to herself. Chief of the Semi-nole Police. And the

last person Cal called from his cell phone last night.

“Thanks for getting back to me, Benny,” she said, pumping the gas, nearly at

the airport. “I think we have a good friend in common.”

36

My dad heads to the gate alone. Serena follows by herself. By the time I get

there, the plane’s already boarding. But my father’s waiting, tucked in the

corner by the wide, sun-filled windows. I’d like to think he’s concerned about

me, but I can see what he’s really looking at. He’s not going anywhere

without my backpack.

Wasting no time, he heads toward me, limping slightly and tender from the

stitches. It’s amazing how much slower he moves when he needs something.

Especially sympathy. As he steps next to me, he just stands there, waiting for

his moment, and I can feel him teeing up his apology for what he said about

Mom.

“Calvin, I just want you to know . . .” He clears his throat. “I really

appreciate you looking out for Serena like this.”

“Any families with small children or requiring special assistance are invited to

board at this time,” the gate agent announces.

“Anyway, I think having her here — it’ll be good for us,” he adds, though

when I see who he’s looking at, I don’t think us means him and me.

Tracing his glance, I spot Serena in the corner. She’s staring up at the sky as

she marvels¹² at one of the departing planes while talking on her cell. Her

skin’s splotchy, and a bit of tummy chub rolls over the front of her jeans. But

the way the sun hits her — it’s like she’s made of bronze. She’s gotta be my

age. Maybe a year or two younger.

“See that?” my dad adds, turning his crooked¹³ face back at me. “I don’t

never get women like that. So the fact she even came here — for me—”

“Who’s she talking to on the phone?”

“She does nutritional¹⁴ consulting for people on chemo. She’s just canceling

appointments.”

“You willing to bet your life on that?” I ask, searching the crowd for Naomi

and Ellis.

“Calvin, listen: For that agent to even catch you on the phone — feds are

already at your house, aren’t they? They’re racing¹¹ here. What other proof do

you need? We’re fighting for our lives now. And Serena’s part of mine. So if

you wanna back out — if you don’t wanna come, I understand. But Serena

and me—” He breathes hard through his nose. From his front pocket, he pulls

out the scrap¹⁵ of paper where he copied the Cleveland address. I make a

mental note. He thinks it’s about the address and not the comic. “Anyhow, I

hope you come with us.”

My dad walks slowly to the boarding gate. I keep waiting for him to look back

to see my decision. But he just keeps watching Serena.

I still don’t move. I know it’s pathetic, but — C’mon, just look back.

He doesn’t.

I still wait.

And he still walks. Part of me can’t blame him. I’ve been out of his life for—

He glances over his shoulder. Our eyes lock.

It’s small and silly and far too precious to actually matter . . .

But it matters.

Everything with your father matters.

Ten feet in front of me, Serena slides next to my dad, and they quickly lock

pinkies. She’s not even a bit scared. He’s walking fine now. No limp at all.

Boy, was that easy for them.

I don’t know her. I barely know him. And they’re headed to Cleveland based

on a delivery address my father pulled out of a dead man’s coffin¹⁶.

I can stay here. I can. But I heard Naomi’s threats. I saw Ellis’s gun. My

father was right about one thing: If I don’t get on this plane, I’ll be arrested

today and dead by tomorrow.

My father and Serena disappear down the jetway.

I follow right behind them.

Up, up, and away.

37

“Benoni, what’s wrong? What happened?” Ellis asked his dog, who was down

on her stomach, barely moving in the backseat.

Ellis pulled into an open spot at the rental car return center, then hopped¹⁷ out,

ripped open the back door, and leaned down toward Benoni. “What? What do

you see?” he asked, following the dog’s eyeline and looking over his own

shoulder. Behind him, up in the corner of the garage, a security camera in a

black globe peered directly at him.

Craning his neck up, Ellis stared directly into the camera for a full thirty

seconds. Let ’em try. His life of hiding was over.

He knew it with each turned page when he first found the diary. He could see

his family’s — his real family’s — legacy¹⁸. All their work. They were scholars.

