Shadowlight (29 page)

“She must have destroyed the phone immediately after she ended the call, sir,” Delaporte said. “It’s the only way she could have terminated the signal before we located her. We know she was somewhere downtown, so she’s in the city.”

He suspected Riordan wasn’t working alone, but the girl’s speedy arrival meant that his cohorts were well organized. “What were you able to glean from the background noise?”

“The beeps are from a gas pump being used,” Bill, the technician who had assumed Riordan’s position, said. “There’re also two repeating tones from an audible walk signal used exclusively in the business district. The station was on a corner at an intersection with a pedestrian crossing, and there are only two of those in that area.”

“Obtain the security videos from both stations, and interview the clerks,” he told Delaporte. “I want to know what she looks like and what she’s driving.” He turned to Bill. “What other numbers were you able to salvage from Riordan’s SIM card?”

“Just that one, sir. The rest of the data was too badly corrupted by the virus he triggered.” He shuffled his weight from one foot to the other. “Sir, I know it’s not my place, but I can’t believe Andy had anything to do with this. Maybe someone blackmailed him, or …” He saw Genaro’s expression and paled. “Right. Well, I think I’ll get back and try to run the SIM card again.”

Delaporte watched the younger man flee from the office. “I recommend we put someone else in Riordan’s position.”

“He’ll do for now.” Genaro saw his private-line light flash and picked up the phone. “What is it?” He listened as one of the police captains, a man with a predilection for very young girls, related two reports that had come in from the authorities in the eastern section of the state. “Fax all of the witness statements to us at once, and keep me updated.” He hung up the receiver. “Lawson was seen in Savannah last night. He confronted Jessa Bellamy and the man who took her from the restaurant, and shortly after was struck by lightning.”

“Lightning?” Delaporte’s brows rose. “He’s dead, then.”

“He was for several hours,” Genaro said, and templed his fingers. “Lawson revived this morning and killed three people working in the county morgue. Shortly thereafter he was seen down at the docks, where he hijacked a truck.”

“What interests me is the man with Bellamy. There was a lightning storm the day Lawson tried to retrieve her at the restaurant.”

“If he’s one of them, and he has control over weather …” His security chief sighed. “We’ve never encountered one with that kind of ability, sir.”

“He could be a progenitor.” Genaro stood. “We will need to contain Lawson now. Tell your men to use whatever force is necessary, but get him out of the truck first.”

“It would be simpler to shoot him while he’s driving, sir.”

“The truck is a tanker used to fuel ships,” he told him. “It’s filled with enough high-grade marine fuel to take out a city block.”

“We’ll get him out of the truck first, sir,” Delaporte promised.

Genaro went to the lab, where Kirchner was working with one of the engineers on the new containment unit. “We’re bringing Lawson in today,” he told him after sending the engineer out of the cell. “You’ll need to be ready to process him.”

“We will, sir.” The doctor picked up a chart and took out his pen to make some notes. “I’d like to do a full workup on him if there’s time.”

“He survived a lightning strike,” Genaro told him.

Kirchner stopped writing and glanced up. “A direct hit?”

“Apparently so. He was pronounced dead and transported to the morgue, where he revived a few hours later. I’ll send over the reports as soon as they arrive. You’ll need to investigate this further.”

“Sir, the transerum does have its limitations,” the doctor said. “The resurrection factor is directly related to pathogen stimulation. The death of the host effectively ends the dormant stage. We’ve never known a host to survive a second death experience.” His cold eyes grew dreamy. “Unless a new mutation has occurred that revives the host indefinitely.”

“I am not in the business of selling eternity, Doctor,” Genaro said. “There’s no profit in immortality. Whatever is responsible for Lawson’s third rebirth, I want it identified and eradicated from the transerum. You will report on this only to me; is that understood?”

Kirchner looked as if he wanted to argue with him, but in the end he nodded and went back to his work.

Genaro stopped by the isolation room, where the acquisition lay in a chemically induced coma. He came several times during the week to inspect the condition of the body, which was being kept in peak condition by the physical therapists on staff. That and the complex network of equipment surrounding the bed would keep the body alive and healthy indefinitely.

