They drove down the mountain at dusk. Kara could hardly sit still, so anxious was she at the prospect of calling home.
They pulled into the first gas station they saw to make the call. Kara fidgeted nervously while she dialed the number. The phone seemed to ring forever.
"She doesn't answer," Kara said, hanging up the receiver.
"We'll try again tomorrow night."
"No. I want to call home. I have to get in touch with Gail."
"Kara, we talked about that before. It might not be safe."
"I don't care! I have to call home, Alex. I have a feeling something's wrong."
He studied her face for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "I'll make the call. No one will recognize my voice."
Kara nodded in agreement. Dialing quickly, she thrust the receiver into his hand.
The phone rang three times, then a female voice Alex didn't recognize answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello. May I speak to Kara, please?"
"I'm sorry, she's not here. May I takea message?"
"Is Gail there?"
"Yes. May I ask who's calling?"
"I'm a friend of Kara's."
"Oh?" There was a world of curiosity in the word.
"May I speak to Gail, please?"
"Who should I say is calling?"
Alex grimaced. "Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Mrs. Zimmermann."
Alex held the receiver out to Kara. "The neighbor lady's on the phone."
Kara's hand was shaking as she lifted the receiver to her ear. Something was wrong. She knew it. "Mrs. Zimmermann?"
"Kara, is that you?"
"Yes. Is everything all right?"
"I'm afraid I have some bad news, dear. Your . . . your grandmother . . . she's, I mean, ah, she's in the hospital."
"The hospital! What happened?"
"She collapsed at the grocery store."
"Collapsed! Is she all right? When did it happen?"
"It happened day before yesterday," Mrs. Zimmermann said, sounding flustered. "At first they thought it was a heart attack, but they've ruled that out."
"Where's Gail?"
"She's here. Hold on, I'll get her."
Moments later, Gail's voice came over the phone. "Kara, Kara, where are you? When are you coming home?"
"As soon as I can, sweetie. How's Nana?"
"I don't know. Dr. Petersen said it was caused by stress. They're giving her some kind of medicine. I don't know what it is." Gail sniffed loudly. "He said she'll probably be all right. But what if she isn't?"
"Gail, has Barrett been around?"
"Every day. And he's not alone. There's two guys with him. They look like_like crooks."
"What hospital is Nana in?"
"The one here in town. Dr. Barrett suggested moving her to Grenvale for some kind of test. He says they have better facilities there."
"Tell Nana to stay where she is, Gail. Tell her to insist she wants Dr. Petersen to look after her. Is Mrs. Zimmermann staying with you?"
"Yes. I'm scared, Kara. Please come home."
"I will. Have you called Steve?"
"I tried, but he's out in the jungle somewhere and they can't get hold of him."
"All right. Don't tell anyone I called. I've got to go now, Gail. Try not to worry. I'll be home as soon as I can."
"All right. Bye."
Kara hung up the receiver and turned away from the phone. "Oh, Alex, Nana's . . ."
"I know," he said, drawing her into his arms. "I heard."
"I've got to go home."
"I can't let you do that. You heard what Gail said. Barrett's been there every day."
"I don't care. I've got to see Nana." She looked up at Alex, hope shining through her tears. "You can help her, can't you, the way you helped me? She'll get better if you give her some of your blood. I know she will. Please, Alex, I can't let her die."
"Kara . . ." His hands knotted into fists. What she was asking was impossible. He hadn't managed to survive here for two hundred years by taking chances. His life span might have increased drastically, but he wasn't truly immortal. He was subject to pain and death just like any other living creature. "As much as I'd like to, I can't do what you want."
"Why not?"
"I can't."
"Very well, then, I'll go alone."
"Dammit, Kara, I understand how you feel, but I can't let you go home. I won't let you put your life in jeopardy."
"If you won't go with me, then I'll go alone. But I am going! Nana's taken care of me since I was fourteen. I can't desert her now, when she needs me most. I can't, and I won't."
She stared at Alex through her tears, feeling as though he had betrayed her. She hadcounted on him to help her, and he'd let her down.
"If you won't give her any of your blood, then I'll give her some of mine. Maybe it will work just as well as yours, but even if it doesn't, I've got to go. I've got to try."