Back then, Ellis thought the Mark of Cain was a cross or a horn or something

on Cain’s forehead. But his family knew the true story of the Book of Lies.

From there . . . with the names . . . it wasn’t hard for him to track the

Leadership. So much of their rank and strength had been decimated over the

years. But a few remained. Judge Wojtowicz remained. And therefore, so did

the dream. The dream guided him. It still did. His mother’s dream for him.

That’s what it took to be Ellis.

It was a simple goal — the birthright — the Book — would help him reclaim¹⁹

his life — but it wouldn’t be easy. The Judge said as much . . . tried to turn

him away. Even threatened him. But as he learned at the lake with his father,

fear makes the wolf bigger than he is.

And that was where he began: with the wolf.

“Hey, bud,” a rental car employee with a handheld computer called out,

“what’s wrong with your dog? She carsick?”

“She’s fine,” Ellis insisted, still staring at the security camera.

“You sure?”

Ellis leaned down into the back of the car. Benoni twisted her head slightly.

Her eyes were glazed²⁰. Something was definitely wrong.

It had taken Ellis less than three weeks to find Benoni. That path was clear.

The first pariah²¹ dog was Abel’s . . . and then . . . then eventually Cain’s.

Cain’s first true mark. His first gift from God. But not his most vital one. That

was the one still hidden — hidden and buried for centuries — then uncovered

by the Coptic monks²², redeemed²³ by the Leadership, and stolen by the soldier

— young Mitchell Siegel — so long ago. Stolen, then hidden again by Siegel’s

own child. Parent and child. Always parent and child. Just like with his mom.

Patting Benoni’s head with both hands, Ellis glanced at his tattoo²⁴ — at the

dog, the thorns . . . and the man embraced by the moon. . . .

Parent and child. God’s perfect symmetry. It made even more sense when the

Prophet told him what Cal had found. The Map. The address. Of course.

Siegel’s son never hid the Book of Lies. He kept it. And now . . . that original

address . . . Of course they were going to Cleveland.

“Hjjjkkkk . . . hjjkkkk . . .” At first, Ellis thought it was a sneeze. Then, still

leaning in the back door, he saw Benoni’s head jerk down, then up, then down

again. A slobbering waterfall of drool poured from the dog’s mouth. Her legs

shook.

“Benoni!” he screamed, fighting to pull the dog out.

“Hjjkkk . . . hjjjkkkkk . . . !” The convulsing quickened, and the dog’s legs

buckled²⁵ as she collapsed²⁶ in the backseat. She was having a seizure²⁷.

“Benoni!” Frantically²⁸ gripping her legs, her body . . . he lifted her out

through the back door.

“Hggggguuh . . .” There was a loud splash as a clear, mucousy liquid erupted

from Benoni’s mouth, spraying the concrete and pooling on the garage floor.

Benoni hacked²⁹ and coughed a few times, jerking her head as though she

were trying to twist it off. Ellis held Benoni close, embracing her as the acidic

smell hit. Vomit³⁰. Not a seizure. For her to throw up like that, she was choking

on something.

There. On the floor of the garage: A small, bright orange gob peeked³¹ out of

the shallow puddle³² like a chewed piece of gum. But as Ellis reached down for

it—

He pinched the dripping, mangled³³ gummy worm with two fingers . . . and saw

the gray, flat oval disk that was stuck in its half-chewed web.

A transmitter. She put a—

Ellis’s phone beeped, and a text message appeared on-screen:

Too late.

We’re off.

Next flight is 1 hr.

— The Prophet

In his lap, the dog sneezed, then whimpered slightly as she finally caught her

breath.

“Yeah, I know, girl — Cal’s gone,” Ellis said, patting Benoni’s stomach and

squinting³⁴ hard at the oval transmitter. “Don’t worry, we’ll use the time. The

Judge should be able to find her easily.”

Benoni again coughed a wet cough.

“Exactly, girl,” he said as he tweezed two fingers toward the transmitter’s

battery. “I don’t want to hurt her, either.”

