Lily sat down abruptly. "Why didn't you ever tell me about my father, Rosa? Why didn't you tell me about that horrible room and all those other poor little girls?"
Rosa looked around in fear. "Ssh, never speak of such things. No one can ever know about that room or those poor children. Dr. Whitney should never have told you. It was wrong. He came to see that and he tried to find those girls good homes. What he did was evil, unnatural. His eyes were opened when you were nearly killed."
Lily took a cautious sip of tea. Rosa obviously believed Lily's father had told her everything. "My leg," she said, as she set the cup in the saucer. "I had so many nightmares and Dad would never tell me."
"It was a terrible accident, Lily. Your father was devastated. He promised me he would never make you do anything like that again." Rosa was whispering, obviously fearful of being overheard.
"Did John know about the other girls? Did he know about the experiment?" Lily couldn't look at the woman who had raised her. Couldn't look at the tearstained face, which plainly told her there was so much more she didn't want to hear.
"Oh no, Lily," Rosa protested. "He would have beat Peter within an inch of his life and then he would have quit. Peter needed John to keep him human. Your father only had a few people he allowed into his world. John was a big part of that world. They were boyhood friends and John never minded Peter's eccentric ways."
Lily was watching Rosa 's face closely. "Why are you so upset, Rosa? Tell me. All of this was a long time ago. I would never blame you for something my father did. You're a victim as much as I am."
"I can't tell you, Lily. You'll never forgive me and you're the only family I have. This is my home. John, Arly, you, and your father are my entire world."
Lily reached across the table to take Rosa 's hand. "I love you. Nothing can ever change that. I don't like to see you so upset like this."
"Arly told me someone broke into our house. He said they knew exactly where your office was and where your father's office was. He said they had the house codes." Rosa stared miserably into her teacup.
Lily allowed the breath to leave her lungs in a little rush. She remained silent, simply waiting. Her fingers tightened around Rosa 's hand in reassurance.
"They threatened me Lily. They said they could make me leave the country. They said they could make a problem with my citizenship papers. They said I would never see you again."
"Who told you that?"
"Two men stopped me as I was getting out of my car at the grocery store. They had badges and wore suits."
" Rosa, you know you're independently well off and my money is your money. Our lawyers would never allow anyone to send you away. You've lived in this country for years. You're a citizen, legally here. How could you think we would ever allow you to be taken away?"
"They said they would just take me off the street and send me away and no one would ever know what happened to me. Then they said they could make you disappear, too. I should have told you but I was so afraid. I thought Arly would catch them whether or not they had the codes. He has all those silly gadgets he loves so much."
Rosa had never paid attention to life outside the Whitney home. Coming from a poor background, coupled with the guilt she had always felt over her part in using little children in an experiment, had aided in keeping her segregated from the outside world. "Did you tell them about the laboratory?"
Rosa squeaked in terror. "I never speak of that unholy place. I try to forget it exists. Your father should have destroyed it." She raised her stricken gaze to Lily's. "I'm sorry, Lily. I copied some of your father's papers off his desk. I tried to give them things that didn't matter but I didn't know what was important."
There is a traitor in our house. Lily leaned over and kissed Rosa. "You have no idea what a relief it is to hear this. I knew someone in our home was supplying information and I thought it was a matter of money or politics. These people can't touch you, Rosa." Rosa was no traitor, just a simple frightened woman who had done her best to feed information of little consequence to those threatening her. The relief was overwhelming. "If they contact you again, let me know or tell Arly."
"I don't leave the house anymore, Lily. I have our groceries delivered. I don't want to see these men." She leaned toward Lily, a fresh flood of tears swimming in her eyes. "What if they are the men who made your father disappear? I'm so ashamed of myself. I should have told Arly but I didn't want him to know I even spoke to those men. What if they take you away from me? I'm so afraid."
"No one is going to harm me, Rosa. And if you ever disappeared, I would move heaven and earth to find you. I need to know a few other things about the time when my father first hired you."