Alex stared at the tears shining in her eyes, at the stubborn tilt of her head, and knew he couldn't let her face Barrett alone.
"Your blood would work just fine, Kara."
"What do you mean?"
"Just what I said." Alex took a deep breath. It was time she knew the truth. In a voice devoid of emotion, he told her the whole truth about the rat and how he had tested her blood, as well as his own. Both had restored the rodent's health, though his own blood, unmixed and undiluted, had worked more quickly.
"Whydidn't you tell me this before?"
"I don't know."
Kara shook her head. "It's not possible."
"It's very possible. It appears your blood now contains the same healing agent as mine, whatever that might be. That's why Barrett needs you. I think he wants to try and isolate whatever it is that generates the healing. Don't you see? If he can mass produce it, he'll be a millionaire many times over. And if he can't . . ."
"And if he can't, he'll just take my blood a little at a time and sell it to the highest bidder."
Alex nodded.
Kara shuddered. It was a frightening thought. For a moment, she imagined herself kept in a cage, well-fed and well-cared for, but a prisoner nonetheless, kept in isolation while Barrett siphoned off her blood, selling it a little at a time while he tried to find a way to reproduce it.
"It's a frightening thing to consider, isn't it?" Alex asked quietly.
"Yes." She understood now why he had kept to himself, why he had never let anyone know what he was.
"Now do you understand why I can't let you go home?"
"I have to go, Alex. I have to help Nana if I can. Please try to understand."
Short of locking her up inside the mountain, there was no way to stop her. "All right, Kara," Alex said heavily, "I'll take you home."
She collapsed against him, her shoulders heaving as sobs wracked her body.
"Don't cry, natayah," he murmured. "Please don't cry. You shall go home."
"Thank you, Alex."
He nodded. "We'll leave tomorrow as soon as it's dark." Holding her away from him, he wiped away her tears with his fingertips; then, taking her hand in his, they walked back to the car.
Gail's footsteps were heavy as she walked home from school. She had called the hospital last night after she'd talked to Kara. The nurse had assured her that Nana was resting comfortably.
Turning down the street toward her house, she wondered when Kara would get home, and where she'd been for the last five weeks.
She frowned when she saw the dark blue car parked in the driveway. Barrett again. He came by every day to ask if Kara had called. She wasn't sure, but she thought she'd seen that same car following her to and from school.
Gail muttered a nasty word. She didn't like Barrett, even though he'd never said or done anything to earn her dislike. She didn't like him and she didn't trust him any more than she trusted those two men who were always with him. Their names were Kelsey and Handeland. Barrett said they were his associates. She wasn't sure what that meant, but she didn't like the sound ofit at all. The two men were always wandering through the house, looking in the closets, poking into drawers, rummaging through Nana's desk. Several times a day, they walked through the neighborhood. She knew they were looking for Kara.
Barrett was sitting on the sofa, talking to Mrs. Zimmermann, when Gail entered the house. She didn't see his associates, so she assumed they were outside, prowling around the neighborhood.
"Ah, Gail," he said. "There you are."
"Hello."
He smiled at her, ignoring her sullen expression. "Still no word from Kara?"
"No."
He nodded slowly. "I hope she calls soon. Every day without treatment only decreases your sister's chances of a full recovery."
"What does she need to recover from?"
"As I told you before, we found a gross abnormality in her red blood cells. I'm afraid it may prove fatal." He shook his head. "Her condition could also prove to be contagious." He smiled his oily smile. "If you come into contact with her, you might also be at risk." His gaze bored into hers. "Are you sure she hasn't called home?"
"I'm sure." Gail held his gaze as long as she could, wondering if he knew she was lying. Suddenly nervous, she glanced at Mrs. Zimmermann, at the floor, out the window. "I've got to go now. I've got homework."
"You're lying, aren't you, Gail? She called last night, didn't she?"
Gail shook her head. "No."
Barrett slammed his fist on the coffee table. He had spent the last week finding a suitable place for a lab, had spent a good portion of his life savings setting it up. He swore under his breath. He had waited years for a break like this, had devoted countless hours to research, hoping to find a way to extend the human life span, and now, when he finally had what might be the answer to years of research, they couldn't find the damn woman. Every day wasted meant lives lost that might have been saved.