But that’s what it took to be Ellis.

38

There was a high-pitched bloop as the red triangle blinked and disappeared.

“Craparoo,” Naomi whispered to herself as she looked down at the GPS

screen.

“You need to grab that?” Chief Benny Ocala asked through the phone as

Naomi’s car zipped toward the rental car building.

Naomi stared outside, where a dozen passengers — most of them tourists —

buzzed like bees from the rental car bus and flooded the front doors of the

modern white building, making it far too hard to see. Based on Ellis’s last

signal, he was close, but . . . No, there’s no way he knew Naomi was

following. And to track her that fast? No way. But that didn’t stop her from

staring at each and every passenger.

“Agent Molina?” Ocala asked.

“Sorry . . . I was—” She tucked the GPS back in her jacket and followed the

signs for Departures. If she was lucky, Scotty would be calling in soon with

the right terminal. “So you were telling me about Cal.”

“No, you were asking me questions about Cal.

1 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

2 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

3 fishy   

adj. 值得怀疑的

参考例句：

• It all sounds very fishy to me.所有这些在我听起来都很可疑。
• There was definitely something fishy going on.肯定当时有可疑的事情在进行中。

4 collage   

n.拼贴画；v.拼贴；把……创作成拼贴画

参考例句：

• A collage of coloured paper covers a table top.一副彩纸拼贴画盖在桌面上。
• He has used a mixture of mosaic,collage and felt-tip pen.他混合使用了马赛克、拼贴画和毡头笔。

5 veered   

v.（尤指交通工具）改变方向或路线( veer的过去式和过去分词 )；（指谈话内容、人的行为或观点）突然改变；（指风） （在北半球按顺时针方向、在南半球按逆时针方向）逐渐转向；风向顺时针转

参考例句：

• The bus veered onto the wrong side of the road. 公共汽车突然驶入了逆行道。
• The truck veered off the road and crashed into a tree. 卡车突然驶离公路撞上了一棵树。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

7 plowed   

v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过

参考例句：

• They plowed nearly 100,000 acres of virgin moorland. 他们犁了将近10万英亩未开垦的高沼地。 来自辞典例句
• He plowed the land and then sowed the seeds. 他先翻土，然后播种。 来自辞典例句

8 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

9 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

10 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

11 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

12 marvels   

n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
• Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句

13 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

14 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

15 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

16 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

17 hopped   

跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花

参考例句：

• He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
• He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车，向市区开去。

18 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

19 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

20 glazed   

adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神

参考例句：

• eyes glazed with boredom 厌倦无神的眼睛
• His eyes glazed over at the sight of her. 看到她时，他的目光就变得呆滞。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

22 monks   

n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The monks lived a very ascetic life. 僧侣过着很清苦的生活。
• He had been trained rigorously by the monks. 他接受过修道士的严格训练。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

24 tattoo   

n.纹身，(皮肤上的)刺花纹；vt.刺花纹于

参考例句：

• I've decided to get my tattoo removed.我已经决定去掉我身上的纹身。
• He had a tattoo on the back of his hand.他手背上刺有花纹。

25 buckled   

a. 有带扣的

参考例句：

• She buckled her belt. 她扣上了腰带。
• The accident buckled the wheel of my bicycle. 我自行车的轮子在事故中弄弯了。

26 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

27 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

28 frantically   

ad.发狂地, 发疯地

参考例句：

• He dashed frantically across the road. 他疯狂地跑过马路。
• She bid frantically for the old chair. 她发狂地喊出高价要买那把古老的椅子。

29 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

30 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

31 peeked   

v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 )；偷看；窥视；微露出

参考例句：

• She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句

32 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

33 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

34 squinting   

斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看

参考例句：

• "More company," he said, squinting in the sun. "那边来人了，"他在阳光中眨巴着眼睛说。
• Squinting against the morning sun, Faulcon examined the boy carefully. 对着早晨的太阳斜起眼睛，富尔康仔细地打量着那个年轻人。