Rosa shook her head and clambered to her feet, taking her teacup to the sink. "I don't speak of that time. I won't, Lily."
Lily followed her. "I'm sorry, Rosa, but it isn't just idle curiosity. There are other things going on and I need to find a way to fix them. Please help me."
Rosa crossed herself and turned toward Lily with a helpless sigh. "If we do evil, it will haunt us always. Your father did things that weren't natural and I helped him. No matter what we do now, we have to pay for what we did then. That's all I'll say on the subject. Go to bed, Lily. You look so pale and tired."
" Rosa, what did I do that brought me to Peter Whitney's attention in the first place? What set me apart from the others so much? There must have been others who could do the things I did."
Rosa hung her head. "The things he did were wrong, Lily. I've tried very hard to make up for helping him. I don't want to think about those times."
"Please, Rosa, I need to know."
"Even as an infant you could make things fly in the air. If you wanted your milk and we were too slow you could bring it to you. It is no good to think of these things. We have a good life, long past those times. Go to bed now and sleep."
Rosa kissed Lily and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Lily staring after her. Lily put her head down on the sink and growled in sheer frustration. Rosa had always been stubborn over the strangest things. Pressing her for more information was useless. Lily pushed away from the counter and made her way through the darkened house to the stairway.
Lily wrinkled her nose when she saw Arly waiting for her on the bottom stair. She should have known he'd be there; her family had a tendency to hover.
"I didn't think you'd ever get here. You left me in a mess, Lily."
Lily scowled at the annoyance and accusation in his tone. "Well, I've had a few little problems to deal with tonight, Arly. I'm so sorry if you were inconvenienced and missed your beauty sleep."
"You're in a foul mood tonight."
"Did they make it?"
Arly stood up, towering over her. "Now you want to know. The trouble with women is they never have their priorities in place."
"If you give me any trouble tonight, Arly, I swear I'm going to smash you one. I am not in the mood to pander to your over-inflated ego, soothe your ruffled feathers, or listen to you expound on your pet peeves."
"I always told your father you had such a penchant for violence. Why couldn't you be one of those seen-and-never-heard children?" Arly groused.
"I made up my mind after the first five minutes in your company I was going to be the plague of your life." Lily leaned her head against his chest wearily and looked up at him. "I am, aren't I, Arly?"
He kissed the top of her head then ruffled her hair as if she were still a child. "Yes, Lily, you're definitely the biggest plague of my life." He sighed. "One of the men is in bad shape. They said he had a seizure and all of them are worried about a brain bleed."
Her heart dropped to the floor. Her legs turned to rubber. She clutched at Arly's sleeve. "Who? Who is it?"
He shrugged, his gaze narrowing as her agitation registered. "I don't know, someone they call Jeff. He's out like a light."
Lily breathed a prayer of thanks that it hadn't been Ryland. "Take me to them, Arly and I'll need our medical kit."
"Are you prepared for the alternative?"
Nine
RYLAND met her at the door, his silver gaze devouring her face, taking in every shadow, noting how pale she was. Without preamble, he pulled her into his arms. Needing her. Needing to feel her against him. Needing to run his hands over her body and assure himself she was unharmed. "Why the hell are you so late? Didn't you think I'd be worried about you? I didn't have the energy for wave communication." He gave her a little shake.
Lily rested against the hard strength of his body, grateful he was alive. His heart was reassuringly steady and his muscles were solid beneath her hands. "I was so worried about you, Ryland. I was held up at the laboratories. I had to talk with General McEntire. He was there when the escape took place and Higgens and Thornton asked me to join them in explaining everything." At that moment she didn't care to reason out why it was so important to her that Ryland was safe, it only mattered that he was. That her world could continue and she could breathe again.
Lily found that her fingers were curled possessively in Ryland's hair. She had to touch him. She wanted to weep with relief. "Arly tells me someone had seizures." I was so afraid for you. She was revealing too much of her feelings but she couldn't stop herself.
