Echoes at Dawn

“This is her,” Hancock said in an even tone.

She found herself yanked forward and then the door slammed behind her. Suddenly the blindfold was torn from her eyes, and she rapidly blinked to adjust to her surroundings.

She was in a large study or office. It had the look of a library but there was a large executive desk at the back. To the right was a large fireplace, which despite the warmth of the day, was burning.

She took in as much as she possibly could as quickly as she could. She glanced left, hoping for a window, hoping for some sign of where she was, but was frustrated as she realized there were no windows. It was more like a dark cave where a beast skulked about.

Then she focused on the man in front of her who was staring every bit as hard at her as she was at him. For someone who’d frightened her so much with his voice alone, his appearance was deceptiv

ely mild.

He was average height. Maybe late forties. He was obviously a bit prideful because there wasn’t a hair on his head that was out of place, thanks largely to the amount of styling products evident.

He wore expensive clothing. Diamond cufflinks. A gaudy gold chain hung around his neck, and in one ear he wore a diamond stud earring.

He would probably appear arrogant on most days, but there was so much relief in his expression that it took Grace aback. He looked…happy…to see her.

“Get the cuffs off her,” her, the man ordered. “We don’t have any time to lose. I need her upstairs right now.”

Hancock quickly unlocked the cuffs and Grace pulled her hands around to her front, rubbing her wrists as she stared warily at the man in front of her.

“Who are you and why am I here?” she demanded.

“Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is that my daughter is very ill, and you’re going to heal her.”

CHAPTER 36

GRACE was taken aback by the utter despair that choked his voice. It wasn’t that she hadn’t expected to be used for her abilities. She just hadn’t expected…this. A man on a mission. A single mission.

She reached into his mind, wanting confirmation or perhaps to know what else he intended to use her for. Was she some sort of experiment once again? Was his daughter a guinea pig, and if Grace was successful, would she then be turned over to some government agency? Sold to the highest bidder?

What she found shocked her. Gordon Farnsworth wasn’t a good man. She saw things that made her blood run cold. He’d led a life filled with atrocities, bloodshed, selling out whomever he needed to, to achieve his ends. He was unapologetic and completely unremorseful over his choices.

But she also saw a grieving father whose only daughter was dying, and he was frustrated by his inability to buy her health and happiness. It was a harsh realization for him, that given his immense wealth, he couldn’t have the one thing he most wanted.

His daughter’s life.

Though she knew the answer to her question, she posed it anyway in an effort to buy time, to plan her next move and to somehow maneuver herself out of an impossible situation.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Cancer,” he bit out. “It’s a particularly invasive, aggressive form of cancer. Supposedly rare. The doctors all have names for it. I just know that it’s slowly sucking my daughter’s life from her. It began in an innocuous enough place, but before she could be treated, it had already spread to her liver and then into her bones. She’s riddled with cancer. There isn’t a part of her body that hasn’t been besieged by the disease. It’s in her lungs, and at times she has to be put on a respirator so she can survive. It’s spread to her brain and at times she’ll lie in a coma, unaware of her surroundings.”

He advanced on Grace, his face ugly, and she got her first look at what this man was to the rest of the world. Cold, evil, the very devil.

“You’ll cure her. I know of your abilities. I made damn sure that you were able to do what was said could be done before I had you brought here. I wouldn’t trust my daughter to someone who would cause her harm.”

Grace swallowed, sent a simple message to Rio.

Gordon Farnsworth.

Rio was silent but then he had to know how precarious Grace’s current position was. Shea stirred in her mind but also remained silent, a steady support.

“It would seem, Mr. Farnsworth, that I hold all the cards,” Grace said coolly.

“You hold nothing!”

He yanked her toward him, his hands wrapped in her shirt until their faces were inches apart. Spittle hit her cheek from the explosion of his outburst.

“You’ll heal my daughter or I’ll make you wish you were never born.”

She reached for his wrists with renewed strength and yanked them dDownward, separating herself from his touch. It repulsed her. His entire being vibrated with the stench of evil and death. It nearly overwhelmed her.

“You’re too late for that,” she said in a low voice. “I’ve wished for my death many times. Threats have no meaning to me. How much is your daughter’s life worth to you?”

Clearly he hadn’t expected this. He took a step back, eyes narrowed in rage and surprise. He seemed at a loss for words and then he slammed his gaze back into hers and made a visible effort to collect himself.

“Money? Is money what you want? You’d sell your ability to save a child’s life?”

The judgment and condemnation in his words pissed her off. Dangerously so. She had to remain calm. She couldn’t allow her own volcanic rage to erupt.

“After everything you’ve done to ensure that I was brought to you, after the countless days of agony and pain that were brought on me as a result of your experiments to make sure I was qualified to touch your daughter, you dare to come at me with this holier-than-thou put-down because I would bargain with you?”

She gave a derisive laugh.

“You hold none of the cards, Mr. Farnsworth, and if you think you do, you’re as deluded as your ego is. Kill me. Go ahead. I dare you. Then who will save your daughter? Torture me. Spend days trying to make me desperate enough to give in to anything. Your daughter doesn’t have those days. But I don’t care. You can’t do anything to me that hasn’t already been done. It’s not possible to endure more than what I’ve already endured. While your conceit and arrogance tell you that you are all mighty and powerful, just remember that your daughter could be dead in the next hour or the next day. And then you stand there like a pompous jackass and presume to call my ethics into question. Do you think I give a shit what you think of me, you worthless, dirt-eating worm?”

