Echoes at Dawn (32 page)

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 downward, 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 never 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 completed 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.”

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 opened 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.”