"Jeff Hollister. We haven't been able to wake him." He clasped both her hands in his, brought her fingers to the warmth of his mouth, all too aware he wasn't alone with her when he needed to be desperately.
"Do you know whether he was given anything to sleep last night?"
"He was hurting bad. Telepathic communication is difficult at the best of times and he was already worn down. I was trying to sustain the bridge myself for everyone but I…" He trailed off, guilt riding him hard. He had been selfish. He had wanted to dreamwalk. Wanted to comfort Lily. Be with Lily. In using up his energy that way, he had been unable to provide as much for the others.
Lily tightened her fingers around his. "Ryland, you aren't responsible for everyone. You're not."
There was too much compassion in her eyes. Lily could so easily turn him inside out. Just the way she looked at him made him feel different inside. He liked her. He liked being with her, hearing her voice, watching her expressions. She was burrowing into his heart, he could feel her there.
"Sure he is." The voice was deep and edged with humor.
Lily whirled around to face Kaden, ready to battle for Ryland. Kaden was tall and thick with muscle and sinew. A man with cold eyes and the face of a Greek god. And he was grinning at her.
"Just ask him. He thinks he's responsible for the entire world." The flat black eyes swung to taunt Ryland. "And you're making a damn fool out of yourself looking at her all goofy that way. You're making the male gender look bad."
Ryland's eyebrow shot up. "It's an impossibility for me to look goofy at anyone."
"He talks about you all time too, we can't shut him up."
"Do you make it a habit to sneak up on people?" Lily was trying not to laugh. He'd deliberately made her blush. She tried to control the faint color but his hawklike gaze had definitely spotted it. Arly stared at her as if she'd grown two heads. She resisted the desire to kick him in the shins, struggling for serenity instead.
"Yes, ma'am, now that you mention it, I'd have to say that's one of my specialties." Kaden looked unrepentant.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Where did you put Jeff Hollister? I'd like to take a look at him. And did any of you think to bring out those sleeping tablets so I can run an analysis on them?" She fell back on what she knew best. Science. Logic. Knowledge. Anything but men.
"Close your mouth, geek boy," she hissed as she swept past Arly with her head held high. "You're catching flies."
Arly stomped after her, hurrying to catch up. He leaned over to whisper overly loud in her ear. "We didn't raise you to be a little hussy."
Ryland saw her lips curve for just a moment, but she managed to keep a straight face, looking down her patrician nose at him. "I don't know what you thought you saw, but I've been meaning to tell you for some time to use the new insurance plan for glasses. Thick Coke-bottle glasses might be helpful."
"Oh, you'd like me to believe you weren't petting him like a favorite cat. My face turned red watching you. Where'd you learn to behave like that?"
"You know those movies you watch all the time, no one's supposed to know about?" Lily said sweetly. "You accidentally played them on the wrong channel. It's amazing the education one can receive."
Arly kept pace beside her, not even breaking stride. "Do you even know his name? I'm going to tell Rosa."
"Go ahead. I'll tell her about your movie collection."
Ryland laughed softly. "You two sound like bickering siblings."
"She's always been jealous of my superior intellect," Arly explained.
Lily tossed her head. "Ha! The only thing I've ever been jealous of is your skinny body."
Ryland pushed open the door to the injured man's room. Although Lily had had the room outfitted with blue lights, they had been dimmed and it was difficult to see Jeff Hollister at first. Lying so still, his face pale and his hair platinum blond, he looked like a wax statue. She heard the CD playing soft strains of music over the sound of the rain; even with the thick walls of the house, this was needed to provide a soothing respite for the men.
"Jeff is from San Diego, California. He's a champion surfer," Ryland said, leaning down to pat the man's shoulder. "He talks like an idiot, mostly slang, but has a high IQ and a degree from MIT. His family would be devastated if anything happened to him. His mother sends him cookies every month and he gets letters from every brother and sister he has."