Hancock chuckled, which only served to enrage Farnsworth further.

“She’s right, Farnsworth,” Hancock said in amusement. “Did I tell you she threatened to kill herself if I didn’t cooperate with her demands? I saw into her mind. I assure you she isn’t bluffing. She’s just crazy enough to blow her own brains out to spite you.”

Farnsworth looked between Grace and Hancock, sucking in air through extended nostrils. Then he visibly collected himself and turned away, walking toward his desk. He turned back, calmer now, and he stared at Grace with a calculated gleam.

“All right, Miss Peterson. What do you want? Money? You can have all that I own in exchange for my daughter’s life. I’ll make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.”

“You have no idea what I dream about,” she said bitterly.

“Then tell me. What do you want?”

“Peace.”

Farnsworth’s brows drew together in confusion.

“I want a life. I want to be free. I want to be able to have what your kind takes for granted. Freedom from looking over my shoulder every damn minute because some fuckwad wants to use me like a lab rat. I want my freedom, and I want your guarantee that when I heal your daughter, you will cease to pursue me. You’ll call off Titan, and moreover, you’d do well to make damn sure I stay safe, because if I don’t?”

His eyes narrowed in fury. “You dare to threaten me?”

Grace eyed him calmly. She needed him to believe what she was about to say. And honestly who was to say she couldn’t do it? She’d certainly ;d certanever tried. Given what she could do, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that she could do the complete opposite.

“You’ll grant me everything I want, or I’ll suck the life right out of your daughter.”

He whitened. His jaw clenched and he seemed speechless.

“Let me just explain how my ability works,” Grace said in a quiet tone. “I absorb an illness or an injury from the affected person. I take it from them and make it my own. They leave happy and healed. I’m crippled by their affliction, and then I have to take the time to heal myself. But just as I take the illness or injury, just as I give life, my life, to the person I’m linked with? So too can I take their spirit, their life, their very soul. And I don’t have to be standing next to her, so if you think you can hide from me, if you think you can take her some place I’ll never find her, you’re dead wrong. Once I link to her, I’ll be able to locate her anywhere and I’ll take what it is you treasure so much.”

Farnsworth stared her down, almost like he was trying to see into her mind. Evaluating whether she was telling the truth. She met his gaze unflinching. Then Farnsworth looked to Hancock as if for guidance. Hancock shrugged and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

“I’d say you have yourself a standoff, Farnsworth. In some circles, this might be called checkmate. I believe she has you by the balls.”

“And while you stand here being outraged that I would actually give a damn about my own life and my own future, your daughter is upstairs dying,” she said. “So I’d suggest we come to an agreement pretty damn fast. Or maybe your ego is worth more than your daughter’s life.”

Farnsworth whitened and he leaned over, slapping his hands on the polished surface of his desk. For the first time, she absolutely believed the conviction in his voice.

“There is nothing. Nothing more important to me than Elizabeth. You think me an evil man, Miss Peterson. You’re right. I’m a bastard of the first order. But I love my daughter and I’ll do anything at all to save her. So give me your conditions. I’ll do whatever it takes to gain your cooperation.”

“I want Rio here,” she said calmly. She opened her mind, that pathway to Rio so he would see and hear what it was she was saying. “I am defenseless once I’ve healed. It would be easy for you to go back on your word. I would have no recourse.”

“You think I’m going to just turn myself over to some mercenary? Do you realize how many government and nongovernment agencies are after me? You’re out of your damn mind.”

“I don’t give a fuck about you,” she said in an even tone. “What I care about is my ability to walk out of here. You’ll excuse my lack of trust in you, but your promise doesn’t mean shit to me. I’ve told you I can kill your daughter at any time, so that gives you more incentive to kill me once you’ve gotten what you want.”

She felt Rio stir, felt his anger and his fear for her. His anger that she’d provoke him and that she’d bargain so ruthlessly and risk the very thing she’d just accused Farnsworth of being able to do.

“We both want the same things, Mr. Farnsworth. I have no desire to ever see you again. Call me self-centered but I’m more interested in having a normal life than I am in seeing you punished for your crimes. I want Rio here. I want his team to be allowed here. They are my protection. My guarantee that you uphold your end of the bargain. And once I’ve co’mpleted the healing, he’ll walk out of here with me because I swear to you by all that’s holy, if you kill me, if you try to kill me, I’ll take your daughter with me.”

Farnsworth went pale. He shoved a hand through his hair, mussing the immaculately styled strands. Then he yanked his hand away. “It will take too damn long to get them here!”

She smiled. “Oh, I think they’re probably closer than you think. Shall I find out for you?”

Rio, I need you. I’ve been buying time, but I don’t have it to spare. If his daughter dies before you get here, he’ll be out of control. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill you. The one thing keeping him in check right now is his utter terror that his daughter will die. If that happens, nothing will matter to him any longer.

We’re on our way, Grace. You did good, baby. You scare the shit out of me, but you did good. You’re so damn fierce. You even have me convinced you’ll take his daughter down with you if it comes to that.

We got a lead even before you told me who he was. We’re in the air now. Tell him we’ll land on the mainland and then take a chopper to the island. The others will boat in, but he doesn’t need to know that. Three hours, Grace. Buy us three more hours and we’ll be there.

She looked back up at Farnsworth. “Three hours. Rio and his team will land a helicopter here. Until he arrives, I won’t do a thing.”