He’d ordered Kirchner to remove the bandages from the lower half of the battered face, and the bruises and cuts around the nose and mouth were slowly healing. Extensive cosmetic work still had to be performed, but that could wait until they were prepared to bring the body back to consciousness.

Because the acquisition had no mind, it wasn’t a person anymore, and was referred to only in terms used for laboratory specimens. It allowed his people to work without unnecessary sentiment or attachment, but the day would soon come when the body would again become a person, and would need a new name.

It was like being God, Genaro thought, and creating the first man.

“Adam,” he said to the body. “That is what we’ll call you.”

He turned and left the room, unaware that under the bandages, the eyes of the body moved beneath their lids, as if watching something no one else could see.

“Jessa, these are my friends, Sarah and Paul Clark.” He turned to the couple. “I am sorry we woke you so early.”

“Nonsense, Gaven,” the woman said, reaching for him with open arms. She had black hair streaked with silver and features that reminded Jessa of her favorite language teacher in school. Her smile turned wry as she turned to Jessa. “Welcome to Clarks’ Bed-and-Breakfast.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Jessa kept her hands in her pockets.

The tall, stoop-shouldered man nodded to Jessa. His expression was more reserved, but he had kind eyes and shook hands with Matthias with enthusiasm. “Good to see you, Matt.” He looked past them. “No one on the road for twenty miles.”

Jessa looked back. She could see almost a mile down the road, but then the asphalt disappeared over a sloping hill.

“My husband was an eagle in his past life,” Sarah joked.

Jessa glanced at Matthias. “They’re like us.” He nodded, and she eyed Sarah’s hair a second time. The couple appeared too old to be Kyndred, and yet their voices sounded very young.

“She’s very intuitive, Gaven,” Sarah said. “I guess this isn’t necessary.” The air around her seemed to split in half, sweeping away the image of the older couple, leaving two strangers in its place: a plain-faced, skinny woman with strawberry blond hair, and a dark-skinned, wide-bodied man with a shaved skull and eyes that were the color of ripe cantaloupe. For a moment she thought he was blind, until she saw the pinpoints of his pupils, which were tightly constricted. Both appeared to be in their late twenties.

“My wife likes to play dress-up.” Paul’s oddly colored eyes shifted as he studied Jessa’s face. “Sarah is also very tactile, so you should tell her.”

She drew back a little. “You can see what I’m thinking?”

“I can see the tension in your facial muscles increase whenever ability is mentioned.” He smiled. “You’ve also discreetly avoided touching us.”

She’d never admitted her ability to anyone but the Takyn. For a moment she struggled with the words. “When I touch someone, I have a vision and see the things they’ve done that were wrong, or made them feel guilty. Whether they want me to or not. Exactly when, where, and how it happened.”

Rather than look repelled, Paul smiled. “I’d better tell you the story about that car I boosted when I was sixteen, and the time Sarah dressed up as Cindy Crawford for our anniversary.”

“It’s all right, Jessa.” Sarah chuckled at her expression. “We don’t keep secrets from each other, and now that you’re here, we can’t. Come inside now so I can feed you two.”

Inside the large, well-equipped kitchen Sarah expertly prepared a hot breakfast of pecan-studded pancakes, sliced peaches, and fragrant chamomile tea. She happily accepted Jessa’s offer to set the table while Matthias told Paul about Drew Riordan being exposed, Rowan’s trip to Atlanta, and the terrifying encounter with Lawson.

“You’ll need to go to the farm, Matt,” Jessa heard Paul say. “Sarah and I will drive you all out tomorrow.”

“Where is the farm?” she asked Sarah.

“It’s a place Gaven owns in central Tennessee. He spends time there every spring and summer, grows organic produce, and gets away from all that.” She made a vague gesture toward the north. “When Paul and I met him, we’d just lost everything—GenHance seized our costume business, called in the note on our house, cleaned out our accounts, and had us both charged with income tax evasion. If Paul hadn’t seen them coming, they probably would have gotten us, too.”

“How did you end up here?”

