Free Double Blind by Brandilyn Collins

to me. “You received a placebo.”

Chapter 9

    The cab ride home was a blur. Jerry Sterne’s stunning words circled in my head along with scenes of the murder.
    A placebo. A blank chip.
    Could my brain really be making all this up? Could it be just coincidence that these “panic attacks” started right after the chip was implanted?
    No way.
    And by the way, if the chip was a placebo, why had my depression lifted? The huge difference in my emotions couldn’t be merely from the power of suggestion. I knew what I felt. I’d been better. Really better. Then—this.
    When I walked into my apartment the phone was ringing. I checked the ID. Sherry. Guilt washed through me. I’d never called her. I picked up the receiver.
    â€œHi, Sherry.”
    â€œWhere have you been ? I’ve been calling you for the past hour.”
    I could hear J.T.’s kiddy music playing in the background. “I’m so sorry. I should have called you before I left.”
    â€œLeft? You felt like going somewhere?”
    My throat hurt. I tried to answer but couldn’t.
    â€œLisa?”
    â€œHmm?” My voice wavered.
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    Tears spilled from my eyes. “Everything.”
    She inhaled a sharp breath. “Did the chip stop working?”
    A hysterical laugh choked me. “More like it’s working overtime.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    I fought back the tears. I didn’t want to lose it, not now. Then a thought hit me. I was actually handling this. As scary as the visions were, I’d been able to face Jerry and Ice Queen, demand they do something. I never would’ve had that kind of strength during my depression. If I’d been given a placebo and now had to deal with these visions—I’d be a total basket case.
    I stared across the living room, the realization filling me up. That chip was no placebo.
    Had Jerry and Ice Queen lied to me? Or had their boss lied to them?
    â€œLisa!”
    I jumped. “Sorry. I’m here.”
    â€œTalk to me.”
    The phone.
    I pulled the receiver away from my ear and stared at it. How long had I been gone from the house—ninety minutes? By the time I got to Cognoscenti, they already suspected I’d be a threat. They’d prepared that false placebo document. What if they’d sent someone to bug my apartment?
    Okay, that was paranoid. Still . . .
    â€œLisa, please.” Sherry’s voice drifted up to me.
    I pulled the receiver to my ear. “Sherry, I have to go right now. I promise I’ll call you back.”
    â€œBut—”
    I punched off the line.
    Sadness speared me. This was no way to treat my best friend. But I pushed it away for the moment, staring at the receiver in my hand. Could I take it apart? Would I even know what to look for?
    My fingers tightened. This wild way of thinking—it was a bad sign. Very bad. Maybe the chip was a placebo. A tainted one.
    Whatever it was, I had the right to be paranoid.
    But really, Lisa, a tapped phone?
    I set the receiver down and slumped over the counter. One thing I did know—the visions came from the chip. But how to prove it? No one at Cognoscenti would listen to me now.
    My stomach growled, but I couldn’t think about eating. I shuffled to the couch and sat down. Bent over, elbows on my knees.
    Two choices rose up. First: do nothing. Just work through the terror, hoping the visions would eventually fade, even though it felt like they’d really happened. But even if that were true, the murder was done, no changing it. What was I supposed to do about it now? If I did try to do something, I could end up in a lot of danger. Of all people, I was the last one to place myself in the sights of a man who would choke a woman.
    Second choice: do something. Somehow get help for myself, and stop the Empowerment Chip from going on the market. But how? I was one person against a corporation funded by millions of