Echoes at Dawn

Farnsworth closed his eyes. “Will you…Will you at least go see her? Will you stay with her? I need her to have a reason to hold on. A reason to hope. I’ll give the order for my men to stand down. Your Rio and his team will have clearance to land and will be escorted to you the moment they arrive.”

“And after?” she asked softly.

“You can leave the same way they came. You have my word.”

She reached into his mind but only found sincerity. No hint of deception. He was too focused on having his daughter well and healthy. He’d gladly let her go if it meant having Elizabeth be a normal little girl again.

“Then take me to her,” Grace said quietly.

Hancock automatically took Grace’s arm and she tried to yank it away, but he held firm.

She glared pointedly at Farnsworth. “Does he have to come?”

“You have your conditions. I have mine. He’s there to make sure you uphold your end of the deal.”

“He doesn’t have to touch me in order to do that,” she snapped.

Farnsworth gestured for Hancock to let her go. Hancock’s gaze was cool and unreadable. Like his mind. He had admirable control over his thoughts. Every time Grace tried to get a read on him again, she saw blankness. Like he was so focused and disciplined that he could shut out everything but what was his primary goal. She’d thought it before and she hadn’t seen anything to the contrary—he was more machine than man and it creeped her the hell out.

She thought she saw annoyance in his gaze, and irritation, as if he loathed taking orders from Farnsworth. But his thoughts didn’t reflect his expression whatsoever.

He let go of her arm but not fast enough for her liking. She ached to put her knee right in his balls and see if the bastard was more machine than man then.

Farnsworth walked ahead of Grace, leaving her sandwiched between him and Hancock. They mounted a winding staircase and then traveled to the end of the hallway once on the second floor.

When Farnsworth o Farnswopened the door, she could see the immediate fear that leapt into his eyes. His entire body went tense, as if he was afraid to hear the worst.

From the bedside of the little girl Grace still couldn’t see, a man looked up, a stethoscope in his ears. On the other side was what appeared to be a nurse or at least someone who sat with the girl.

“Get out,” Farnsworth said in a low voice that carried for its sheer determination.

“But she needs care,” the doctor protested as he took down the stethoscope and let it hang from his neck. “She shouldn’t be left alone right now.”

“Get. Out.” Farnsworth enunciated each word, so much menace in them that the doctor paled and backed away from the bed. “There is a helicopter waiting to take you back to the mainland. You’re dismissed.” He motioned for the woman. “You too.”

They hurriedly left the room, the doctor muttering about the “poor girl” as he passed Grace.

Farnsworth immediately went to Elizabeth’s bedside and knelt beside it. He cupped his hand over her forehead and gently stroked away her hair.

“Elizabeth, sweetheart, I have someone I’d like you to meet. She’s here to help you.”

Curious, Grace moved in closer until finally she could see the tiny, fragile girl lying on the bed. She looked as delicate as a porcelain doll. She looked nothing like her father. While he was all dark and sinister—he had that smarmy used car salesman look—Elizabeth was blond and pale.

Elizabeth struggled to open her eyes and then she dimly focused on her father. “Daddy,” she whispered.

“I’m here, baby,” Farnsworth said in a choked voice.

“You always say that. That someone will help me. But they never do.”

“This time is different. She’s special. Her name is Grace. She’s promised to help you.”

Elizabeth pursed her lips as if she was giving the matter serious consideration. “Grace. I like that name. Maybe God sent her. Everyone needs grace.”

Grace’s heart clutched. It went against everything she was and who she was to have threatened this child as coldly as she’d done, but she’d known that it was the only way she’d save herself. Even now, she steeled her features, trying to be as impassive as she could because she didn’t want Farnsworth to know she’d already lost her heart to this beautiful, brave little girl.

She moved forward, not waiting for permission. She pulled the chair from the opposite side of the bed and positioned it right next to Elizabeth’s head.

“Hello, Elizabeth,” she said in a low, soothing voice. “My name is Grace and I fix people.”

Elizabeth turned slowly, her eyes weak and dull as she focused her stare on Grace. “You mean like God does?”

Grace smiled. “No. Not like God. I believe He gave me the ability and I don’t always know what to do with it. Someone wise once told me that perhaps my purpose hadn’t yet been revealed. But I’m learning and I’m going to do my absolute best to take away your sickness.”

Elizabeth nodded solemnly. “I want to make Daddy smile again. He’s been sad. I don’t want to die and leave him alone. He needs me.”

Farnsworth made a choking sound and abruptly rose, turning his back to face the other way.

Grace slipped her hand into Elizabeth’s and squeezed lightly. “Can you hold on for just a little while longer? I’m waiting for some people to get here. Healing someone takes a lot of energy and I need them to help me afterward.”

Elizabeth frowned. “Will you be all right? Daddy can help you, can’t you, Daddy?” She turned in her father’s direction.

Farnsworth slowly turned, struggling to smile through his obvious distress. “Of course I will, sweetheart. I’ve given my word to her that all will be taken care of. All I want you to concern yourself with is getting better.”

Grace slid into Elizabeth’s weakened mind, nearly weeping as she witnessed firsthand all that the child had endured in her very short life. But she was also awed by Elizabeth’s sheer determination. Her strength of will. It was the only reason she was still alive, because her body had long since given up.

She pushed as much hope and warmth through the pathway, hoping to bolster the child’s spirits.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she stared at Grace in wonder. “How did you do that? I felt you. Inside my head, I mean. It was wonderful. Like magic.”

