Echoes at Dawn (33 page)

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.”

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 what 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 retreated 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.

Grace took a deep breath and then she settled onto the bed next to Elizabeth, took both hands in hers and tried to infuse as much confidence into her smile as she could. She dreaded what she was about to do. She knew it could well be too much. The child was too far gone. So much cancer. Maybe they’d both die. But at least Grace would try. She had so very much to live for, and she knew if she failed, Rio and all his men’s lives would be forfeit.

“Close your eyes,” Grace said softly. “And I want you to concentrate hard. You’re going to feel me. Don’t fight it. But what I need you to do for me is to focus on being better, on fighting this illness and on getting better. The stronger you are, the stronger I can be.”

Elizabeth nodded and squeezed Grace’s hands. Grace smiled at the child’s obvious effort to give Grace reassurance.

Grace sucked in another breath, closed her eyes and then focused all her mental energy into the pathway between her and Elizabeth.

She nearly recoiled from the sheer magnitude of the cancer eating away at Elizabeth’s body. It was everywhere. There was no medical explanation for why this child had lived as long as she had. She’d hung on by sheer force of will.

Grace drew it away, absorbing it in her own body, and felt herself weakening with every passing second. But then she was joined by Elizabeth’s own iron will.

It was a light in the darkest tunnel. Dawn breaking after
a stormy night. Strength. Hope. Love. Only the resilience offered by the young. Elizabeth’s spirit was as strong as her will. Her soul hadn’t given up. Nothing about this girl had signaled defeat.

Fused together, their wills strengthened, the light became stronger. The warmth and power of their combined determination infused Grace with much-needed support.

Grace sagged, struggled to keep herself upright, to keep her focus and not lose the battle for Elizabeth’s life. And then tiny arms wrapped around her, holding and supporting her.

A whisper in her ear. “You can do it. I know you can. Thank you.”

Grace reached for the last of the darkness, those ugly shadows that hung tenaciously, and with the last of her strength, she yanked them away, taking them into her own body. She fell forward into the pillows, heard Elizabeth’s cry of alarm. Her plea for her father to help.

Farnsworth’s hands gripped her shoulders, turned her until she was on her side. His face was grim, but full of hope as he looked between her and his daughter.

Elizabeth scrambled up to her knees, looking worriedly down at Grace.

“Help her, Daddy. She needs help!”

Farnsworth’s eyes filled with tears as he stared at his daughter, pink, healthy looking, her eyes full of vibrancy that had been lacking for so long.

“Elizabeth,” he whispered.

For a moment, he left Grace and enfolded his daughter into his arms. Muffled sobs erupted as he crushed her to him.

“My baby. My baby.”

Elizabeth pried herself away and again looked down at Grace, who tried to offer her a reassuring smile. She was weak, yes, but she wasn’t incapacitated. She had Elizabeth to thank for that. Elizabeth, who was strong, whose will to live had been so strong that it had aided Grace in the healing process.

She’d lent her strength to Grace so that Grace hadn’t shouldered it all alone.

“Daddy, she needs help. Go get them. They can help her. You promised they could go.”

Farnsworth looked reluctant to leave her even for a moment, but he edged away from the bed and then walked toward the door.

RIO
paced outside the doorway. The hall was filled with soldiers. Mercenaries. It was tense. Titan had their guns on Rio’s team as if daring them to make a move. Any move. They looked way too damned trigger-happy.

Rio just hoped to hell that the rest of KGI had made it ashore after the helo drop and were in position. This could all go to hell at a moment’s notice, and he damn sure didn’t want to be without backup.

The door opened and the tension soared in the hallway. Farnsworth stepped out, his back to Rio as he faced Hancock.

“It’s done. She needs help, though. She’s weak. Let them take her and go. I promised them safe passage off the island.”

Hancock pulled his gun, pointed it at Farnsworth, and shot.

Rio leapt instinctively to the side, drawing his own weapon. The hallway became instant chaos. Another shot fired and pain screamed through Rio’s chest.

“Cease fire!” Hancock roared. “Goddamn it! I did not give the order to fire!” He turned in rage and squeezed off another shot, downing the man who’d taken the shot at Rio.

Then he held his gun up high while every one of his team members covered Rio’s team, effectively preventing them from acting.

Rio slid to the floor, blood running like a damn river from his chest and onto the floor. “Son of a bitch! Hancock, you stupid fuck! What the hell are you trying to pull here?”

Hancock nudged Farnsworth’s body as if making sure
the man was dead, and then he crouched down beside Rio. His expression was grim.

“Fuck it all, Rio. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was a planned maneuver and one of my goddamn men panicked and got trigger-happy.”

“Daddy!”

The shrill, high-pitched scream echoed through the hallway. Elizabeth ran, trying to get to her father, but Terrence scooped her up, hugging her to his broad chest and shielding her from the gruesome sight.

“Get the fuck out,” Hancock bellowed. “Clear this goddamn area.” Then to Rio, “I know goddamn well you have the rest of your team here. Unless you want this to become a goddamn bloodbath, you better get a handle on them quick. We have no interest in KGI. You were just collateral damage.”

“Diego,” Rio called, his voice fading with every breath. Son of a bitch, it hurt. “Get word out. Stand down. Meet with Sam. Tell him what’s happened. For God’s sake, tell them not to fire unless fired upon.”

He looked up at Hancock with glassy eyes. “You better be telling me the goddamn truth about this. If not, I can guarantee not a goddamn one of you will leave this island alive.”

Hancock nodded.

“Tell Grace…” He gasped, pissed that he couldn’t seem to get air into his lungs. “Tell Grace I love her.”

“Rio!”

Grace tried to push Hancock aside, but nearly fell over with the effort. Hancock reached up to steady her with a gentle grasp.

“It’s too late,” Hancock said gruffly.

Fear and panic slammed into Grace. She collapsed to her knees, wobbling precariously. “No!”