"I'm tired of this!" he exclaimed. "Tired of waiting!" Rising, he crossed the room and grabbed Gail by the arm. "Tell me the truth, dammit!"
"I am! Honest!" She stared up at him, frightened by the fury in his eyes. "You're hurting me."
"Stop that," Mrs. Zimmermann cried. Jumping to her feet, she took hold of Barrett's hand and tried to pull him away from Gail. "Leave her alone!"
Barrett shook Mrs. Zimmermann off. "Talk tome, Gail. I don't want to hurt you, but I've been patient long enough. Where is she?"
"I don't know." She was crying now.
"I'm going to call the police," Mrs. Zimmermann said.
"I don't think so." Barrett's voice, cold as ice, stopped her in her tracks. "Pick up that phone, and I'll break the kid's arm."
"You wouldn't!" Mrs. Zimmermann stared at Barrett, her face pale, her expression one of stunned horror. "You . . . you're a doctor."
"That's right." A cruel smile twisted Barrett's lips. "After I break her arm, I can set it. Now tell me what I want to know!"
"Don't tell him anything," Gail said, sobbing. "I'm . . . I'm not afraid."
She cried out as Barrett twisted her arm behind her back. "Aren't you?" he asked.
Elsie Zimmermann's face paled as Barrett's gaze pierced hers. "Kara . . . she . . . she called last night."
"Mrs. Zimmermann, don't!"
"Shut up, kid." Barrett gave Gail's arm a sharp twist. "Go on, Elsie, what'd she say?"
"Not much. She just called to see how everyone was." Mrs. Zimmermann clasped her hands to her breasts. "I told her Lena was in the hospital."
"Did she say she was coming home?"
"No." Elsie Zimmermann shook her head. "I told you what you wanted to know. Now, unhand Gail."
Barrett grunted softly. "You must have talked to her, too, kid. What'd she say?"
"Nothing. She just said I shouldn't worry."
"But she's coming home, right?"
"No. She knows you're here. I told her you came by every day." Gail smiled smugly. "Kara's too smart to come home."
"Yeah? Well, we'll see about that." He gave Gail a shove toward the sofa. "Sit down, kid. You, too, Elsie." He patted his coat pocket. "I've got to make a couple of phone calls, and I want you two to sit there and be quiet. Understand?"
Mrs. Zimmermann nodded. "I'm sorry, dear," she whispered, wrapping her arms protectively around the girl. "So sorry."
Gail nodded, praying that Kara really was too smart to come home.
Alex drove past Kara's house twice, all his senses alert, everynerve in his body warning him of danger. They had gone to the hospital first only to discover that Kara's grandmother had been transferred to another hospital at her doctor's request.
"Transferred?" Kara asked.
"Yes," the nurse had said, checking Lena Corley's file. "Dr. Barrett from Grenvale General is now in charge of your grandmother's care."
A sudden coldness settled in the pit of Kara's stomach. "Do you have a number where I can reach him?"
"Yes, right here," the nurse said. "I'll write it down for you."
Kara stared at the paper the nurse handed her. The phone number was her own.
"He's got her," Kara said as they left the hospital. "Barrett's got my grandmother."
"So itwould seem." Alex drove by the house a third time, then parked the car at the end of the block and turned to face Kara. "Something's not right in there. You stay here while I go check it out."
"What if Barrett's there?"
"I'm sure he is. But he doesn't know me."
"You'll be careful?"
Alex nodded. "If I'm gone more than ten minutes, you go back up the mountain and wait for me. If I'm not there by tomorrow night, try to get in touch with your brother."
"I'm not leaving you."
"Dammit, Kara, don't be a fool. You won't do your grandmother or Gail any good if you're locked up in some lab. Even if it takes a year for Barrett to give up, at least you'll still have your freedom."
"We're wasting time."
"Promise me you'll leave if I'm not back in ten minutes," Alex said. "Promise me, or we're going back, now, even if I have to tie you up and carry you."
"Oh, all right, I promise."
"I expect you to keep it."
"Be careful."
"I will." He gazed at her for a long moment; then, grasping her by the shoulders, he drew her close and kissed her, hard. "Remember your promise," he said, and slid out of the car.
His sense of danger grew stronger as he approached the house. Standing on the porch, he let his senses expand. There were a number of people inside. He recognized Gail's scent among them.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.