“Matthias didn’t tell you? He owns this place.” Her eyes twinkled. “He has about two hundred different properties all over the country. He asked us if we’d like to run an inn, and since Paul and I like people, and we’ve always dreamed of having a little country house, it seemed perfect.”

“I’m not the first one he’s brought here,” Jessa guessed.

“He brings us others from time to time. The ones who are almost ready to relocate and take up new identities. It gives them a little break before they have to become someone else.” Sarah handed her a platter with three tall stacks of pancakes. “Serve yourself first, or the guys won’t leave you a crumb.”

Over pancakes Sarah told them some funny stories about some of their guests. Jessa winced as she heard about the newlyweds who had gone for a nature walk, succumbed to a moment of passion, and ended up with a case of poison ivy in the worst possible places. Paul contributed his tale of the New York executive who had been grimly determined to ride one of their horses and have photos taken to show his friends back in the city, at least until he slid off the back of the horse and sprained his tailbone.

Matthias excused himself from the table so that he could use the Clarks’ phone to contact Rowan, leaving Jessa alone with the couple.

Jessa wanted to ask Sarah more details about her life and her ability, but didn’t quite know how. She’d spent so many years hiding her own that she had no idea how to even initiate such a conversation.

Once more Paul saw her anxiety. “I think Jessa would like to hear about something other than our fun with the guests.”

She gave him a grateful look. “Other than Matthias and Rowan, I’ve never met others like me in person. I have so many questions. Do you mind?”

“Not at all,” Paul told her. “Ask away.”

“How did you two meet each other?”

Sarah grimaced. “It was pretty typical of how people like us usually hook up. Paul and I met through a social group for single adults searching for their biological parents. We hit it off, compared notes, and found out we had a lot in common.”

“Sarah and I were probably born in Chicago,” Paul put in. “That’s where we were both adopted as infants. Most of the records were lost, but we know the Catholic Church was involved in placing us. We also made sure we weren’t related before we got romantically involved.”

“Thank heavens for mail-away DNA tests,” Sarah said.

“We both went to good families and had normal childhoods, at least until I was hit by a car when I was twelve, and Sarah contracted meningitis when she was sixteen. We both should have died, but instead we came back, better than new.” He gestured toward his face. “My eyes used to be brown. The doctors thought the brain hemorrhaging caused the change in the color of my irises.” He glanced at his wife. “Sarah did better. She kept her ability a secret from everyone.”

“It wasn’t hard,” she said, and the air wavered around her as her image blurred and changed into that of a wide-eyed, stocky man in a white lab coat. “This doctor was the only one who ever caught me dressing up,” he said in Sarah’s voice, “and he quit drinking the same day.” The air parted, restoring her to her normal appearance.

Jessa had watched the transformation more closely this time. “You don’t actually change shape.”

“I wish I could. I’d definitely do something about this mug of mine.” She patted her angular cheek. “What we think I do is alter the light around me so what you see is how I want to appear to you. I can also cast an illusion that changes the appearance of anyone within five feet of me, which is how I can do this.” The air around the table wavered, and suddenly Jessa saw two Sarahs sitting at the table. She laughed as she looked down at herself and saw that she had been changed into a Sarah clone as well.

“That is amazing,” she said.

“It’s just a brain trick,” Sarah said, dispelling the illusion. “It doesn’t fool Paul, because he can see the shifts in light intensity whenever I dress up. I need the light, too; I can’t use my ability in complete darkness. Also, my body stays the same. So while you may see Paris Hilton”—she changed into an exact twin of the famous socialite—“what you get is still plain old Sarah Clark.” She dropped the illusion.

Jessa’s head started to whirl from watching all the rapid changes. “Using your ability doesn’t make you tired?”

“Just the opposite. I always feel terrific afterward. Hungry sometimes.” She nodded toward her husband. “Orangesicle Eyes here, on the other hand, can give himself a three-day migraine when he overdoes it.”

“My retinas sometimes take in more information than my brain can handle,” Paul explained. “That’s what triggers the headaches. Fortunately I’ve learned how to control the dilation of my pupils. I look with my ability only when I really need to see.”