Lily was watching the way Ryland's large hands, scarred from numerous fights, were so gentle on Jeff Hollister's shoulder. The lump in her throat grew. Ryland would be just as devastated as Jeff Hollister's family if she couldn't find a way to save him.
"You'll have to let me examine him. Rosa, my housekeeper, is a nurse and if necessary, I can call in a doctor who would be discreet."
Arly cleared his throat. "Lily, you can't bring Rosa in here. She can't know about this. She's… strange."
"She's not strange," Lily defended immediately. "She just doesn't believe in experiments." She frowned at Arly.
"I wasn't saying anything against her, hon," Arly said, touching her shoulder in a brief gesture of solidarity. "You know the way Rosa always talked about her family-very religious."
Lily leaned into him just for a moment, then bent to examine Hollister.
Ryland shook his head. "We can't chance bringing a doctor here. If he needs medical care beyond what you can give him, we'll take him elsewhere. I won't compromise your safety any more than we already have."
Lily glanced up at his face, and noted the glint of steel in his eyes. The absolute resolve. The regret that flickered across his face and was gone.
"Fine. Who witnessed what happened to him?"
"That would be me, ma'am." The voice came out of the darkest corner of the room and nearly made Lily jump out of her skin. She whirled around to see a large man stirring, slowly standing until it seemed a giant was in the room with her. He was tall and heavily muscled, with chestnut hair that gleamed red in the faint light from the lamp. She was shocked at how silent he was as he crossed the room to reach her side. "Ian McGillicuddy, ma'am. Remember me?"
How could she forget? She had read his profile before going to see him but nothing could prepare her for the sheer power radiating from him. His eyes were a dark brown, piercing and intelligent. He moved with a speed and silence that seemed impossible for such a big man. "Yes, of course. I'm glad you're safe, Mr. McGillicuddy."
From somewhere in the darkness there was a humorous snort at her formal use of his name. Lily realized the men were all keeping vigil over their fallen comrade.
"Call me Ian, ma'am. I don't want to have to give any of these boys a
lesson in manners."
She looked up at him, at the amusement dancing in his dark eyes. "No, I guess we can't have that. Call me Lily and I'll drop the 'mister.' You want to describe everything you can remember about his condition?"
"He was very pale. Jeff was always outdoors and he had a tan that never went away. We've been locked up and I haven't seen him, but it was a shock to see him so white. He was sweating and he felt clammy to me. He said his head felt like it was going to explode. He kept touching the back of his head when he said it. I could tell he was afraid, and Jeff is fearless. He's one of those kamikaze types that just goes for broke."
"Did he say whether or not he took a sleeping pill?"
Ian shook his head. "No, but he said he just wanted to sleep to escape the pain and dreaming of sand, surf, and home was better than knowing you were dying of a brain bleed. He was worried about slowing us down and kept telling me to leave him."
"Did any of you take a sleeping pill?" Lily asked.
"Hell no, ma'am." A tall man with dark skin and black eyes stepped out of the shadows. "The captain said not to touch anything and we didn't."
"You're Tucker Addison." She remembered his profile. He had served in an antiterrorist unit and had earned several medals. "I need to look at his neck and the back of his head. Would you mind helping Ian roll him gently over?"
"I just wanted to say thank you, Dr. Whitney, for letting us set up a command post and camp here in your home." His hands, as he assisted Ian in turning over Jeff Hollister, were incredibly gentle. He handled the man as if he were a baby.
Lily bent over Jeff Hollister, running her fingers over his skull. His breathing was normal, his pulse steady. His skin was cooler than normal, and the pulse beat hard in his temple, but he appeared to be asleep. She gently pushed the hair from his neck and examined his skin. She couldn't see any visible signs of swelling or outward ruptures. Then the pads of her fingers found the scars: Jeff definitely had receptors behind his ears.
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