Grace smiled. “I suppose it is magic in a way. No one really knows why or how I can do it.”

“You should eat,” Farnsworth said gruffly.

At first Grace thought he was talking to his daughter, but he was staring directly at Grace.

“You’ll need your strength. I don’

t imagine you’ve eaten for hours.”

Grace turned to Elizabeth. “What do you say? Are you up for something to eat? Maybe we both need to keep our strength up for what is to come.”

Grace felt a stirring in Elizabeth’s mind. A tiny beacon of hope. The child was afraid to hope. She’d been disappointed so many times so she’d resigned herself to her fate long ago. She kept up the act for her father because she knew how devastated he’d be, but she’d long since stopped believing in miracles.

Don’t ever give up hope. Sometimes it’s all we have.

Elizabeth’s smile broadened, her eyes widening in wonder as she nodded wordlessly in response to Grace’s silent communication. Then she turned to her dad. “I’d like some soup. Could I have some?”

“Of course you can,” Farnsworth said in a shaken voice. “I’ll have something brought up for the both of you. I need you to hold on, baby. Just a little bit longer, and then I promise everything will be all right.”

CHAPTER 37

HANCOCK put his hand to his ear for a moment and then said, “The helicopter is landing.”

Grace looked up, her heart leaping into her throat. She was suddenly grateful she’d merely picked at the food, because her stomach rolled up into a tight ball.

Elizabeth glanced up, her fingers curling tightly around the spoon she’d used to eat her soup. There was so much hope and fear reflected in her gaze that it made Grace want to wrap her arms around her and hug her.

Farnsworth leapt to his feet, agitated, pacing toward the door until Hancock put his hand out to halt the other man.

“My men will handle the situation.”

“You tell your men to get them up here at once,” Farnsworth snarled. “My daughter has waited long enough.”

Hancock gave Farnsworth a chilling stare that immediately took some of the belligerence from Farnsworth’s stance.

Grace rose, her fingers fisted at her sides. She stared expectantly at the doorway, and after whiat seemed an interminable wait, Rio appeared.

His gaze immediately found Grace and he would have started forward but she reached out to him.

Don’t. Don’t give him any reason to believe I’m anything more than a mission to you. Just as Hancock’s is to Farnsworth. Don’t give him anything to use against you or me.

Are you all right?

Even as he murmured the words in her mind, he relaxed, glancing around the room, his gaze cool as he seemed to take in any potential threat. He finally settled on Hancock and his lip curled in distaste.

“Is that any way to greet an old friend?” Hancock mocked.

Farnsworth’s gaze narrowed suspiciously. “You know each other? What’s going on here?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with. Merely renewing an old acquaintance,” Hancock said mildly.

One by one, Rio’s team filed into the room. Elizabeth shrank into her pillow, and Grace reached down to take her hand.

“It’s all right,” she soothed. “No one here will hurt you.”

Soon the room was filled with men. Hard warriors. Armed. Expressions harsh as they seemed to weigh the opposition.

“This is how it’s going to play out,” Hancock began.

But Grace slipped her hand from Elizabeth’s and boldly stepped forward, staring Hancock in the eye.

“No, you aren’t calling the shots here. This is the way it’s going to happen. I want everyone out.”

She felt Rio’s immediate protest, but she shut him down with a quick mental rebuke.

“I won’t have this little girl intimidated by a bunch of hulking Neanderthals. You can all wait in the hall.”

“I’m not leaving my daughter,” Farnsworth said tightly.

“Of course not,” Grace murmured.

Then she looked to Rio. “Make sure he isn’t armed. He only stays if he has nothing on him that threatens me.”

“How the hell could you defend yourself against anything at all?” Rio ground out. “You’re going to be defenseless. He could kill you with nothing more than his bare hands.”

Elizabeth made a sound of alarm and then stared questioningly at her father.

“He and I have an understanding,” Grace said calmly. “He’s well aware of the consequences of him trying to kill me.”

Farnsworth whitened but he nodded. “All I want is for my daughter to be well again. What happens after is of little consequence to me. I’ve given her my guarantee that she and whoever accompanies her will leave the island unharmed.”

Rio looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he looked at Grace.

I love you. The fierceness in the declaration gave Grace the strength she needed for what was to come. Don’t you dare leave me. You hang on.

I love you too. Trust me.

I do, honey. I do. If I didn’t, I’d be tearing this fucking place apart from the top down. I don’t want you to worry. The entire KGI team is here. We’re not going to go down without a fight if that’s what it comes to.

Grace looked pointedly at Farnsworth. “We’re wasting valuable time.”

Farnsworth jerked in reaction and then barked the order. “Everyone out.”

Hancock waited until Rio made the first move, and when Rio and his team retreateÀteam retd from the room flanked by Hancock’s men, Hancock left last, turning one last time. But it wasn’t Farnsworth he looked at. It was Grace. His gaze was intense, and she was sure it held some meaning she wasn’t able to pick up on.

When everyone had left, Farnsworth closed the door and then turned back to Grace, hurrying to the bed. “Hurry, please. Whatever it is you need, just tell me.”

“What I need is for you to take a seat over there,” she said, pointing calmly to a chair by the window. “And don’t interfere. I don’t care what you see, what you hear, what happens. Do not interfere.”

Farnsworth leaned over the bed, gathered his frail daughter into his arms and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, little one. Daddy loves you. I want you to always know that.”

Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I love you too. Now go so Grace can help me. She promised she would and I trust her.”

He looked startled by his daughter’s words, but he backed away, taking position on the very edge of the seat.