“Can you see through things? Is that how you could tell no one was on the road this morning?” Jessa asked.

“No, my vision functions on line of sight, just like everyone else’s.” He pointed up. “But I can detect thermal disruption in the air from engine exhaust, body temperature, or any heat-producing source up to fifty miles away.”

“You both seem so normal,” Jessa said before she thought. “What I mean is, you seem to have accepted this so well.”

“I had some problems when I was younger,” Sarah said, her smile fading a little. “Every girl wants to be prettier, and God knows I’m not a beauty. I used an illusion to get the cutest guy on campus. I almost married him, until I decided a week before the wedding to have him meet the real Sarah to see if he really loved me or the illusion. He freaked out and accused me of giving him drugs. Then he spit in my face and left me.” She met Jessa’s gaze. “That’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, in case you’re worried about bumping into me.”

“It was the best, too.” Paul reached over and took her hand in his. “You could have kept up the illusion for the rest of your lives. He would have never known.”

“Everything happens for a reason.” She smiled at her husband. “You’d think a guy with eagle eyes would take one look at me and run the other way, but this one didn’t.”

“I saw what was really beautiful.” He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “First time you smiled at me, baby.”

Matthias rejoined them. When Jessa asked after Rowan, he said he had been unable to reach her, but left a message on her voice mail telling her about their new location.

“We’re not expecting anyone to come in for a week,” Sarah told Matthias as the men cleared the table. “Paul and I are going to make a run to town for supplies and maybe see a movie, so you’ll have the place to yourselves most of the day.”

“We’re going to see a movie?” Jessa heard Paul murmur to his wife as she joined him at the sink.

“Of course we are. That double feature sounds good.” She nudged him with her elbow, and in a lower, scolding tone added, “Some people need some alone time.”

Paul smiled at her. “Will you make out with me in the back row?”

“Keep it up, smart guy, and I’ll go as your grandmother,” Sarah warned.

The couple showed them to two adjoining rooms, and after setting out fresh linens and clean clothes, and telling them what they could find in the kitchen for lunch and dinner, the Clarks left for town in their old pickup.

Jessa retreated to the bathroom, where she showered and tried not to imagine Matthias doing the same in his. She should have been ready to drop, but now that they were alone she felt as if she’d arrived at some new and slightly terrifying place. The feeling didn’t go away when she wrapped herself in a big towel, came out into her bedroom, and looked at the adjoining door to his. It was locked on her side, so the choice was hers.

Just as he’d told her it would be.

He’d saved her life twice now. He’d protected her, first from GenHance and then from the monster that Bradford Lawson had become. He had brought her here, and wherever they were going next, she knew she’d be safe with him.

Gratitude didn’t make her release the dead bolt.

She’d loved Tag. He’d made everything fun, even the first time they’d made love, when he’d joked about letting her kick him in the groin afterward to make things even. A few years after losing him, she’d tried with other men, the ones she could bear to touch. She’d even considered taking Caleb as a lover until she’d discovered his guilty crush on Angela. Jessa knew what it was to wish, and to want, and to have, but she’d never known it with the intensity that Matthias brought out in her.

It wasn’t lust or loneliness that made her open the door. He’d come to her in her dreams, where she had fallen in love with him, and now she was awake, and she wanted him.

Jessa wasn’t surprised to see him standing just on the other side, wearing a towel around his hips.

“You should sleep.” His eyes never left her face.

He hadn’t dried off but dripped with water, as if he’d felt her there and walked out of the shower to meet her.

“I’m not tired.”

He didn’t move. “You have not truly looked inside me. There is more to me than what you have seen.”

“I know who you are.” She stepped over the threshold. “You’re a stranger, and a friend, and a protector. You’ve come to me in the night, in my dreams. Matthias, you’re the man I’m going to love for the rest of my life.”

He couldn’t seem to speak. His chest expanded as he inhaled, held the breath, and slowly released it. Then he knelt on one knee before her, and pressed his face into her abdomen, and wrapped his arms around her legs. She looked down at the sunlight gilding the wet, gleaming strands of his hair and put her hand to the back of his head, stroking it as the wonder of the moment shimmered over her.